Jagdish R Sharma
First Monday of August, turned out to be an eventful day in the history of Bangladesh when Sheikh Hasina was compelled to resign and leave the country in a hurry to save her life. It was the first coup in the Bangladesh to overthrow the democratically elected govt. It may be termed a soft coup as the Army has refrained from taking over the country.
General Waker-Uz-Zaman, Chief of the Bangladesh Army made the biggest announcement for Bangladesh on Monday – the announcement of the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Within forty-five minutes Hasina fled the country and landed in Delhi for a further journey to seek political asylum in European country. This unfortunate incident has shaken the souls of peace-loving people across the globe as rioting, arson and loot could be witnessed on the streets of Dhaka and other cities of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has been engulfed by protests and violence that began last month after student groups demanded the scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs. After the Supreme Court verdict in the matter relating to reservations in Govt jobs, the situation took an ugly turn. This unrest escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Hasina, who has been in power for 15 years and most recently swept to a fourth straight term in January. Nearly 250 people have been killed in the violence, before she was overthrown from power.
The new army chief, who happens to be the brother-in-law of Sheikh Hasina, coincidentally took over only a month ago. Away from the limelight, people now are searching Google to know more about the general.
Born in Dhaka in 1966, General Zaman is married to Sarahnaz Kamalika Zaman, the cousin of Sheikh Hasina and the daughter of General Muhammad Mustafizur Rahman, who was army chief from 1997 to 2000.
Now let’s ponder over, how some of the political leaders of INDI Alliance perceive the latest unfortunate happenings in Bangladesh. It is likely to shake the consciousness of peace-loving people across the world in general and India in particular. The leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, which witnessed turmoil over the three decades are also not behind to make irrelevant and mindless comments.
We can understand if elements in Pakistan, the USA and China are elated over the overthrowing of the elected Govt in Bangladesh. They have their own strategic and diplomatic interests.
Pakistan and China are already on the prowl to alienate immediate neighbours of India to strategically weaken India. The political unrest ,in the neighbouring countries is not in the interest of the country.
On Monday, a cryptic and insinuating tweet on X by Ms Ilitiza Mufti, daughter of former CM of Jammu Kashmir State, could give you goose bumps. She posted a picture of rioters in Bangladesh swimming in the pool on the lawns of the Primer Minister’s official residence. She cryptically asked ” Does Lok Kalyan Marg have a swimming pool as well? Asking for a friend. ” She was referring to Mr Narender Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, who has his official residence at LokKalyan Marg, New Delhi.
How and why, is she correlating the looting and rioting in Bangladesh with India? To make fun of unfortunate incidents of looting, arsoning, and killings or just a satire on the present regime. She knows better, what she means. But it pains us that innocent people are being killed.
What Dr Farooq Abdullah said is also of serious concern for all citizens of India in general and J&K in particular. Such a veteran politician who remained CM and Union Minister has uttered words that do not augur well for inclusive society. About the situation in Bangladesh, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah remarked, “There is significant interest in the country. The economy is struggling, and the internal situation is unstable. A student-led movement emerged that no one, not even the Army, could contain. This serves as a lesson, not only for Bangladesh but for all dictators. People’s patience has a limit, and that was evident in this case. There was a strong desire to speak out against the oppression faced by Muslims worldwide in Bangladesh.”
He did not say anything about the killings of Hindus and arson and looting of their homes, who are not in any way related to the cause. Was she not elected by the people?
In the same vein, the AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Singh also echoed the same words and justified the turmoil and violence. He likened the fall of the Hasina Govt to the Indian present regime and made special mention of Kejriwal, who is lodged in jail following liquor gate.
Amid the ongoing crisis in Bangladesh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has used the sudden ousting of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi, implying that “dictators” face similar fates. He referred to Hasina as a dictator and commented on the transient nature of autocratic leadership. He remarked, “The abrupt end of Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year regime in Bangladesh serves as a lesson that dictatorial rule cannot last forever.”
The INDI alliance partner SP leader also echoed the same words while making comments on the political unrest in Bangladesh. Many other political leaders also made the comments on the same line. Is it a coincidence or a planned one? One wonders how elected Govt can be termed dictator? Was the Govt that declared emergency in India popular?
If we go back to the recent developments, many backchannel secret meetings were held in various countries and many shady characters took part in the parleys.
Some media reports suggest that Bangladesh officials have claimed that they have evidence of meetings between the Bangladesh Nanatiolist Party and Khaleda Zia’s son Tariq Rahman and ISI officials in Saudi Arabia. According to media reports some of these parleys were also held in London. In these secret meetings, a detailed plan for the change of power in Bangladesh was prepared . According to Bangladesh News Agency, the meeting discussed the strategy of creating instability in Bangladesh and increasing the protests to overthrow the democratically elected Govt.
The virtual world can play an important role in destabilizing any country. It has come to light that more than 500 tweets on X were posted against the Sheikh Hasina Govt. Most tweets originated from Pakistan handles. The Pakistan Army and ISI had planned to destabilize the Hasina govt and empower the opposition BNP. The eyesore for Pakistan in the Hasina Govt was that it was pro-India and economically stronger than Pakistan. They intended to install the BNP Govt. which is considered as Pro-Pak and Anti-India. China through the ISI also played a role in fuelling the protests. By creating unrest in the name of job reservations, the antagonists of Hasina succeded in finally overthrowing the govt. She had to leave the country within short notice of 45 minutes and come to India. It’s ironic that the protests that started as job security turned into an anti-government movement, in which more than 500 precious lives were lost and many left injured. It threw the country into crisis and dented the very soul of the trust of its citizens.
Many people are raising doubts that some elements might use the same template in India. Pakistan, its ISI, China, and Western countries have already been active for a long as they used the toolkit during the CAA and Farmers’ agitation. Elements inimical to India are operating from foreign soil. You can name many who are sitting on foreign soil and creating unrest in India on one pretext or the other.
Can we allow mayhem on the roads and houses of the people who don’t have any role in the establishment? Unfortunately, the reactions of some politicians to the unrest in the neighbourhood reveal that they don’t believe in democracy. Whenever they are denied a mandate by the electorates, they raise the bogey of the constitution and democracy in danger.
We all Indians, particularly, the political class across all the parties need to work in tandem together and build a strong India. India is a vibrant democracy and is invincible in its style. Those who enjoy the loss of others often suffer. ‘What goes around, comes around”
I have been compelled to pen down this write up after watching reactions of some politicians. In my opinion, the most of the people of India are peace loving, who believes in pluralism and democracy. They want to know. Can we emulate such people who loot and arson and kill people on the streets? They have destroyed the temples and houses of minorities living there. Are they champions of democracy in the eyes of those people, who feel elated that such things can happen here? Can we allow miniscule populations to suffer just because they are fewer in number and don’t follow the same faith?
It looks like these people do not listen with the intent to understand, but they listen with the intent to reply. The public cannot allow itself to be used, if it allows, will get trampled. If the electorates don’t get the better of themselves, someone else will. So, they know better what to do. So, they are wary of such elements and their intentions. Let politicians face electorates and win the hearts of the people.
Time has gone, when things were taken for granted because of people who allowed them to do so. Indian public in the majority represents the feeling that “Moderation in temper is always a virtue, but moderation in principle is always a vice.”
(The author is formerly Principal JK Education Department)
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