In quest of shelter out of fear

It seems people in droves are fleeing their own political camps and joining the political party in power out of fear and in order to save themselves from harassments at the hands of the politically powerful instruments. As has recently been reported in the media, the new political converts, caught up in an adverse political situation, are deserting the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami to join the Awami League. They are several thousands in number. Many more thousands will follow their suit. Numerous cases, many of which are alleged to be politically motivated, have been filed against them mostly over street violence during the past BNP-led political movements. And those who have no such cases against them allegedly face harassment by law-enforcement agencies just because of their political identities. They are desperately seeking political shelter under the umbrella of the party in power.
Political analysts believe, to the pleasure of the party in power, more and more BNP-Jamaat supporters will ultimately join the Awami League in the new trend of allegiance switching, leaving the two political parties drained of their vital political resources. Such a drift may eventually turn Awami League into the most formidable political force to shape the future of Bangladesh. Not a bad idea, if only Awami League could prove itself to be a benevolent party dedicated to the welfare and development of the country, brooking no injustice to any people.
There are many democratically elected or party-elected autocrats in the world under whom their countries witnessed unprecedented prosperity. But those autocrats are ruthless not just against the disturbing forces in the opposition political parties; they purge their countries of the corrupt and the inefficient. If the Awami League assumed such a mantle of political force people of Bangladesh could afford to dream of a golden future, shunning the spectrum of political beliefs of so many political parties. But such a dream seems to be a far cry.
Some stalwarts may believe that they can cripple the opposition political parties by coaxing or coercing opposition men into joining the Awami League. But that would be a suicidal and self-defeating strategy. Such an ill-conceived tactic may allow bad elements of the opposition camps to infiltrate into the Awami League to cause harm in their new home, unless the bad elements are deemed political assets to conjure a miracle in political battlefields.
This switch in allegiance among members of opposition political parties and at the same time the nonchalant attitude on the part of the members of the parties in both power and opposition in respect of reforming and democratising their parties beg some big questions.
What happened? Are all the members of all the political parties blindly following the crowd driven by their 'herd instinct'? Is the exodus from the weaker camps to the stronger one out of fear or of greed? Do all these political caricatures mirror the will of people? Do the parties at all care about the will of the people? If the followers or the defectors or the people in general think their political party is worthless, undemocratic or tyrannical, why should all the members of all the parties not stand up and decry their party in unison? If not in group, why not individually?
Willingness to stand alone, and to do the right thing, no matter how other people react or think, is a hallmark of a true patriot. Such willingness is pathetically absent in our political culture. That is why the banality of malevolence is confirmed.  That is why the evil triumphs and all that are good are squelched and squashed, and the tyranny of sin and wickedness reigns.
There is nothing wrong or unusual for a person to switch political allegiance when there is a level political field. But an act of renouncing loyalty to one's own political party and abandoning their cause and idealism and then joining the powerful hands of the party in power as a refuge for protection is an abjuration that portends an ominous signature in the political landscape of the country. Such defection is tantamount to genuflection that puts people on a slippery slope to lose their individual morality. Such defectors, however lucrative they may purport to be in the short run, will not in the long run do any good to the party in power that is offering them shelter. Such people are bent on gaining undue advantages in the parlours of the government. They would worship their new powerful masters; they would obey their orders without question. And they would only wait for an opportune moment to stab you in the back in a dark corridor.
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