Need to survive to vote

Former Chief Adviser to the 1996 Non-Party Care-Taker Government Justice Hahibur Rahman has rightly said in a seminar on Human Rights this week in Dhaka that the people's rights to vote is very important, but the right to live comes first. The politicians cannot deny the rights of the people to live and survive before they ask them to vote. Politicians of both ruling and opposition parties must create a peaceful and congenial situation where people can live and move freely and exercise their voting rights without any intimidation.
The terrorists are now attacking, destroying, and burning homes, businesses and religious institutions and killing people unabated. Such senseless violence and killing spree cannot continue in a civilised country. The government must exercise its constitutional authority to stop all such violence and killings immediately in order to establish the basic civil and human rights of the citizens. The government should take all the necessary steps to safeguard the civil and human rights of its people first and apprehend those who are denying their rights to live by means of a reign of terror.
Bangladesh is divided into two camps - the pro-liberation and anti-liberation. They blame each other for the political crises in the country. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led 18-Party Alliance is out of power for the past 7 years. They hoped to win the next general election and form the government. They won many local elections, including major City Corporation elections. But the opposition alliance, led by Begum Khaleda Zia, demanded restoration of the Non-Party Care-Taker system as election-time government and refused to participate in the 10th parliamentary election, scheduled for January 05 next, under the election-time party-based interim government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The opposition alliance has not only boycotted the election but also launched a movement  to resist the holding of elections. They are observing country-wide siege, which continues for days without any break, since the election schedule was declared by the Election Commission on November 25, 2013.
One of the partners of the 18-Party Alliance is the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatro Shibir. The Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing not only politically opposed the creation of Bangladesh, they collaborated with the Pakistan occupation army. They formed para-militia groups, Razakars, Al-Badrs and Al-Shams. They got armed training from the Pakistani occupation forces and fought alongside them against  Bangladesh during the liberation war. They were brought back to the political stage and also to the government to rule the country by the military rulers and BNP-led governments. Over the years the Jamaat-Shibir became so strong and powerful politically and economically that they dictate and implement the political programmes of the 18-Party Alliance through the means of terrorism and violence.
The Awami League-led Grand Alliance came to power through the election held on December 29, 2008 with a three-fourths majority in parliament. They promised in their election manifestos to bring the 1971 war criminals to trials for their crimes against humanity committed during the liberation war of 1971. Accordingly, a number of war criminals have been brought to justice through the International Crimes Tribunals. Some of them were given death sentences and one of them has already been executed. The Jamaat-Shibir not only vehemently opposed the creation of the War Crimes Tribunals, they also took arms to kill the government forces, ruling party workers, religious minority groups and innocent people as well as to destroy government and private properties to compel the government to cancel the trials of the war criminals. The armed terrorism of the Jamaat-Shibir became severe when the verdict Tribunals began announcing verdicts. The Tribunals found Jamaat-e-Islami also guilty of crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, the High Court on August 01, 2013 declared 'illegal and void' the registration of the Jamaat with the Election Commission.. As a result, the Election Commission has cancelled the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami and declared it ineligible to participate in the election.
One of the top war criminals, Abdul Quader Mollah was executed on December 12, 2013. This angered Jamaat-Shibir hundred times more. They are aggressively implementing the country-wide siege programmes of the 18-Party with the highest intensity and cruelty. They have blocked all highways and roads by felling thousands of trees, damaging and burning buses, trucks, trains, cars, vans, auto-rickshaws, peddle-rickshaws, boats, and all sorts of passenger and cargo vehicles, businesses, offices, courts, houses, worship places, factories, industries, etc. by throwing gun powder, petrol bombs, cocktails,  hand bombs, petroleum, gasoline, bricks, stones, etc. They have been killing innocent people. A number of Jamaat-Shibir armed cadres and BNP workers were also killed during the encounters with the Police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). They receive direct support and shelter of the BNP and its 18-Party Alliance. The opposition leaders are not showing any remorse for the killing and destruction and not asking the culprits to stop such inhuman violence
The opposition leaders are inciting the people to participate in nationwide movements to unseat the current government, cancel the ensuing 10th national parliamentary election and forcing the government to reinstall the Non-Party Care-Taker Government for the next national parliamentary election. As a part of the 18-Party Alliance, the Jamaat-Shibir along with their outlawed underground terrorist groups such as Hijbut Tahir including their suicidal squads, are out to destabilise the country through all means of violence in order to save their leaders from the trial of war crimes against humanity. They did not want independent Bangladesh. They want to turn Bangladesh into a mini-Pakistan.
The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is determined to hold the election in order to keep constitutional continuity. The Prime Minister has hinted that negotiations may be held with the opposition after the election of January 05 and if the political parties can reach a consensus on holding an inclusive election, the 10th parliament would be dissolved and election to the 11th parliament would be held.  But the opposition parties have continued their anti-government agitation.
National election is a constitutional obligation of every democratic government. People have rights to vote to choose their own government. But voting right cannot be justified if the people lose their right to walk around and live, work and worship freely. People have to live and survive first and they can then go to the voting centres to exercise their voting right. When a person dies, she/he loses all her/his rights in this earth. The opposition should allow the government to uphold the constitution by holding the election of January 05 of 2014 and then demand for a dialogue for finding a permanent solution so that such type of election without the participation of the opposition cannot be held in the future.
The government should also assure the opposition that after its constitutional obligation is fulfilled the opposition will be brought back to the negotiating table for finding a permanent solution so that no more bloodshed will take place in the future to hold free, fair, transparent, acceptable, and inclusive national election. Therefore, he ruling and the opposition parties must come to their senses and let the people survive first by stopping all sorts of killings and destructions and then ask them to vote. The people need to survive first and then they can vote.
Dr. Mohsin Ali lives in New York. He is in Bangladesh now.
 [email protected]