When Rome was burning, houses were being engulfed with the inferno one after another and the total environment became heavy with the wailing of men, women and children, King Nero was playing on flute with joviality. The Bangla proverb goes that some people want to cook their food by the blaze which burns houses of others into ashes. Similarly, the opposition political parties in Bangladesh including the BNP are taking advantage of the natural calamity and the global ordeal of people due to the Ukraine War and price hike as their weapons to lunch anti-government movement. And this way they have been trying to mislead the innocent and gullible people.
When the nation faces a natural calamity, as responsible citizens the people of the opposition parties should have tried to extend their helping hands without capitalizing on the natural calamity as the weapons against the government. Their anti-government programme usually increased the plight of the people. They should have worked together in alleviating people’s sufferings, or at least refrain from staging street movement which obviously creates sufferings of people manifold.
It is mentionable that the Irish guerrillas instantly announced that they would no more conduct their operations against the British government when the Twin Tower in New york was hit by the Islamic terrorists on October 9, 2001.
Taking the natural calamity as the tool of gaining selfish political end would not produce any good results in the long run. There should have been a minimum sense of reason in politics if a party is really caring for the people. The global price hike of essentials brought sufferings for all. The government alone is not responsible. The war is responsible. The global economic recession is responsible. All the stake holders should work from their position to mitigate the sufferings by overcoming the situation as they have responsibility for the wellbeing of people.
The present government has been enjoying the credit for development, especially for the Padma Bridge as the people have already started reaping benefit of the multipurpose bridge and the enthusiasm visible among the people is unprecedented. Some people couldn’t control their emotion and they have cried with happiness. They are praying to God for the long life of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the bridge was possible because of her determination. But it is very unfortunate that the opposition is not ready to give credit to the government rather they are trying to find fault with Sheikh Hasina.
Meanwhile, a torrent of criticism has been heaped on the government with the sudden increase of oil price. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina faced more odds and obstacles in the past and the people believe that it would certainly be able to overcome the situation within a short time. But the damage is done.
Some unscrupulous people have increased the price without any reason. They have been engaged in fishing in the troubled water. The price of some essentials has no reason to rise, but it is happening. They are deliberately creating a turmoil out of which they try to gain extra profit.
Because of their violent past, in which hundreds of innocent men, women and children had been burned alive, and thousands of others have been passing horrible life with serious injury. The BNP leadership could have realized that they would not be able to muster the support of the toiling masses which are really decisive for the poll’s victory, and accordingly they have chalked out a plan to put a black stigma to the forehead of the ruling Awami League victory.
It was clear to the conscious people that what BNP was doing is not election campaign, they had rather declared war against election commission and the government which had earned a solid confidence of the people because of its massive development work.
The government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, reached down to the earth with its helping hands to every individual. Old men and women are being brought under direct benefit. The government has ensured all out cooperation to the country’s peasants who usually play a major role in election victory, but they were not attended by the BNP for long ten years. During the BNP government from 2001 to 2005, 18 peasants had been killed by the police for demanding proper distribution of fertilizer. The village people didn’t forget it. They had to pay for their lives for fertilizer. On the other hand the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina provided the peasants with free seeds, solar panels for irrigation and in this way the ruling Awami League becomes the real friend of the vast population in the rural areas of Bangladesh.
It is to be noted that the Bengalis are by nature emotional on their national pride. But very unfortunately the BNP usually did not have any program in the month of February, March and December. These three months are the most important months for the Bengalis as they laid down their lives in the month of February, in March when the liberation war started and December when total victory was achieved with the surrender of the Pakistan Army at the hands of our valiant freedom fighters. If BNP considers that victory as their defeat then why the people will sympathize with them?
BNP had never wanted to participate in the polls. They went to the UN head quarter without being invited. Even then one undersecretary gave them a patient hearing and suggested to participate in the polls under Sheikh Hasina. They had a blueprint in hand to destabilize the country by resorting to violent activities, but when the UN asked them to participate in the polls, they had pretended and showed that they were participating in the polls. It is reported in the media that in the name of election their leader in London had engaged in making money from his fellow candidates. Just think of the matter! Can a leader of a party take money from his own partymen ? And after that can they expect good results in the elections ?
