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LIVE “INTERNET

No agitation please!

The Daily Star invites its readers to participate in the following Internet discussion groups by sending or faxing Internet posts to: M. Shamimuzzaman, Page-in-Charge, "Live from the Internet", The Daily Star, House #11, Road # 3, Dhanmondi R/A, Dhaka-1205. We will mail your letters to the Internet and responses will be published the following week. Letters should be titled and be no more than 100 words.
Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah Skolasttka@aol.com New Orleans. Louisiana. USA:
The leader of the opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP), Mrs. Khaleda Zia. should not give democracy a bad name. I hope her party sincerely believes in democracy. The other day I was browsing through the Internet looking for news of Bangladesh. One particular news drew my attention right away. The opposition party in question has unilaterally decided to resort to agitation for some petty grievances. And the news was troubling me a lot lately. During past Ramadan BNP leaders were saber rattling a bit telling the media, or whoever would listen to them, that agitation or eactioni would begin after the Eid. And I ask myself n agitation? why now?
The party of Mrs. Zia was dis-elected (or better removed) from the office by a popular election. Does her party believe in democracy? If the answer to the question is affirmative, then why is she bringing the subject of "agitation" now?
For the sake of comparison let us look into the politics of America. We had a general election in this country in November 1996. We all know that Bill Clinton defeated Senator Bob Dole in the presidential contest. Senator Dole right away conceded the race to Bill Clinton. In his concession speech Senator Dole mentioned to help the country in any way he could, and had kind words for Bill Clinton. There was no animosity between Bill Clinton and Senator Dole. The life goes on normally in this country. Private citizen Senator Dole meanwhile is endorsing some popular products in the media, and getting financially rewarded for his endorsement. It is rather unthinkable in the US to see that Senator Dole and his Republican party making threats of agitation to paralyze the civic life to oust a democrat-
ically elected president. The Americans will not tolerate this kind outrageous behavior from their politicians.
Now getting back to the politics in Bangladesh we should reexamine the meaning of the word "democracy." According to the Random House Dictionary of the English Language the word democracy is defined as n "Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system". Mrs. Ziais threat to destabilize the nation and its government goes against the very principle of democracy. The action 'agitation" itself is undemocratic. In democracy peopleis verdict is the supreme decree. Mrs. Zia does not have the mandate of people to start another misguided agitation. She and her party should play the role of a constructive opposition in the parliament, criticize the policy of the present government, and tell the voters the wrongdoing of the ruling party Awami League. In democracy, one has to trust the wisdom of plurality. The opposition party should convince the voters with logic why they think they can manage the country better than the ruling party. If they have a strong case on their side, the majority will vote for them in the next election. Thereby they will regain the control of parliament and administration. This is the normal route, and the only course to regain the confidence of the populace.
For a moment let us all be patriotic and ask ourselves a question n what is the cost of a single day agitation? No one has a precise answer to this question, but suffice it to say that the cost is humongous If one is serious about knowing the precise number. 1 suggest that one gets the total GDP of Bangladesh in local currency
and simply divides the figure by 365. I am sure the ex-finance minister of the Mrs. Zia administration precisely knows the number. They should openly publicize the lost value of wages, factory output and services combined and reiterate that a single day of agitation is going to cost the impoverished nation thousands of crores of taka.
The rational thinking of a sound mind proclaims "agitation" against any legitimate government to be immoral. During British Raj the Indian Congress Party and Muslim League declared colonial power of Britain to be morally bankrupt. Thus, it was easier for Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders to wage a massive noncooperation movement against the British regime. The citizens of British India joined the movement wholeheartedly and we all know the aftermath of this tumultuous action.
In Bangladesh this year we do not have any imperial or occupational government at the helm. So. Mrs. Zia and her party should take it easy. They should not wage an all out war against the legitimate government. The constitution of the country has allowed the establishment of an open parliament. She as the leader of the opposition should raise her concern in the legislative body. Going to the street with slogans and violence is bound to undermine the democratic principles. Moreover, this action will portray Mrs. Zia as a power hungry meanspirited leader. Thus, she will make a costly mistake this time if her party workers venture out to the main street. There is a saying in English that goes like this n "You can fool some people all the time, all the people sometime. but not all the people all the time." I sincerely hope the opposition BNP pays attention to this adage.