& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Congratulations and not celebrations

Habibul Haque Khondker
Abraham Lincoln, the famous American president well-known for abolition of slavery in the United States and a defender of democracy once said: "Election is the celebration of democracy."
In Bangladesh, the 9th general elections were peaceful and orderly. The mood of celebration was revealed in the over-crowded buses as voters left for their constituencies to cast their votes and the long voting queues in which they waited in cold morning.
The instruction of the Awami League leadership not to bring out celebratory processions was a sensible decision. Postelections celebrations often turn ugly. Some people, especially the over-enthusiastic supporters, often forget the meaning of mandate. They often construe that the voters have given them the right to do anything for a certain period of time.
Of course, there are victims of repression by the thugs of the past administration, who cannot contain their frustrations. It is easy for me to be generous and humane from the ivory towers of a peaceful. orderly land, but people who were subjected to vicious oppression have a different take.
Yet, the law enforcing agencies did not —allow the things to go out of hand, in
which the post-election press briefing of the Prime Minister-elect Sheikh Hasina was very useful.
Many commentators who wanted to see a change in the political landscape are happy with the outcome of the December 29 elections. A large number of people deserve congratulations: some for their active role in creating a congenial circumstance for holding the elections, others for participating in the elections and the rest for making it a huge success by creating favorable conditions.
In my list, the person who deserves the most credit is Sheikh Hasina. First, she was the author and the indefatigable champion of the idea of caretaker government for holding free and impartial elections for the transfer of power.
In the long run, Bangladesh must move beyond this arrangement, but until the political culture is matured, this innovation has been very useful.
It was her stubborn fight against the planned BNP-engineered elections of late 2006 and the mobilisation that led to a unified rock-like opposition of a truly grand alliance that saved Bangladesh from a national disgrace.
Second, Begum Khaleda Zia, who only reluctantly accepted the format of the caretaker government, also deserves credit, though she later blatantly tried to derogate it by trying to ensure a suppos-
edly compliant judge to head the caretaker government. However, she should be congratulated on one of the milestones in the unfolding of democratic process of Bangladesh, namely, freedom of media.
Bangladesh print and electronic media enjoyed, and one might add, were allowed to enjoy a great deal of freedom under the BNP administrations of 1990-1995 and 2001-2006 respectively. The Awami League administration (1996-2000) did not interrupt the process.
Here one has to take into account of the difference between the intended and unintended consequences of one's action. Late Robert Merton a famous sociologist wrote that one of the most important contributions of sociology to knowledge has been the idea of unintended consequences of one's action. The idea is best illustrated in the writing of German sociologist Max Weber who examined the role of the unintended consequence of Protestantism on the rise of capitalism.
While the freedom of print media in the early 1990s was a direct outcome of years of movement against the military rule under which the media suffered; in the first decade of the new millennium, freedom of electronic media was motivated by business interests.
However, the consequences have gone against the ruling party. The freedom print media enjoyed under the BNP administrations was sometimes regretted, though. I remember a conversation with a BNP leader in the 1990s; he complained that many of the newspapers in Bangladesh were biased.
In exasperation, I rattled out a list of newspapers. “Biased" was his fixed reply. The only time he used the phrase "neutral" was when I mentioned "Dainik
Dinkal"! So at least some BNP leaders regretted the press freedom but nothing could be done.
The electronic media too began to enjoy, a greater degree of freedom under the recent BNP administration although some of the media houses had solid political links. After the changes of 1/11, the interim government tired to curb the electronic media but such restriction lasted not more than few hours. So the lesson is: some forces such as freedom of the press once unleashed whether intentionally or unintentionally, cannot be contained.
The armed forces played a great role not just in helping with the law and order situation but also with preparing a solid voter list with photo ID. The armed forces got valuable experience during their UN missions of running elections overseas (another example of unintended consequences).
The voters should be congratulated for participating in the elections in droves. The young voters deserve special congratulations. Many of them voted for change and hope.
Yet there are many who should be congratulated for calmly opposing and whenever possible exposing the misrule of the BNP rule. Some spoke out and wrote courageously others voted with their actions. The real heroes are those who act for the public interest out of a sense of duty to the nation and not to a political party.
The rare examples of such larger than live personalities come in the shape of Dr. Akbar Ali Khan, Lt. Gen (Rtd) Hasan Mashud Chowdhury, Mr. C.M. Shafi Sami and Ms. Sultana Kamal who left the caretaker government on December 12, 2006 to foil a to-be-
doctored election. Their departure undermined the credibility of a dishonest caretaker government ready to preside over a fake election in favor of the BNP-Jamaat alliance, a move finally foiled by the military.
Political scientists alert us about the
often lead to massive disappointment. The cycle of hope, celebration, and frustration is familiar to the people of Bangladesh. Let us hope and not celebrate but contemplate.
Dr. Habibul Haque Khondker is a professor of sociology at
***Political scientists alert us about the revolution of rising expectations which often lead to massive disappointment. The cycle of hope, celebration, and frustration is familiar to the people of Bangladesh. Let us hope and not celebrate but contemplate.****