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We all are conspirators, only AL is democrat?

SHAKHAWAT LITON
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has gifted us on Independence Day a "historic invention" by claiming General Zia to be the first president of Bangladesh. Her party now wants us to accept the gift and feel proud of this, regardless of the historical facts.
The same day-on March 27-her archrival PM Sheikh Hasina told us that her ruling Awami League men were not engaged in rigging the upazila parishad elections held in four phases since February 19. She, rather, claimed that the BNP was behind the rigging. By putting the blame on the BNP she has admitted that the four phases of upazila elections were not free and fair. If so, this is the failure of her government to ensure free and fair polls. This is also an abject failure of the EC constituted by the previous AL government. Therefore, her government can no longer claim that the incumbent EC is capable of holding free and fair polls.
Numerous journalists from the print and electronic media have been covering the ongoing upazila elections. They found one or two
stray incidents of BNP cadre's involvement in vote rigging. And this happened, thanks to the generosity of ruling AL activists who were involved in unhindered stamping of ballot papers. Seeing this the BNP cadre obtained 500 ballot papers from the ruling party men and stuffed them in the ballot boxes in one polling station at Nagalkot upazila in Comilla in the March 15 polls.
Excepting one or two, all the newspapers and television channels covering the upazila parishad elections found rowdy ruling AL men capturing polling stations, snatching and stuffing ballot boxes, ousting the agents of the opponents from the polling stations and clashing with rivals and law enforcers in many upazilas. They intensified their unlawful activities in the third and fourth phases of the polls. The reasons were clear. They were lagging behind their rivals backed by the BNP for the chairman posts in the first two phases. So, hell-bent on securing a win, the ruling AL men achieved their mission in the third and fourth phases by winning more chairman posts than their opponents.
Thanks to the private TV channels, people have seen news footages of how the ruling AL men captured polling stations and rigged votes. Newspapers have also published photographs and ran detailed reports on the unlawful means adopted by the AL men in the polls. People have come to know details of their rowdy activities. So, how will they believe that the upazila polls were held in a free and fair manner? How will they keep faith in the PM's claim about the fairness of the polls?
The AL has not sent any rejoinder protesting a single news report of the enormous numbers published and broadcast by newspapers and television channels. Does it mean that AL has become more tolerant of criticism? Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina however has come up with the answer to those news reports. At an Independence Day discussion on March 27, she said a section of media had been trying to bring unconstitutional forces to power by making the elections controversial. "There is a plot behind raising questions about the fairness of the elections. Being seated, they think that if the polls are made
questionable and unconstitutional elements assume power, then they will be fortunate." They write to take the country to that position |under unconstitutional power) and we have the capacity to understand it," said Hasina.
The accusation is really ridiculous. But Hasina wants us to believe this that those who were engaged in unlawful activities were in favour of democracy. And by their rowdy activities they did not do anything wrong. They are the democratic forces. Does the PM also wants us to believe that whatever her party men did in the polls they have done to uphold constitutional and democratic rule? If so, poor newspapers and television channels could not understand the significance! They run and broadcast reports on the unruly and unlawful activities by the ruling AL men and are engaged, in her words, in a plot to question about 'fairness' of the polls and want the unconstitutional elements to assume state power. Through these comments, she in fact made us scared of bogus boo! This is a traditional weapon of our ruling party in office. Whenever their
cadres engage in wrongdoings and the media run reports on it, they try to make us scared by using this bogey. But the truth is that it was the fault of the political parties that prompted the unconstitutional elements to assume state power in past.
The PM's claim that her government had information about those who had rigged votes and distributed money among voters is also a rhetoric. If she has such information then why does the government remain silent? Shouldn't the government have taken actions as per the information or sent it to the EC for action? Remaining silent only proves the vagueness of the claim.
Her other claim, that those who habitually rig votes since the beginning are doing this, is significant. Her comments may be directed at the BNP. And it is true that those who have made rigging a habit in the previous four phases of the upazila polls rigged the polls yesterday too. And the truth is that those people belong to the ruling AL.
The writer is a Senior Reporter of The Daily Star.