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Effects of 2 Polls

Blessing, curse of N'ganj

Shakhawat Liton
Two elections held within a span of two years seem to have appeared as a blessing and a curse, in that order, for the people of Narayanganj.
The mayoral polls held on October 30, 2011 had offered them immense opportunities to express their will through the ballot in favour of clean candidates. They unequivocally took advantage of the opportunity and expressed themselves.
The outcome was a stunning victory for Selina Hayat Ivy. People rallied behind her to help her defeat the ruling Awami League backed mayoral contender Shamim Osman, feared by locals as the crime lord of Narayanganj, by over one lakh votes.
City people who had suffered heavily from an almost lawless situation in the past owing to unabated criminal activities in Narayanganj also largely rejected councillor aspirants with criminal records. The result was that more than half of the 36 councillors elected in the polls had no criminal records whatsoever. People derived some benefits from electing clean candidates to office. The law and order in Narayanganj city was almost peaceful for around one and a half years. But the murder of meritorious student Toki in March last year changed the situation in a way no one had predicted.
Toki's father, who had worked for Ivy in the mayoral polls, and Ivy herself several times accused Shamim and his family of the murder. But justice has not been done yet, reminding people of the impunity enjoyed by the Osman family for the past many decades.
The culture of impunity certainly contributed to the rise in the number of killings and abductions since Toki's murder. The police have also shown themselves to be siding with people enjoying impunity rather than ensuring citizens' security.
Amid such a situation, the onesided January 5 parliamentary election seems to have appeared as a curse for the city people. The voterless election denied them the right to pick, from a range of choices, their parliamentary representatives. Shamim Osman and his brother Nasim Osman were elected uncontested from Narayanganj, without a single vote being cast.
So, people who had opted for clean candidates in the 2011 mayoral polls did not have any say in the election of the Osman siblings. But the reality is they are the people's representatives who happen to be using and abusing the powers given to them by the people against the people in whom are constitutionally vested the powers exercised by the state.
Thus the controversial parliamentary elections appeared as a blessing for the Osman family and others loyal to them. They regained their control over the local administration. The story does not end here. Some members of the law enforce- ment agencies were not mere silent spectators; rather they have been involved in criminal activities like abductions and killings in exchange of huge amounts of money. And the obvious result has been a dangerous deterioration in law and order in Narayanganj city since the Osman brothers became MPs.
The situation could have been different had not the parliamentary election turned into a one-sided affair, denying the people of Narayanganj their voting rights.
People who had elected the city mayor and councillors, wishing to have their say over the local administration through their representatives, now find the situation is against them. The constitution speaks of their participation in the local administration in Narayanganj through their elected representatives.
The reality denies them that constitutional guarantee. They have been vulnerable in the face of unabated abductions, killings and unlawful and other criminal activities in their town.
Nevertheless, they are enjoying some benefits of electing Ivy, a clean politician, as their city mayor. She keeps raising her voice against criminal gangs who enjoy the support of the administration in carrying out their unlawful activities. She keeps taking to the streets to encourage people to stand united against godfathers and mafias in Narayanganj city. The protests forced the government to bring about changes in some top posts in the local administration.
In other areas, people may not dare to stage protests like the one in Narayanganj in the absence of courageous and honest leaders. The situation could have been worse in Narayanganj city had people elected someone other than Ivy as mayor. In that case people would not have any voice against abductions and killings.