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What next?

Shakhawat Liton
ALL eyes are now focused on Narayanganj city where a volatile situation has been prevailing following kidnap and killing of a city panel mayor, a lawyer and five other people together. Awami League men and some members of law enforcement agencies were allegedly involved in the incident. The people of the city burst into protest, forcing the government to dismiss three Rab officers for their alleged link with the incident and to bring changes in some top posts in the local administration of the district. The Narayanganj incident has further intensified the sense of insecurity among common people, who had already been feeling insecure because of increase in abductions and forced disappearances in many other parts in the country.
The mass media have been extensively covering the happenings in Narayanganj city, which have overshadowed some other major incidents that took place in the previous months. For example, people and media seem to have forgotten what happened in the recently held upazila parishad elections. Unprecedented rigging by AL men has damaged the electoral system, eroding people's confidence in the Election Commission and the administration. Now, there is almost no discussion on it in the public domain or the media. The reason is that the people want to know about the developments in Narayanganj. Has the Narayanganj incident offered the government some respite as the people are not discussing the ruling party men' unprecedented rigging in the upazila polls?
The way the Narayanganj incident has overshadowed the upazila polls scandal shows us how the widespread rigging in the upazila elections made us forget the controversial parliamentary elections held on January 5, one and a half a months before the beginning of the upazila ballots.
The new government formed through the voter-less election promised to work for establishing good governance in the country. But the way the things are developing shows that the government has little control over the members of law enforcement agencies. Moreover, unruly activities of the cadres of Bangladesh Chhattra League have created unrest in some higher educational institutions.
The way the new government has been running the country has made many political analysts and security experts afraid that more unwarranted incidents may take place in the coming days, which may overshadow the incident in Narayanganj. The political situation still remains calm as the opposition parties are refraining from enforcing any major programmes against the government. But many political analysts fear that the situation may deteriorate after the opposition parties-led by BNP start enforcing agitation programmes to force the government to go for an early general election. If they do so, the government will have to use strength to deal with the opposition's movement, which will cause deterioration in the law and order and political situation.
The AL, in its electoral pledges before the one-sided January 5 polls, had promised to take steps to build national consensus among all political parties, classes, professional organisations and civil society, irrespective of groups and opinions, on basic issues such as upholding democratic process and ensuring uninterrupted development. But there is still no move to begin a process to achieve this goal. Neither the government nor the AL is saying anything about the pledge. Then when will the government take steps to forge national consensus among all for the public interest?
The way the leaders, ministers and the AL have been blasting and accusing the opposition for almost all the untoward incidents will only intensify animosity between the AL and the BNP camps. They have also demonstrated little tolerance towards dissenting voices. All these will make it impossible to forge national consensus on any crucial issue. The end result will not be comfortable for the government, which may finally be left more isolated because of its go alone strategy.
The writer is Senior Reporter, The Daily Star.