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How Indian media see Khaleda verdict

Staff Correspondent
Leading Indian newspapers yesterday published reports and editorials on the conviction of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Zia Orphanage Trust Corruption case.
In an editorial, the Economic Times said the verdict against Khaleda "...sends out the message that powerful politicians can be punished for corruption and that the law, no matter how slowly, does eventually catch up. ”
The daily termed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina the biggest beneficiary of the verdict that convicted her biggest political rival. The editorial says "general impression is that those with political connections can avoid the consequences of breaking the law or violating public trust.” But "things are changing in India, and, it is to be hoped, in Bangladesh as well."
"It is only when people have faith in institutions that democracy works. Otherwise, such momentous developments will carry a whiff of political witch-hunting," the newspaper opined.
Meanwhile, the Indian Express said the court "did well", but added that "in public perception, her incarceration paves the way for a further consolidation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's vast political power.”
It said the court ruling "must become the starting point for heralding real change in the political arena. This would require ensuring that the rule of law prevails and that integrity of the system and institutions remains unimpeachable."
Regarding the imprisonment of the BNP chief ahead of the national polls of Bangladesh, the Indian Express said, "if the BNP leader is not allowed to participate in general elections scheduled for December this year, and her party boycotts the polls like it did five years ago in 2013, then Hasina and Awami League may accumulate such untrammelled power that, many feel, she may be tempted to transform Bangladesh into a state less democratic."
The Indian Express, The Hindu and The Asian Age ran front-page stories of Khaleda's conviction while The Times of India and Hindustan Times published it as international news.
The lead editorial in The Indian Express said "...the fact remains that Hasina's reputation at home has rapidly deteriorated — from the brave courageous woman who returned home despite the fact that her family members, including her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, were killed by the assassin's bullet in 1975... .But in the past five years, during her second term as prime minister, Bangladeshis are angry that she has seemingly condoned nepotism, corruption and
faction-fighting and this has contributed to her growing unpopularity."
It said "By all accounts, she has not been able to let go of her terrible personal animosity against [Khaleda] Zia. She believes the BNP is hand in glove with the Jamaat-i-Islami several of whose members once colluded with the enemy, Pakistan, in the liberation war. Some of this may even be true. Hasina's enormous trauma and perhaps even a personal desire for revenge may be understandable. But for a prime minister to be seen to stake her country's future at the altar of hate can only diminish her — and drag her country down.
"Hasina's inability to create the democratic space that will allow her opponent to be judged by the people of Bangladesh risks undermining the spirit of the liberation war....For Hasina, otherwise so brave in fighting both terrorists and radical Islamists, to be seen to be actively creating the conditions to bring [Khaleda] Zia down, is to sow the seeds of a brittle state," according to The Indian Express.
It said "The courts did well to convict (Khaleda] Zia for corruption. But Bangladesh's prime minister needs to dig deeper into her reserves to build the sinews of a democratic and compassionate nation today."