Minar Rashid
BNP held rallies in Chittagong on 12th October and in Mymensingh today as part of the plan adopted by the BNP to hold rallies in the divisional cities. On the day of the public meeting, the government is unable to stop the mass gathering even by stopping the movement of vehicles and deploying lathial forces on the roads! The spontaneous participation of the people in the gatherings has left many in a frenzy! “BNP has become a Muslim League”, “BNP is finished” – these words have caused great pain even for those who used to get absolute satisfaction.
As much as these rallies have given hope to the democracy-minded people of this country, they have disappointed the enemies of this country and its sovereignty and their domestic agents. Why can’t this party be eradicated even after 16 years of state oppression on a party like BNP? Where is the life force?
The brain child of Prothom Alo and Daily Star was the so-called Emergency Government of Eleven. And the physical child of that one-eleven is the current fascist government! As such, the grandparents of the fascist government are Prothom Alo-Daily Star! That relationship or heart tension is still intact! The Alo-Star Chakra has not only put this fascism in power through the One Eleven – it is also helping them stay in power for a long time!
As a result, these gatherings are also causing pain to Prothom Alo, Daily Star. And that is being revealed in some of their recent movements.
Even though the leaders of BNP spoke a lot in that huge public meeting in Chittagong, only the slogan of young Hummam Quader rang in their ears! The Daily Star has headlined to give air to the special spirit, Saka’s son in the discussion with the slogan ‘Naraye Takbeer’ in the rally! In the same vein, Prothom Alo headlined, what the BNP leaders said about Saka’s son’s slogan!
Many Indian political parties, including the BJP, chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Prothom Alo and Daily Stars of that country do not itch! No newspaper in the country calls these as communal slogans! These faith based slogans are also heard in many modern and democratic countries of the world. Even in the western democratic world, “Christ is King”, “We Already Have a Savior”, “Kingdom First”, “Light Trumps Darkness”, “Faith Trumps Fear”, or “Vote Your Conscience.” Political slogans mixed with this kind of religion or belief are heard. The civilized world does not raise any objection if someone practices their religious and political beliefs by respecting human dignity and democracy. The slogan ‘Naraye Takbir Allahu Akbar’ has been used by Awami League itself in many of their leaflets.
Not only the religious parties, the parties claiming to be secular are not behind in the use of religion in politics!
Rajiv Gandhi has also openly spoken of Ram Rajtva Kaem in many of his public meetings. At that time, many Muslim leaders who were present on the stage or outside did not express discomfort. Babu Gayeshwar Chandra Roy once compared Begum Khaleda Zia to Mother Durga. No one from BNP objected to that. Our national mother also announced to run the state according to the charter of Madinah! At that time, Alo-Star Chakra did not give any air about it, did not want to know the reaction of any Awami leader or intellectuals, Zafar Iqbal did not get wet in the rain to ease the pain of hearing this announcement.
So the way and the language some BNP leaders reacted to after Hummam Quader’s slogan shocked many. I myself do not consider this slogan of Hummam Quader to be appropriate or politically correct on the BNP platform because through it the enemies can spread a lot of wrong messages on a global scale. Which can disrupt our main struggle to remove fascism! Young leaders of BNP including Hummam Quader should also be alert in this regard. Wisdom must be used more than emotion to defeat the monster that lies ahead.
The Alo-star cycle inside the country and their sponsors outside have confused the conscience of the world. An al-Fayda group called Alo-Star-Bakshal was formed, calling the opponent al-Qaeda.
The good news is that the world has recognized the face of this al-Fayda (those who exploit al-Qaeda as an advantage or opportunity) group. Militant card is not working like before. So now we have to move ahead with intelligence. No mistake can be made.
The problem with some leaders of BNP is that if Inara focuses on one side, the other side is completely closed! While addressing global concerns, twist local emotions! What is more disappointing is that many leaders of BNP cannot catch this manipulation of Prothom Alo-Daily Star! Prothom Alo, The Daily Star sought out and questioned those leaders and elicited their heartfelt responses. Not understanding the media’s airing mechanism, Matlabbaz sat with simple answers to crooked questions. But all these questions should be answered with another question. Munsiana has not been able to manage to deal with the media. Or they have decorated Munshi that Munshi does not know whose head he is eating!
A leader of Chittagong region’s concentrated and conscious anger and reaction towards a late leader of his own party makes it clear that he is actually a BNP leader or a Ghadanik leader?
It seems that the gentleman is angry, he will remove Zia’s grave with his own hands for the crime of making Shah Aziz the Prime Minister and Razakar like Jadumiya, Sheikh Hasina will no longer be needed! And by adding full trust and faith in Allah in the constitution and adding Bismillah at the beginning, how will this great ultra-secular nationalist leader judge the unforgivable crime (?) Zia has committed? If Allahu Akbar says religion, then why not say ‘Bismillah’?
Many in the leadership of BNP have forgotten that this ‘Allahu Akbar’ slogan played a special role in the mobilization and revolution of Sepahi Janata on 7th November 1975. There was no well-organized force at that time to deal politically and intellectually with Colonel Taherd’s revolutionary military organization. But when the soldiers chanted Allahu Akbar along with a few students who came down the street, the whole situation changed instantly and Colonel Taher’s dream of establishing socialism was dashed instantly.
This slogan not only saved the martyred President Zia that day, but saved the entire nation. Moti-Mahfuz’s fear of this slogan probably started from there!
In order to inform the new generation, I have just presented some history of Allahu Akbar slogan here. I am not advocating making this slogan the party slogan of BNP. There is no need for that. Because BNP is a moderate democratic party made up of people of many beliefs and religions.
BNP has to determine its political strategy by taking into account all the local emotions and expectations and global political realities described above. Just as the sentiments of one’s own large vigilante group cannot be wounded, the way in which the world situation has turned favorable cannot be pushed away!
And to do this smoothly requires wise leadership at all levels.
The problem with some leaders of BNP is that if Inara focuses on one side, the other side is completely closed! While addressing global concerns, twist local emotions! The more disappointing thing is that many leaders of BNP cannot catch this manipulation of Prothom Alo – Daily Star! Prothom Alo, The Daily Star sought out and questioned those leaders and extracted their mind-blowing answers. Not understanding the media’s airing mechanism, Matlabbaz sat with simple answers to crooked questions. But all these questions should be answered with another question. Munsiana has not been able to manage to deal with the partisan media. Or they have decorated Munshi that Munshi does not know whose head he is eating!
BNP has to determine its political strategy by taking into account all the local emotions and expectations and global political realities described above. Just as one cannot hurt the sentiments of one’s own great group, one cannot push away the way the world situation has turned out to be favorable! And to do this smoothly requires wise leadership at all levels.
Author: Marine engineer, columnist-intellectual