An open letter of a bespectacled intellectual of the ousted Awami League (AL) circulated on social media has caught the attention of this scribe recently. The latter-day reformed character has soulfully portrayed the lost character of the party that has ruled this hapless republic, Bangladesh, and its people ruthlessly for more than 15 years unchallenged and without an iota of remorse. Why the regime was so ruthless has been answered in the letter. The gentleman has made an impassioned plea to an Awami loyalist for his letter to reach out to the self-exiled AL supremo Sheikh Hasina, now languishing in India. He wouldn’t be miser in expressing his indebtedness to the carrier of the letter to Hasina who governed the country even less than 11 months back until her disgraceful descent from the throne through a student-mass uprising on 5 August 2024.
As this gentleman has a gut feeling now, he has become unsparing in his criticism of the woman through putting pen to paper in a new Bangladesh feeling free of Hasina scare. Think he dared not to face the power-wielding firebrand lady, her loyalists and errant workers who, according to him, would have had no qualms about burning down his house or even taking his life. This time, however, the virulent critic has gathered some pluck to say that the daughter of the country’s war-time leader did not have that talent, acumen and political sagacity to run a grand old party like Awami League.
“You were given that seat [AL’s presidency] as Bangabandhu’s daughter just because you were a symbol of the party’s unity. Awami League, under the leadership of late Mr Malek Ukil, fared quite well after taking part in the 1979 parliamentary election. The party won 39 seats and had been in opposition. After the assassination of Bangabandhu, it was predicted that Awami League wouldn’t find a place in politics even in the next 100 years. But it turned the corner without your leadership,” writes the repentant man.
The letter cites that Hasina could never tolerate any leadership development in parallel within the party. Referring to her father’s jettison of Tajuddin Ahmed, it says Hasina also consciously deserted towering figures like Kamal Hossain, and humiliated selfless leaders like Tofail Ahmed and Abdur Razzaq. Hasina could not stomach their popularity with feminine vengeance. Yet, the contribution of these leaders to the birth of Bangladesh as a nation-state is still shining brightly. Hasina could not keep General Osmani, the commander-in-chief of the 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan, on her side.
As the leader of such a big party, according to the member of the intelligentsia, the quarrelsome Hasina did not know what to say and what not to say at any critical juncture. As the then prime minister of the country, she used to use unsweetened, spiteful words and phrases to turn her speeches very inferior when it comes to making vitriolic attacks on her political foes and adversaries. The hypocrite Hasina, as he writes, had always remained flanked by a charmed circle of crawlers, flatterers, presstitutes and opportunistic vultures.
Bangabandhu sought to establish BAKSAL with an express aim and ideology. On the contrary, Hasina sowed the seeds of autocracy to establish the ideology of looting and plundering national resources. Her goal was only to establish power and a scary political system, and she ran a political witch-hunt to subdue her dissents and opponents so that they could not raise their voices against her misrule and misdeeds. “The people mandated you to run this country twice out of self-interest. For the last three times, you seized power through unprecedented vote rigging and disregarding their political rights. Yet, you ask—what crime did I commit? This is a question for a person with disability.”
“There was none to stop you or warn you. You were surrounded by only a few spineless self-serving flatterers. Even when you uttered your mad ravings, they would support you with cheers. You couldn’t restrain your mouth even when you stood in a sophisticated public gathering. Even you desperately wanted to throw a much-revered public figure off Padma Bridge and drown him in the river. Does this language fit the mouth of a prime minister? Yes, it fits. What better thing could a half-educated, power-hungry person like you utter?”
During her 1996 term of office, all the big-name intellectuals of Bangladesh were on Hasina’s side only because she is the daughter of Bangabandhu. They had often warned her by writing ‘Saint, be careful’. But Hasina did smear lime on their faces. That was why you had been completely detached from their side since 2014. “Look, none of them were by your side in 2024. Think your unbridled lips accelerated your faster downfall at this ripe old age. The court once warned you to hold your tongue, but you couldn’t give up your habit at all. You used to tell a lot of lies that doesn’t befit a statesman.”
Politics is all about winning and losing a game, but Hasina could have never imagined that she would lose a race. She never believed that her Awami League had moved far away from that of his father. Her Awami League created touts, thugs and terrors across villages. According to the letter, Hasina never understood the gravity of a situation. She used to trumpet so-called development. Hasina never understood that people want to get back their sacred right to vote.
“As a political science student, I don’t believe Awami League won’t be able to return to politics. But it won’t happen sooner. Who knows if the train will be standing at the station by then? It doesn’t matter whether you return or not. What matters is the fear of losing the spirit of the great liberation war.”
He is, however, sanguine that the people of this country will stand up in time to protect the spirit.