MAINSTREAM political culture, marked by violent polarisation and a lack of appetite for debating differences, formed the backdrop to the July uprising and the demand for reform. Yet, the politics of slander and retaliation persists. Verbal abuse and violence over the untoward remarks on the prime minister by the Jatiya Ganatantrik Party vice-president suggest that the much-desired change in the political culture is far from a reality. In a discussion on the conduct of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government in a television talk show, the Jatiya Ganatanrik Party leader made a slandering comment about the prime minister. This is unacceptable and outside the bounds of political decorum. The leader is entitled to his criticism of the prime minister as democracy rests on a political environment where differences of opinion are debated. The slander, however, cannot be justified as criticism. It is disappointing that political leaders rely on the same tactics of slander and smear against opponents that have for long impeded democratic growth.
It is understandable that supporters of the ruling party are aggrieved by the untoward comment, but resorting to violence and engaging in retaliatory action indicate political intolerance. After the remarks, ruling party supporters vandalised the Jatiya Ganatantrik Party’s office in Panchagarh and created chaos outside the leader’s house in Dhaka. Ruling party activists brought out a procession, shouted abuses against the leader and vandalised the party’s office in Panchagarh and party activists gathered outside the house of the leader in Dhaka and pelted it with stones. Instead of demanding an apology through peaceful means, the ruling party supporters engaged in violence and vandalism, marking a departure from their electoral pledge of ensuring a just democratic transition. This is, however, not the first instance of the ruling party’s violence against its political opposition. An activist of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami was killed and six others injured in clashes between Jamaat and BNP activists in Chuadanga on March 1. A Transparency International Bangladesh report in February said that 91.7 per cent of political violence after the fall of the Awami League government were linked to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The fall of the authoritarian Awami League regime reflects growing public dissatisfaction with a mainstream political culture marked by ideological and financial corruption, violence, extortion and illegal encroachment. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party as well as other parties should, therefore, distance themselves from the entrenched practice of violence, extortion and coercive politics. The ruling party bears a greater responsibility in facilitating this political shift and should, accordingly, take action against party people involved in the violence in Panchagarh and Dhaka.
