We lived in Monipuri Para in December 1990. With schools and colleges closed indefinitely because of the state of emergency, we — neighbourhood boys aged 13-17 — passed our days playing cricket. On the 3rd, there was a break in curfew. We went towards Farmgate. There was an army truck in front of the Janata Bank, and a crowd waiting for buses in front of Ananda cinema. Everything seemed quiet one moment, then someone shouted something, and before I knew it, the crowd was pelting rocks at the truck. We got worried that tear gas might be used, but the soldiers drove away. The crowd cheered — it was a small victory for the people against the dictator.
My father was stuck outside Dhaka when the emergency was declared. He returned on the 4th. In the evening, we were visited by a Dhaka University masters student who was courting one of my fupus. An activist of the All Party Student Unity, this guy was a hero to us with his stories of brave students defying the military. Meanwhile, my father was constantly on the phone, checking up on relatives/friends scattered throughout the city, trying to gather any news/information on what might happen next. We didn’t have blogs or private channels in those days. ‘Everything is peaceful’, said BTV and Radio Bangladesh, but foreign radio such as the BBC relayed a different story. Around 9pm we heard from a relative that tanks were returning to Savar cantonment.
At 10.21pm, I saw the ticker in BTV — the president has agreed to step down. No one believed me at first, but within minutes it was confirmed by the VoA and others that Ershad would soon be gone. By 11pm we could hear the crowd — হই হই রই রই, এরশাদ শালা গেল কই. We walked up to the Airport Road. Then in the morning, the entire extended family, along with half a dozen neighbours, went to Paltan. It was a festive day, much like Pohela Boishakh, except in December.
I was in the city in January 2007, and then during the election last year. I didn’t see anything that even remotely compares.
But I did see that by January 2007, Ershad was completely rehabilitated into political mainstream. I did see that in December 2008, that former university student — now my fupa, a successful businessman — voted for Ershad in Gulshan: এরশাদ খারাপ, কিন্তু BNP আবার আসলে আরো খারাপ হবে. The funny thing is, before the aborted January 2007 election, BNP tried its utmost to cajole and coerce Ershad to its side.
Why did Ershad get rehabilitated? Because he wins elections? If that’s the rationale, then why do we feel offended by Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury? After all, he also wins elections!
Where is the outrage about Ershad?
You are really talking about a non-issue: a former autocrat who has been defanged and de-venomed long ago and who now only has his last coterie of political supporters and screaming ex-wives to deal with. Why talk about a living corpse when the institution of the autocrat is long dead? We should we talking about more dire things like how LeT and Jamaat Islami Pakistan has had a free deal running around in Bangladesh for the last many years. Have you considered the statement by Yusuf Butt, allegedly a Pakistani Jamaat operative, that he was also involved in the August 24 grenade attack? While we saved ourselves from our own home-grown military dictator, we should now be vigilant about saving ourselves from more insidious and vicious miltant operatives.
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Surely at least one half of the country isn’t offended by SQC, and that’s more than enough to rehabilitate him.
And if he were strategically of use to the other half, they would cease to be offended by him as well. Doesn’t some of his posturing in recent months (and in 2001) indicate he is sending out feelers to this other half?
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jyoti Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 7:07 am
I think most of my readers, in UV or in my blog, are offended by SQC. They should also be offended by Ershad, but they are not.
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Udayan Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Didn’t Ershad win a whole bunch of seats in a fair election in 1991, just a few months after you heard the crowds chanting that slogan.
(Not defending him – trying to place it in context)
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jyoti Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Yes he did. So did SQC, and while we are at it, Motiur Rahman Nizami and a dozen other ex-Al Badrs.
Jyoti Bhai, I think you’re right in that we as a society don’t treat state actors who engage in unconstitutional action the way we should. But I think Ershad has been diminishing in importance ever since 1991. Just take the present situation. Ershad has gone from wanting to be president, to wanting four ministers from JP, and then asking for being appointed special envoy to the PM to the “Muslim Ummah.” At this rate, I think he will soon settle for the position of Mayor of Rangpur.
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jyoti Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 10:48 am
True. But this is very much a result of AL’s resounding victory and a tough stance taken by the current prime minister. I personally wish that the previous prime minister had taken an equally tough stance after BNP’s own landslide in 2001 and reminded Jamaat that it was very much a junior partner in the coalition. And the previous prime minister did treat / is treating SQC in a rather tough manner — in most other countries he could have expected to be the deputy leader of opposition given the election results.
But does this mean we forget SQC’s crimes? I presume most of the UV regulars would say no. Why should Ershad get a free pass then?
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Once more, Ershad is a non-issue because the man does not represent anything. SQC is still potentially an issue because he represents the scars of 1971 which has neither diminished nor marginalized. And therein is the difference between the two and the mystery why one is more offensive than another.
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Its pure & simple victimization against SQC, as he is seen as a threat to AL.
Ershad otoh is a self-confessed criminal ex-convict with a big list of corruption and anti-state crimes who siphoned millions depriving people of BD. But Ershad does not pose an apparent threat to AL, so he is allowed to hanky-panky with AL leadership.
It would be a shame to give Ershad the post of darowan of Bhai-Bhai pharmacy, but to let him sit in parliament or ally with AL is not only a major display of corruption in BD admin, but its a total disgrace to AL’s ’shadhinotar chetona’.
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Udayan Reply:
December 8th, 2009 at 5:17 am
What do you think of the allegations against him? Even his defenders usually err on trying to place his actions in the context of “tokhonkar shomoy” rather than deny.
You are the one shouting about corruption all the time. How do you think SQC evaded scrutinyand punishment all these years?
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kgazi Reply:
December 8th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Is there a single BD politician who has no history of corruption? No.
Then why is SQC being singled-out?
There are many allegations against SQC, even one that he framed the BDR killings. Did that turn out to be true? When 2 launces capsized last week guess who was blamed? Koko Zia !! Thats worse than blaming Musharraf for Gujrat earthquakes
If Ershad can “evade scrutiny and punishment” why not SQC ? Thats how I see the state of BD Rule of Law today.
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tacit Reply:
December 8th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
KGazi, there are many many BD politicians without any history of corruption. If you go the list of our current cabinet:
http://www.pmo.gov.bd/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=37&Itemid=362
and start scrolling down the names, it is my personal opinion that at least eight of the first fifteen individuals will remain personally honest through the end of this government’s term. You can’t write-off such a broad class of people in so cavalier a manner.
kgazi Reply:
December 9th, 2009 at 10:40 am
tacit, I will give them the benefit of the doubt (that, “many many politicians are without any history of corruption”) but that leaves many-many, who DO have history of corruption. Why is there no outrage against the many who are corrupt (and not just SQC), if anti-corruption is the key requirement of gonotantra?
The camel speaks:
GRAMEEN Bank is now a globally recognised and admired institution. However, very few people know that Grameen Ordinance Promulgated on September 4, 1983 was the first micro-credit legislation in the world. This ordinance was passed under my government, even though many bankers and bureaucrats were opposed to the idea of forming a separate institution. I have regretted many things in my life, but I still think that Grameen Ordinance was one of the best things that I ever did.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=116774
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Mohammad Reply:
December 8th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Why Camel ? Why not a donkey or a “Garu” or a pig ??
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jyoti Reply:
December 9th, 2009 at 1:34 am
Shamsur Rahman didn’t write about a strange donkey or cow or pig.
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I would rather title this ” a dead horse.”
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Camel or horse — I still think the udbhot camel is a dead horse — the whole discussion here is rather meaningless, like chaer cup-a jhor, when other more anxious news items abound, for example, the netting of many LeT, Ulfa and Huji activists in the country. Tie that with the news of the LeT-connected American/Pakistani arrested in Chicago in relation to the Mumbai attacks. Either you can be complacent and dismiss this as an American-Indian chaal, or be very anxious about the extent of the foreign militants infiltrating the country and what they are/were up to. The news is that LeT is up to a regional plan now and not some local issue as Kashmir.
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kgazi Reply:
December 9th, 2009 at 10:41 am
when did the corrupt unjust camel die?
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tacit Reply:
December 12th, 2009 at 8:25 am
So, KGazi, decide where the goalposts are: a single politician without history of corruption or many many politicians who are corrupt?
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tacit Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 2:25 am
The two Pakistani men arrested as LeT operatives have been cleared of suspicion of belonging to the LeT.
http://www.dailynayadiganta.com/fullnews.asp?News_ID=183218&sec=2
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I think the answer to this and many other topics lie on the http://www.corruptcamel.com website.
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