Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)Organizing Secretary Shama Obaid has said that BNP would continue to fight for democracy as long as it takes.

“We don't have a smart Bangladesh. But Awami League has established a smart form of election where every time they win,” she said, while speaking at a seminar organized by the leading English daily Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday.

The seminar, styled “Setting the agenda: What will the next 5 years bring”, brought the ruling Awami League MP Md Shahriar Alam, Prof Dr Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of international relations, Dhaka University; Prof Nuzhat Choudhury, daughter of Dr Abdul Alim Chaudhury, one of the martyred intellectuals during the 1971 Liberation War, and Dr Manisha Chakraborty, Central Committee Member of a left-leaning political party Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BaSaD), together with Shama in a panel.

Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan moderated the seminar which is supported by the embassy of Norway in Bangladesh as part of what Ambassador of Norway Espen Rikter-Svendsen said, bringing people from different camps together to better understand complex issues.

The BNP boycotted the last general elections held on January 7 where the Awami League won a landslide victory for the fourth consecutive term.

Shama Obaid was very critical of the government for the banking sector anomalies, corruption, lack of governance, lack of transparency, money laundering, and price hike.

As Shahriar Alam said the country was doing good for the continuity of the government and there would be a steady growth in the next five years, she said he could paint a nice picture because his party is in power for the fourth consecutive term.

“But it is sort of hard to detach politics from the economy or any other sector that affects a country or the people of Bangladesh,” the BNP leader said.

“I think the first crisis that we need to look at is the democratic crisis, freedom of speech, and Digital Security Act (DSA). People are not being able to say what they want to say. People are being able to write what they write. The journalists cannot write what they want to write. They cannot say what they want to say,” she alleged.

“In 2018 election, a lot of reporters lost their jobs from wherever they have worked because they have tried to show what happened in different election booths,” Shama Obaid said.

“I don't even want to talk about the January 7 election. It was an election that is Awami League versus Awami League,” she said, the Awami League allowed party leaders to contest the elections as an independent candidate when the BNP decided to boycott the polls.

“We should stop political rhetoric. We should concentrate on the real problems,” she said, adding that the government continues to blame the global economic crisis, like the Russia-Ukraine war or the Covid,on what is going on in Bangladesh.

“But there are countries where the prices have gone down after Covid in the midst of the Russia-Ukraine war. But in Bangladesh we don't see that…. (prices) going up and up and up,” she said.

But the government is still blaming the BNP for the price hike, she said, adding that the election process has been dismantled, destroyed over the last 16 years.

She said the present government does not have any public support. “They don't represent the people of Bangladesh. So, that needs to be addressed.”

Shama Obaid pointed out corruption in the education as well as health sector and talked about the skill development and child marriage issues.

“There are a lot of issues in Bangladesh that need to be focused on. And of course, politics is everywhere. You have to fix the politics. Otherwise, nothing will, you know, happen.”

As Prof Nuzhat Choudhury pointed out the rise of fundamentalism at the behest of the political parties, Shama Obaid said: “Fundamentalism rises when there is lack of democratic space. That’s a very standard phenomenon.

“So, it is the tendency of political parties or the ruling party to tag a particular person or particular political party as a fundamental person or a terrorist because he or she is criticizing the government or government policies you have. We have to get away from that tendency,” she continued.

“If we do not do that, yes, fundamentalist, I am personally against fundamentalism.But if you do not have a democratic space, if you do not let other people speak or raise their voice or put them in jail because they do not agree with you, that will actually give rise to fundamentalism,” the BNP leader said.

“There are a lot of issues in Bangladesh that need to be focused on. And of course, politics is everywhere. You have to fix the politics. Otherwise, nothing will, you know, happen.”

As Prof Nuzhat Choudhury pointed out the rise of fundamentalism at the behest of the political parties, Shama Obaid said: “Fundamentalism rises when there is lack of democratic space. That’s a very standard phenomenon.

“So, it is the tendency of political parties or the ruling party to tag a particular person or particular political party as a fundamental person or a terrorist because he or she is criticizing the government or government policies you have. We have to get away from that tendency,” she continued.

“If we do not do that, yes, fundamentalist, I am personally against fundamentalism.But if you do not have a democratic space, if you do not let other people speak or raise their voice or put them in jail because they do not agree with you, that will actually give rise to fundamentalism,” the BNP leader said.

She also criticized civil society for their polarization, when asked about the differences of political parties and whether they can agree on one issue.

“The civil society is polarized in our country. How can you expect our politicians to agree? We do not trust each other. That's a fact.

“That's why there is a lack of a proper election Commission, independent election Commission which is such a big problem in Bangladesh because we don't trust each other,” the BNP leader said.

She said Awami League will never go to election under the BNP.

“So, how do you expect the BNP to contest the election under Awami League? It's as simple as that. So, our civil society also needs to agree on certain things no matter which political platform they come from or they support.”

She said good governance and transparency can be ensured once you have proper intention to work on it.

“And I believe the new generation politicians can agree on that because we are not here to make money. We are here to work for the country and BNP will continue to do so,” she said.

Courtesy: Dhaka Tribune