THE political vendetta between the Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the ruling Awami League, steered by Sheikh Hasina, is one of the bitterest in South Asian politics. Over the past few days, a new twist has been added to this decades-old rivalry as a Bangladeshi court convicted Ms Zia on a corruption charge. BNP supporters have taken to the streets to protest the conviction as Ms Zia has been shifted to a Dhaka jail. While corruption charges cannot be taken lightly, especially when Ms Zia has served as prime minister of the country twice, it is also true that the Awami League and the BNP have had a long and intense rivalry; therefore, it must be ensured that political enmity does not colour the pursuit of justice. Ms Zia has dismissed the charges as ‘politically motivated’.

However, it is not just the BNP that has been targeted by the current AL-led government. Sheikh Hasina, especially in her latest stint as prime minister, seems to have taken a no-mercy approach towards all opposition forces. This includes hunting down those suspected of ‘collaborating’ with Pakistan during the tragic events of 1971. A number of Bangladeshi Jamaat-i-Islami leaders have been hanged by Dhaka despite the fact that there has been international criticism of the trials, particularly their fairness. There are ways to consolidate power in a democratic fashion, but decimating the opposition is not one of them. For Bangladesh’s democracy to mature, space needs to be given to political opponents to express themselves. Unfortunately, the AL’s actions have shown that perhaps Sheikh Hasina wants to build a one-party state where no opposition is tolerated. Both Islamabad and Dhaka have had similar experiences with democracy following their unfortunate split, with bouts of military rule and periods of unstable democracy. For the democratic experiment to flourish in South Asia, political players must realise that they cannot eternally cling to power, and that the opposition must be allowed to organise and express itself freely.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2018