IT IS indeed a tribute to the unflappable commitment of
the young generation to justice in respect of war crimes and crimes against
humanity perpetrated during the war of liberation in 1971 that what began as a
spontaneous outpouring of anger and frustration with the sentencing of the
assistant secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami to life-term
imprisonment by International Crimes Tribunal 2 to ever-burgeoning popular
protests, with the Shahbagh crossing in the capital Dhaka as the nucleus. It is
also remarkable that the protests, despite being political, have not been
allowed to be politicised along partisan lines. Suffice it to say, there seem
to have been overt and covert attempts to tinge the protests with partisan colours
but such attempts have thus far proved abortive, courtesy again of the young
generation that has decidedly been at the forefront. Meanwhile, the protests
seem to have acquired not just a momentum, but a life, so to speak, of their
own, growing almost organically, with men, women and even children of different
backgrounds—social, cultural, religious and otherwise—pouring in from different
corners. While the focus has been primarily on the protests, marked by mostly
young men and women shouting slogans, staging sit-in and candle-light vigil,
bringing out torch processions, singing songs, etc, the fever and fervour have
also gripped other major cities and towns across the country.
With the protests set to continue for the sixth
consecutive day today and beyond, the mainstream political parties, especially
the ruling Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have
found themselves in an increasingly tight corner. According to a report
front-paged in New Age on Sunday, the BNP-led alliance cancelled at the last
moment a rally scheduled for Saturday. While the joint secretary general of the
BNP on Friday night attributed the cancellation to the police’s refusal to
grant permission for the rally, a BNP leader talked of the party’s fear that
Jamaat might try to capitalise on the programme to push its own partisan agenda
of securing release of its top leaders currently under trial for crimes against
humanity. Meanwhile, the ruling Awami League and the alliance government that
it leads have been at pains since the verdict against Abdul Quader Molla to
dispel the suspicion that the apparently lenient sentencing is indicative of an
overt or covert AL-BNP entente. That the suspicion prevails in the public mind
has found expression in the slogan, ‘Apaser Ray Mani Na’ (We will not accept
the verdict of compromise), which has made its round during the protests at
Shahbagh and elsewhere.
In other words, the youth-led people’s protests, which
the participants have vowed will continue until Abdul Quader Molla and other
war criminals are handed death sentences for war crimes, have also translated
into a tremendous pressures especially on the Awami League and the BNP in
respect of their perceived and proven electoral plans involving Jamaat. As they
carry on with their protests, the protesters need to turn on the heat and
sustain the pressure so that Jamaat no longer finds a willing shoulder to
piggyback on. (Read the original story)