Bangladesh Awami League unanimously nominates Sheikh Hasina Wazed as its president

Is Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman's nemesis at last round the corner? His regime's adrenalin shot up last fortnight as the national convention of the Bangladesh Awami League - the largest opposition party - unanimously nominated as its president Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the 33-year-old, bespectacled, diminutive daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the assassinated former president of the republic and its creator.Wazed's surprise appointment has made Rahman apprehensive. On February 13, when the convention began in Dacca, few suspected that Malek Ukil, the former president, would be replaced soon. Not at least by Wazed, whose involvement in politics has never gone beyond taking part in students union politics in Dacca in the late '60s.It was as much a surprise for Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as for Wazed herself. She has not set foot in Bangladesh since July, 1975, when she went off to London with her nuclear physicist husband. A fortnight later, her parents and her three brothers were shot dead at their Dhanmandi home in Dacca in an army coup whose leaders have been protected since then by Rahman. Later in 1975, Wazed and her husband were given diplomatic asylum by India. The latter took up a job with the Atomic Energy Commission in New Delhi, and the family has been staying in an official bungalow at Pandara Road in New Delhi, behind a strict security screen.Hasina Wazed: 'No force can stop me'Wazed, and her sister, Rehana, are the only survivors from the late Sheikh's family. In 1979, the League made repeated efforts to bring Wazed back to Bangladesh to assist in its election campaign. But its attempts foundered against Rahman's persistent refusal to let any of the Sheikh's relatives in.Nervous: Wazed's elevation to presidentship of the country's largest opposition party (39 seats as against BNP's 210 in the 300-member National Assembly) places Rahman on tricky ground. It is inevitable that she will renew her bid to go back to Bangladesh. "It is my country. It is the soil on which I lost my parents, my brothers, and thousands of our political allies. It is the nation which was liberated by my father. Why should I lead the life of an exile for years? I must go back there today or tomorrow. There's no force that can stop me," she told India Today.Last fortnight, betraying the first sign of nervousness, the Rahman Government blacked out the news of Wazed's appointment from the officially controlled media - the radio and television network. The Bangladesh diplomatic corps in India was undecided as to how it should treat Wazed's possible request to go back to her homeland. But the request seemed imminent. Said she: "I've not fixed the date yet. It may be a few weeks, or a few months."The most significant development in Bangladesh today is the return of the Sheikh Mujibur-cult. His portraits now adorn most of the michils - or rallies - be it Dacca, Chittagong or Khulna. And, despite the overwhelming majority of the BNP in the National Assembly, there are growing signs of resentment in the country against the ruling party.Resentment: Observers stress that Rahman's main failure is on the price front, particularly food prices. Last year, following a devastating sequence of drought and floods, the wholesale price of food items shot up by 36.48 per cent. Only liberal donations from West Asia enabled Rahman to peg the price of rice - the staple food - at a certain level. Even then, the cost of living index for the middle class leapfrogged through 1980-81, rising by 16 per cent in the first seven months of the year. Over 86 per cent of the country's 80 million population live below the poverty line now, compared to 82.5 per cent in 1976.On the other hand, a new class of wealthy contractors and affluent middlemen has sprung up, chiefly in the two big cities - Dacca and Chittagong. It comprises jet-set businessmen who operate through their contacts in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. In 1975, there was only one millionaire in Bangladesh. There are 62 now. The ascendancy of this class is being resented all over Bangladesh. The critics point at Rahman's lop-sided priorities; there is no fertiliser plant worth its name in the country, but this year a cosmetics plant was opened at a cost of Rs 6 crore.Stubborn Refusal: In retrospect, some of the harsh measures initiated by the Sheikh in his last few months - including introduction of one - party rule and demonetisation of 100-taka notes-are acquiring a new appeal. It is only during this period that an impressive foodgrains buffer stock of 1.72 million tonnes was built and the index of money supply dipped from 230 to 192.However, what seems to be tilting the balance of popularity further away from Rahman's rule is his stubborn refusal to hold a trial for the Sheikh's assassins. In the name of a "national pardon", he has sent most of the 13 alleged killers of the Sheikh away on diplomatic assignments.Last year, an international commission was set up in London to examine all aspects of the Sheikh's assassination and four of his closest political associates, Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Mansoor Ah and A.H.Q. Qamaruzzaman. The all-British commission, set up in London, was led by Sir Thomas Williams, a prominent Labour MP significantly known for his pro-India and pro-Soviet views. The commission also included Sean McBride, former president of Amnesty International.Dependent: The Rahman Government kept dithering for four months on whether the commission should be allowed to visit Bangladesh. In January this year, it finally said "no". Moreover it refused to budge from the official position that there could not even be a domestic trial of the accused men because they had already been "pardoned".There is every indication now that the assassinated president's memory, like Banquo's ghost, may stalk the country again. Nor is it possible for Rahman to hold a belated trial, because the accused men apparently have excellent barrack-room contacts cutting across the nation's small but politically powerful army. In fact, the stability of Rahman's rule depends to a large extent on the abiding support of the army's top brass.Sitting in her Delhi home, and receiving congratulatory telephone calls from all over the world, Wazed stormed: "Those who are protecting my father's killers are equally guilty; some day, they will be brought to book." Two thousand kilometres away, in Rahman's secure presidential abode in the heart of Dacca cantonment, Wazed's sentimental protestations were slowly acquiring an ominous political ring.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 25, 2013 08:19 IST--- ENDS ---

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Bangladesh Awami League unanimously nominates Sheikh Hasina Wazed as its president

Is Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman's nemesis at last round the corner? His regime's adrenalin shot up as the national convention of the Bangladesh Awami League unanimously nominated as its president Sheikh Hasina Wazed.

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