Friday, February 9, 2007

Nobel Military

Political turmoil of the last few months in Bangladesh appears to have now subsided under the oddest of circumstances. With tacit support of the Army, the caretaker government under chief advisor Fakruddin Ahmed has launched a massive drive against corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and terrorist masterminds in the country. In all more than 400 senior, mid level and grass root politicians, from both the BNP and the AL are being targeted with the majority already having been apprehended by joint forces. This kind of a top down effort at exorcising corrupt politicians and leaders of terrorist groups who receive and provide political patronage, from the system is indeed to be lauded by one and all, but it also raises several uncomfortable questions that remain to be answered.

For one, with the arrests of top BNP and especially AL leaders, New Delhi might definitely find the political base of its main ally in Dhaka - the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League party, shrunk. Two, while the Army chief, Lt Gen Moeen U Ahmed has gone on record and said that

"The army has no intention to take over. We are not even running the government. But we like to see this government successful as we want to put the country on the right track through concerted efforts of all"

it does not dispel doubts whether the Army and the caretaker government together would have ever felt empowered enough to carry out such a cleansing operation in Dhaka's murky politics. Thus rumours of a 'foreign power' being involved in the current developments cannot be dismissed with a foregone conclusion. The third and most relevant development till date has been the foray of Nobel Peace prize winner, Dr Mohammed Yunus into Bangladeshi politics. Announcing his decision to launch a political party, were he to be accepted by the Bangladeshi electorate is nothing more than a precursor to a more formal announcement. It begs to be questioned whether the good doctor is being supported by the same foreign power whose influence is being suspected in the current political drama, and, how effectively would Dr Yunus' party exploit the space being created on Bangladesh's political stage. Lastly and most importantly, with these developments taking place in Bangladesh, a change in New Delhi's policy towards Dhaka is hopefully anticipated to be one that takes into account the changed ground realities of the neighbouring country.

Previous posts on Bangladesh's recent political developments can be read here and here.

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