Like language politics cannot be taught – it has to be learnt. And one thing that one must learn in politics, as much as in war, is that a weak front should not be invested in and vulnerabilities plugged. The BNP, it seems, has committed both the cardinal mistakes of standing by a discredited ally and exposing its vulnerability. Consequently it is being made to dance with the opponent’s tune. Jamaat is BNP’s Achilles heel and a weak link. Regrettably, it seems, it has invested hopelessly in a dilapidated party, and with it one dares say, it may well have staked its political future too.
For any political observer, BNP’s fascination with Jamaat remains an enigma, and one is sure that many in the BNP, both the rank and file and the top leadership, are equally puzzled at the sheer bovinity with which the party leadership seek to continue its association with a political party which, in its present form, has lost all moral, ethical and legal grounds to represent any section of the people of this country. It is difficult to understand what obligation BNP feels towards the Jamaat whose bond has become a shackle and, as I have said many times before, Jamaat is like the old man who has got his legs wrapped around the neck of Sindbad like a python. And it will not be wrong to suggest that if the Jamaat is surviving at all, it is because of the oxygen that its link with the BNP has been providing it, particularly after its top leadership were removed from the scene, being charged and punished by the International Crimes Tribunal for their crimes against humanity in 1971.
It has been the strategy of parties like Jamaat to seek legitimacy by aligning with a mainstream political party or creating conditions that compelled the ruling party to seek some sort of understanding with it if not an alliance, more so when the political system is devoid of popular support. A classic example of this is the role of Muslim Brotherhood, (fuelled by the same ideology as Jamaat) in Egypt. The Brotherhood had, at a point in time, created conditions that had forced Nasser to seek an understanding with the party, though that did not work out at the end. In Bangladesh, Jamaat was rehabilitated by the autocratic forces who sought legitimacy by exploiting the religious sentiments of the majority people, thus making the mistake of causing Jamaat to appear as the flag bearer of Islam in Bangladesh, which clearly it never was or will be. But the contribution of the military autocrats in rehabilitating Jamaat is but one part of the story. The animosity of the two major parties had also helped it to make itself relevant in Bangladesh politics. In this regard one has to ruefully acknowledge that the idea of caretaker system was mooted initially by Jamaat which the AL pursued in its company.
Some say that banning of Jamaat is a matter of time. In fact a minister is on record saying that Jamaat would face the ban by 2016 although he holds neither the home nor the law portfolio. However, the government has left the issues at the hands of the country’s judiciary preferring its verdict over government’s decree on the grounds that, firstly, banning it would force the party to go underground and, secondly, while the government decree can always be reversed by another government, verdict of the highest court of the land will not be. One is not so sure. There are instances of High Court verdict being reversed by another verdict subsequently on appeal. And for all that one can say, there are Jamaat elements that are in a subterranean state in cohorts with the proscribed Islamist groups. And not all those who voted for Jamaat in 2008 would choose to go underground. Platform politics is the only way to gain people’s support
Reportedly, some younger elements of Jamaat are not too worried about the ban since they feel that the party could emerge with a new name, which would help remove the stigma from it. That may not be as easy as they think. Changing name may be easy but will that hide its identity or its political philosophy?
Contrary to what some Jamaat sympathisers in other countries think of Jamaat’s political credential in the country, the party over the years has been gradually losing its support base. Number of votes obtained by the party has been decreasing from 12.1 percent in 1991 to 4.6 percent in 2008. As for now, Jamaat exists with BNP’s support and to some extent due the inertia in the legal front. There is no progress in amending the ICT Act that would allow the ICT to try the political party, and the Jamaat’s appeal against a High Court ruling to cancel its registration remains pending in the Supreme Court.
