The 14-party partners are unwilling to take responsibility for the corruption and looting during the authoritarian rule of the Awami League and the July-August massacre. They want to return to normal politics by ‘expressing regret’ for the two-decade journey as political allies of the ousted party. Most of the leaders of the alliance’s partners hope that they will be able to be fully active in the political arena if the situation improves.
Some leaders of the 14-party party said that apart from being part of the alliance and having one or two leaders represent them in the government and parliament, they had no involvement in the misrule of the Awami League in the last 16 years. Even so, they are still living in political uncertainty due to their past relations with the Awami League.
The Awami League government fell in a student-public uprising on August 5 last year. Sheikh Hasina left the country and went to India. Several ministers, MPs and leaders were arrested. Many also fled abroad. The homes and businesses of ministers and leaders were vandalized across the country. The majority of the party’s leaders and activists are still in hiding.
At the same time, the 14-party alliance parties, which have been labeled as ‘accomplices of fascism’, also faced political disaster. The two alliance partners, Workers’ Party President Rashed Khan Menon and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President Hasanul Haque Inu, are in prison as accused in multiple murder cases in July-August. In the meantime, the majority of political parties and students and the public, who were partners in the mass uprising, have demanded that the 14-party party be banned along with the Awami League. This has also created uncertainty among the alliance’s alliance partners.
Some senior leaders of the 14-party alliance said on condition of anonymity that despite the adverse situation, the political activities of some of the 14-party alliance parties are somewhat ongoing. The Workers’ Party and JSD are active through internal meetings, discussions, and speeches and statements. The Arash Ali-led faction of the two-part Democratic Party has participated in the national day programs with party banners and leaders and activists. Another partner, Tarikat Federation, is trying to make its existence known by issuing statements from time to time. BSD (Rezaur) is holding internal meetings and is preparing for the party’s district-upazila conferences soon.
The remaining seven partner parties, Jatiya Party (JP), NAP, Samyabadi Dal, Communist Center, Gana Azadi League, Ganatantrik Mazdoor Party and Ganatantrik Party (Shahadat), have not been able to show any public or private activity so far. However, the leaders of the partner parties are trying to decide on a strategy to return to politics by continuing telephone communication among themselves.
Several leaders of the 14-party party have expressed their readiness to express their regret to the people of the country regarding their involvement with the Awami League. While talking to Samakal, several leaders of the alliance said that the Awami League-led 14-party alliance no longer exists. The alliance has no relevance in the existing politics. Now they want to do normal politics with party ideology. However, the issue of being in the alliance of the Awami League is over for them.
In a tone of regret, these leaders said that before the fall of the government, the leaders of the 14 parties who joined the alliance meetings at Ganabhaban at the call of Sheikh Hasina, advised to resolve the crisis through discussion and compromise with the protesting students. Sheikh Hasina or her government did not take into account that honest advice of the alliance partners.
When asked, the acting president of the Democratic Party, Professor Dr. Shahidullah Sikder, said, “We, as a big party, joined the 14-party alliance with the Awami League with the aim of building a Bangladesh that is the aspiration of the liberation war. But later, the Awami League and its government did not involve themselves in the theft of democracy, destruction of the election system, and corruption-looting and misrule. As a result, we are not willing to take responsibility for these.
Basad (Rezaur) convener Rezaur Rashid Khan said, “The responsibility for the misdeeds committed by the Awami League in the last 16 years lies entirely with them. Under no circumstances should the 14-party alliance partners. Even then, our party expresses its regret to the people of the country for being in the same alliance with the Awami League and wants to be active in normal political activities.”
