- Most of BNP's standing committee leaders could not come to politics from grassroots
- Many policymakers joined BNP after retiring from administrative officers
- Many leaders & activists including Mirza Fakhrul came from different ideologies and left politics
- Besides, Trinamool could not find a trusted leader in the bad times due to being bedridden for a long time
The grassroots level activist, leaders as well as political analysts is on the long discussion for reasons of failure of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which has been out of power for more than one and a half decades. There are many mysterious reasons behind the failure.
Millions of leaders and activists gathered in the program at a few hours' notice. Before the 12th election, grassroots leaders across the country, including Dhaka, have proved it by attending meetings and rallies. Thousands of leaders and activists have been imprisoned in the program, many have lost their lives, many are still homeless. Nevertheless, the grassroots and field-level leaders and activists were in the forefront of the one-point movement after the success of the central program. Despite being greedy, no one fell into the trap of the ruling government. Yet why did the movement not reap the fruits?
According to sources, most of the leaders of the standing committee of BNP could not come from the grassroots politics of Chatra Dal, Jubo Dal in their youth, retired from different political ideologies and administrative officials, became big leaders, policymakers overnight. In addition, many people are sick in bed during the crucial period of leadership. For this, the goal of the party is not being attained in the political field.
After talking with several political analysts, they said that everyone from the grassroots to the high command of the ruling Awami League (AL) is saying that Sheikh Hasina is the main leader of the AL and they have committed to obey her commands. But in BNP, many thing seems to be happening in Khaleda Zia's signal, and many people think that Tarique Zia's decision is the final decision. Again, a situation was created that Peter Haas would ease all the difficult paths of BNP. The ruling party workers went ahead in one message while the BNP leaders and activists looked at the three-way path. It is believed that the crisis of BNP's ideological politics is behind the creation of such a situation as all the policymakers of the ruling party have come to politics through the examination of students and youth. But those who are in BNP have become big leaders overnight by coming from different ideologies, different political parties. Such a situation would not have been created if those who were tortured and sacrificed during the student and youth days of BNP were in the leadership today.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was the general secretary of Dhaka University Chhatra Union during his student life and he was the president of the organization during the mass upsurge of 1969. After that, he was associated with the ideology of teacher and left politics for a long time. After the retirement of teaching in the 1990s, Mirza Fakhrul joined BNP and became the president of Thakurgaon district BNP. In the 1996 election, he was defeated by the Awami League candidate. Although he was elected in 2001, he did not have the good fortune to become a full minister. Mirza Fakhrul became the acting secretary general of the party after the death of Khandaker Delwar Hossain on March 20, 2011. He was relieved in 2016.
Since then, there is no good time in BNP. Besides, Mirza Fakhrul is also ill and has been admitted to the hospital many times due to breathing problems. There is a block in the internal carotid artery in the neck, complications in blood circulation. He has also been treated in Singapore several times. Besides, Mirza Fakhrul's doctors said more than once that he could not take excessive mental stress, he became ill when mental stress increased. Lastly, his wife Rahat Ara Begum also said that Mirza Fakhrul is very sick, a 75-year-old man must be released.
Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury did not have the opportunity to get involved in student or youth politics during his student life. After completing his studies in the '70s, he gave priority to domestic and foreign business. It is also said that he liked the politics of the Jatiya Party. After joining BNP, he became a big leader overnight under the influence of money. Another standing committee member of the party, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, has been controversial since the beginning of his politics. He was very close to Hussein Muhammad Ershad. A section of BNP itself has commented that he still has a deep connection with the politics of the ruling Awami family. He also became a member of parliament from Sirajganj-2 constituency on behalf of Jatiya Party. Mysteriously, he joined BNP and became the power minister, making BNP questionable worldwide and finally forced to resign.
It was not possible for Khaleda Zia to come to a big responsibility as she was identified as a leader of no confidence for a long time. When Khaleda Zia went to jail after being convicted before the 11th parliamentary election, she mysteriously became a member of the standing committee of BNP without a council. He fled the country before the 12th Parliament. According to unconfirmed sources in the party, he is in India. While talking about the current political situation in Bangladesh in The Hindu, he at one stage described BNP as a 'secular' party and said that BNP does not support 'political Islam'. Reacting to the controversy, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said, "This is not BNP's party statement, it is Tuku's own statement."
Another standing committee member of the party, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, was involved in progressive politics during his student life. However, he has remained a confidant of a large section of the party after being bloodied in the 11th and 12th parliamentary elections. Surprisingly, Begum Selima Rahman became a member of another standing committee keeping Khaleda Zia in jail. His own brother, Rashed Khan Menon, is the president of the Workers Party of Bangladesh. He has repeatedly become a member of parliament with the support of the ruling party. Although there is a difference with the ideology of politics, this leader is not far away from the shadow of the Awami family, according to the grassroots leaders of BNP.
BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain has been bedridden for the last seven months. He was taken back to Singapore a few days ago. Earlier, he took treatment there for more than two months. The senior BNP leader is suffering from brain hemorrhage. During treatment, he suffered repeated brain hemorrhage. He is still at risk. Jamiruddin Sarkar is also ill. Rafiqul Islam Miah is also bedridden. Salahuddin Ahmed is in exile. Mirza Abbas does not have the same role as in the past.
Political analyst Dr Dilara Chowdhury said, "BNP has a lot of popularity. There are millions of leaders. Due to their strong leadership, the fruits of the movement are not appeared. The leader's voice is not what it should be. Other than that, a lot is not hidden. Why these things are happening, now we are not saying these things, the party leaders are saying."
Asif Nazrul, professor of law at Dhaka University, said, "It will not be right for BNP to find only the failure of the movement. There are also reasons why the government has been in power for a long time, the use of the judiciary, police and administration as a whole, the war in Ukraine and Gaza, and Russia's new relationship with China. And I have said many times that the BNP high command does not see many things in time. In the 11th parliamentary election, the people of the whole country know that the voting was held at night and the secretary general of the party said then that BNP can win? We didn't understand what that meant, so we repeated."
ARS
