7-21-07, 11:17 am
Six months have passed since the Caretaker Government (CG) led by Dr. Fakruddin Ahmed has taken office. A grave crisis had evolved in the country prior to the assumption of power by this CG. After taking power the CG canceled the scheduled farcical elections of 22 January, reconstituted the Election Commission, declared certain important measures for electoral reform, reconstituted the Anti-Corruption Commission and it has embarked on a forceful campaign against corruption, arrested several high profile corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, and revealed several startling cases of plunder.
These actions brought hope to the people. But this CG has not succeeded in mitigating the sufferings of the common person. Rather, the successive rise in price of essentials, electricity and fuel etc, the indiscriminate eviction of hawkers and slum dwellers, the crisis in supply of electricity and fertilizers etc. has made life more miserable for the common man.
The CG had begun to take action against hoarders but retreated within a few days in the face of organized sabotage threatened by the vested interest groups of' 'market syndicate,' and tried to appease them through compromises.
But prices have continued to rise. The CG set up several kitchen markets run by paramilitary BDR forces in Dhaka city, and though it brought some positive impact locally, it was conducted in too small a scale to have any tangible effect on the overall level of prices in the wholesale and retail markets nationally. CPB proposed 14 concrete steps for effectively controlling price-rise, but the CG has taken almost no steps in that direction.
The coming to light of the stories of plunder and corruption, of the kingly wealth accumulated by the high-ups of bourgeois political parties, bureaucracy and business, of 'nomination-commerce' by the 'big parties,' of lack of democracy inside these political parties, of cronyism and nepotism practiced by the 'two ladies' and other leaders of bourgeois parties etc, have amply demonstrated how deep is the control of foreign and domestic plundering mafia syndicate over our society, economy and politics. Added to this is the ever-increasing danger of the communalism, fundamentalism, and armed fascist 'Talebani' terror-groups.
The most important and urgent task today is to free the country from the powerful national and international forces of plunder and of fundamentalist terror. It is not possible to defeat such powerfully entrenched forces of vested interest through bureaucratic methods and by only the issuing of decrees and commands.
The active and conscious role of the people is essential to ensure success. This much needed role of the people cannot be expected to materialise if in the name of State of Emergency the fundamental rights of the people, political activities, trade union rights etc. are kept suspended and the misery in the life of the people is allowed to accentuate. Mass discontent and popular street agitation cannot be prevented by simply forcing good or bad 'political reforms,' while the crisis in the daily life of the people continues to increase, and such a situation will be utilized by the plunderers of the ruling class and the reactionary extremist communal forces to re-establish themselves with renewed vigor.
It is the socio-economic system of dependent, parasitic and plundering capitalism that is the root cause of the aggravating and all pervasive crisis in the country. Democracy and democratic institutions have also been thrown into a crisis as a consequence. But the crisis of democracy cannot be solved by 'controlling democracy,' rather it can only be solved by providing 'more democracy.' We have the experiences of Ayub regime of the Pakistani days, and of the regimes of Zia and then of Ershad in Bangladesh, as to the ultimate results of 'controlled democracy.' This is why the task of safeguarding and extending democratic rights is so important for the people, and particularly for the toiling people of the country.
The governments of the recent past had conspired to sell off our gas, coal, mineral resources etc. to foreign multinational companies. The imperialist forces also have geo-political interests in Bangladesh. They want to establish control over Chittagong port and set up navel presence and espionage centre in our territory. They want to use Bangladesh in their 'containment of China' strategy and as a bargaining chip by using Bangladesh as a tool for 'arm-twisting' India into complete subservience to imperialist interests. These anti-national plans of imperialism are still continuing.
Public sector banks have been privatized, Biman, the national airline, has been converted to a private company, work towards privatization of the ports has been started, and Bangladesh has been further tied up in the tentacles of neo-liberal policies of World Bank and IMF. United resistance of the masses have to be organized against this imperialist blue print.
Though the CG has implemented death sentence against some militant fundamentalist leaders, these fascist communal forces along with their armed groups have re-organized themselves with altered names, and they continue to pose a grave danger.
Strangely however, the Jamat-i-Islam, the ideological umbrella and the source of cadres and funds for all the fundamentalist outfits, has remained almost untouched in the anti-corruption and anti-crime crack down of the government, in spite of the fact that it shares equal responsibility with BNP for the crimes committed during the last alliance government, led by BNP and Jamat.
Developing a united resistance of the masses against these dark forces continues to remain the most urgent task today. The struggle against communalism and fundamentalism has to be widened, deepened and taken to the grass roots and will have to incorporate an invigorated cultural, ideological, social movement and carried on with patience and hard endeavor.
The CG has taken certain steps toward conducting a free and fair election. The Election Commission has been re-organized, work to prepare voters list with photographs has been started, and proposals for electoral reform have been drafted CPB.
The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) had put forward its 53-point proposal for electoral reform, and quite a few of these have found a place in the draft reform proposals of the EC. The struggle for full implementation of 53-point proposal of CPB will have to be continued. Election process must be freed from the influence of money and muscle power, from communal propaganda and from administrative manipulation. For this it is necessary to uproot the economic and social basis of corruption, crime, plunder, gangsterism, namely the plundering-capitalist system. This aim can be achieved only through the fulfillment of a Revolutionary Democratic Transformation of the country.
Recently, the big bourgous parties have come up with moves for inner party 'reforms.' Signs of split within Awami League and BNP have arisen due to this move. LDP and JP have already been split up. Changing of the supreme leader has turned out to be the central point of these reform initiatives. The more fundamental aspects where reforms are essential are being pushed to the background. Many of the prominent leaders of these parties, be they in favour or against reform have already been arrested for corruption or even if they are allowed to remain free are publicly perceived to be corrupt. In this situation Nobel laureate Dr. Md. Yunus had started a move to form a new political party, but having not received enthusiastic public response, he abandoned his plans. Several other new initiatives to form political parties or fronts are being undertaken. These forces are being allowed to carry on political meetings and discussions freely whereas even parlor politics remains forbidden for all others, and this discrepancy is raising many questions among the people.
The principal political task in front of us today is:
1. Free the country from the danger of Jamat and other fundamentalist forces. Safeguard, extend and deepen democracy, democratic rule and particularly the democratic rights of the people.
2. Build up a popular and strong left-democratic alternative, and through advances in this work, remove the monopoly control of AL and BNP over the political scenario in the country.
The strength of the left forces depend primarily on the force of the organized struggle of workers, khetmojurs, peasants and toiling people. Emphasis should be given to carrying on this task, and raising it to a new level. Importance must also be given towards building up a united polarization of left forces.
Patient and unwavering efforts have to be carried out to remove the differences among the left forces and bring them together.
While carrying on the work of building up a left-democratic alternative as the primary task, due importance will have to the given to the task of fighting communal danger and for safeguarding democracy and democratic rights. CPB and other left forces must fight on these questions with independent initiative, but must also undertake concentric, parallel and simultaneous actions along with other democratic forces on these issues. But while doing this, care must be taken so that the credibility and good will of CPB and left forces are not made use of by publicly hated corrupt persons for their rehabilitation in politics.
The development of left-democratic forces depends on the strength, capability, efficiency and staunchness of CPB. The correct political position adopted by CPB during the recent developments of the past two years has greatly enhanced the prestige of CPB. This has created an opportunity for extending the party organization and strengthening its mass basis. To utilize this opportunity and build up a strong Communist Party is not only a requirement of the situation, it is a practical and feasible goal also. All party members shall have to come forward to fulfill this goal – this is the call of the day.
