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From Wikipedia:
"On 13 November 2010 she was evicted from her 37 years old Dhaka Cantonment residence upon an order from High Court Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court. This 2.72 acre (around 8.5 bigha) house was originally the residence of the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCS) of Bangladesh Army used by then DCS Major General Ziaur Rahman. He kept the same residence even after he had become the President of Bangladesh. Moreover, the post of DCS of Bangladesh Army was abolished in his tenure. After assassination of Ziaur Rahman this house was leased-for-life to her at only Taka 1 by then Acting President Justice Abdus Sattar on 12 June 1981, along with another house (31 kaatha or 0.45 acre) in the leafy Gulshan Residential Area of Dhaka city, by then Army Chief of Bangladesh and Chief Martial Law Administrator Lieutenant General Hussain Mohammad Ershad in 15 June 1982.
Current Awami League government is planning to make apartment complex for the widows and children of 54 BDR officers killed in 2009 Bangladesh Rifles revolt (BDR Mutiny) at BDR's Pilkhana headquarters at Dhaka."
I hear that the Zia International airport is going to be renamed. What is the point in all this? The unfortunately named BNP will come back into power, and change the name back again in only a few years....waste of government time in terms of prioritizing work that is more important.
General Zia was a national hero who officially declared Independence of Bangladesh, and rallied the troops, and fought bravely for his country, whilst S M Rahman, gave a few stirring speeches just before the liberation war, without mobilizing the masses coherently for the Independence struggle. In January 1971, such was his political power he could have declared Bangladesh an Independent country, and the West Pakistanis with their one weak division couldn't have done much about it. But he dithered, and the nation paid dearly.
Now we have this episode of the eviction of the opposition leader from her apartment leased to her until her death by previous governments, in honor of her husband, himself martyred 29 years ago. Her husband was killed in an India backed coup of Indira Gandhi's making....which had been heavily destabilizing Bangladesh between 1975--1981.
This looks like political vengeance. First the airport renaming episode, and now this episode with the apartment where Begum Zia had lived for over three decades.
Some generalized points about a country that I choose not to write about (waste of my energy and time):
- The BNP will come back to power and overturn what ever decision the AL have made against Begum Zia and her family legacy. They will overturn such decisions with a vengeance once they come back into power, so why waste valuable political capital doing such futile political gesture politics?
- From 1996--1998, the Previous AL government seemed quite serious and constructive in terms of implementing a national political program to improve the country. However just after two years in power the previous AL government entered into the realm of gimmick politics, and silly slanging matches against the opposition, in Bangladesh and abroad. The country which had elected them to "govern" the country became fed up, and elected the BNP again in 2001. Exactly the same pattern seems to be following with the present AL government with perhaps an interval of just one year of relatively serious administration, and then into political gimmicks.
- Forcing a widow of a national hero, and the leader of the main opposition party from her apartment under the threat of law is LOW, politically, socially, morally and in many other ways, over the issue of a mere flat. This allows the BNP and Begum Zia to paint themselves as the victims, which she dually did, justified or unjustified. The general public will give their sympathies to her, naturally even if they don't like her party, and may even quickly forget the misdeeds of her administration in addition (2001--2006)"sympathy card".
- Politically this was a bad decision. This event puts the spotlight and free sympathy publicity on the BNP, so that they can cry rivers of tears. Instead what the AL government should be doing is focusing on publicity which paints them in a favorable light by opening bridges, roads, dams, factories, EPZ, ports, trading agreements with India, Turkey, China, ASEAN and so on. Positive action, positive spin..readying for the next election in December 2013. Instead the AL have provided a rally call, and "fire in the belly" of the BNP over a fucking flat. Bhooka !!
- The Zia family are so rich that the loss of this flat is not going to make much of a difference to them.
The AL is the natural Party of government since it is they who liberated the country and gave it birth. It would be almost romantic if they could finish one term with a reasonable administrative record, and they fulfilled all their election promises. That would be good for the AL, and for the country......otherwise my advice for the senior party members of the AL is have your foreign documents ready towards 2013.
