Even after independence, the children of many Awami League leaders were involved in JSD politics. Some people also joined Gono Bahini. But there is no such incident or any father has abandoned his son for this reason or any son has shot his father as a ‘public enemy’. Again, a father might have one son in the Student League and another in the Student Union, but this had no impact on either the family or the social fabric. This is natural in a democratic society. But if we try to force a son to join his father’s party or a father to join his son’s politics, there will be no separate parties in the country. There will be no diversity in thoughts and opinions.
When elections to local government bodies were non-partisan, there were many candidates from the same family. They will run their own campaigns. Husbands and wives, brothers, fathers and sons, father-in-laws and sons-in-law, uncles and nephews would compete for the same position. Following the introduction of party symbols in local government elections, divisions within households and localities emerged. People distanced themselves from each other. The common joys were destroyed and now there have been sharp divisions within the same parties. Different factions of the same party organize different programmes. They see each other as enemies.
Politics is the basis of running the state, but not of running human life. There is family and society outside politics. Have personal life. But our leaders have taken politics to such a level where walls divide houses. A father cannot accept his son’s politics. A son cannot tolerate his father’s politics. Is that why the boy tried to commit suicide after seeing his father’s picture in the BNP road march? What kind of politics is this!
*This column appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir.
Sohrab Hassan is the joint editor of Prothom Alo and a poet. they can be contacted [email protected]