Recall how a year ago the Awami League general secretary had reacted to calls for Sheikh Hasina’s resignation by saying that if the BNP came to power they would wipe out the Awami League overnight. “They say they won’t harm the Awami League if they come to power. How lovely! They have finished us off anyway. If they come to power they will finish the job in one night,” he had said.
Before Obaidul Quader, another politician made an even more terrifying prediction. Krishak Sramik Janata League president Bangabir Quader Siddique (Bir Uttam) said on March 23, 2022, “Today I am worried that if the government is removed and the BNP comes to power, Bangabandhu Government Medical College will be closed. Those who are there will be thrown out. If Tariq Rahman comes to power, 500,000 people will die in a day.”
Whatever wipeout the Awami League has faced has happened in broad daylight, not in the dark of night, and all this has happened because of the party chief’s harsh policies and his fleeing. How much of the party is left, or will remain, only the future will tell. Kader Siddiqui can say, Tariq has not yet come to power. No murder can be forgiven. All murders, attacks and looting must be investigated and face justice.
Those who said “there is no alternative to Sheikh Hasina” spread fear about dire circumstances. That did not happen. But this does not lead to complacency. Instead, more attention needs to be paid to ensuring the rule of law to ensure a positive outcome of the August 5 change and move towards full democracy. And justice must be ensured for whatever killings and crimes have taken place.
Violence has long been a part of our politics. University campuses are no exception. Unfortunately, there is no justice for the killings or brutality that takes place on campuses. Apart from the Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party, student organisations of parties that have never come to power have also been active in such violence. But in the last 15 years, the aggression of the Chhatra League has broken all records.