THE involvement of Bangladesh Nationalist Party people in undemocratic and often illegal activities, a corrupt practice that they were fiercely critical of during the tenure of the toppled Awami League, is disconcerting. The son of a former BNP general secretary, along with a leader of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal, has claimed the position of the president of the Motalib Plaza Shop Owners鈥� Association without taking part in an election to take control of the management of the multi-storey market in Dhaka. A number of shop owners allege that the committee, dominated by people affiliated to the local Awami League, was announced without an election in May 2022 and the members went into hiding after the fall of the Awami League government in August. The association has held no elections since 2003. Against this backdrop, shop owners hoped to hold a proper election soon, but the BNP people showed no regard for democratic governance. Despite repeated warnings by the party leadership, BNP people鈥檚 continued attempt at taking control of markets or participating in extortion is worrying. This suggests that the party needs to do much more to demonstrate its commitment to democratic values.
The Motalib Plaza incident is nothing isolated. Immediately after the fall of the Awami League, most local offices of the Awami League and its organisations have either been burnt or taken over by students and youth wings of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Many other incidents of the like by people in the party wings, civil servants, and professional groups have tried to establish their control in various sectors in the past weeks. People inclined to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party forcibly took control of the Shimulia ferry terminal, the fish market and trawler docks at Lauhajang in Munshiganj allegedly by threatening and assaulting the rightful leaseholders. They have established a lucrative extortion racket, collecting hundreds of thousands of takas every day. Many other terminals, markets, transport hubs, associations, footpath, slums and such public spaces that were previously controlled by or leased out to the Awami League people have reportedly been captured by BNP people. The party has already acknowledged the problem and suspended about 20 leaders and activists for their involvement in such undemocratic and illegal activities, but the actions do not appear to have been effective. The law enforcement agencies should also play a role so that no extortionist syndicate is replaced with another.
The fall of the authoritarian Awami League regime is a result of protests of the Students against Discrimination and people鈥檚 growing displeasure at the ideologically and financially corrupt mainstream political culture marked with violence, extortion and illegal encroachment. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party and any other political parties should, therefore, keep off the notorious legacy of illegal occupation, extortion and coercive politics. The government should take early steps to attend to such menace.
