After independence, the main opposition parties during Bangabandhu’s government were JSD, NAP, Communist Party, Sarbahara, etc. Many of today’s BNP and Jamaat members were members of these parties at that time. If you look at the newspapers of that time, you will see that these opposition parties called Bangabandhu’s government a dictatorial government.
During the time of Bangabandhu and Ziaur Rahman’s governments, opposition parties openly protested against the ‘dictatorial government’ in their own words and faced imprisonment, torture, and killings. The opposition parties have also labeled the Ershad, Khaleda Zia, and Sheikh Hasina governments in the same way and carried out bloody movements. Corruption, murder, and land grabbing have been major allegations against all governments, and after a change of government, only the faces of the looters have changed. Old newspapers will make this clear.
So, what’s the bottom line? There hasn’t been a government in this country—be it Mujib’s, Zia’s, Ershad’s, or Khaleda Zia’s—that hasn’t faced protests, allegations of corruption and murder, or accusations of authoritarianism. The only difference has been the political advantage; opposition parties have switched sides to grab a piece of the power pie. Inu Menon, once a hero of the 1990 anti-Ershad movement, is now labeled a ‘razakar’ in 2024. Those who were once actual razakars are now heroes of ’24’. The characters, statements, and positions of opposition parties have changed significantly from the Mujib government in 1972 to the Sheikh Hasina government in 2024.
In 1990-91, Ershad was considered untouchable. Many objected to him participating in the 1991 elections. Even though others were allowed to participate, he wasn’t given the opportunity to speak on radio or TV. But in 1996, when forming the government, both the BNP and Awami League tried hard to bring Ershad into their fold.
Even the offers made to Ershad to send him to jail are clearly mentioned in books by Moudud Ahmed and many other writers. Subsequently, Ershad was sometimes included in the four-party alliance, sometimes in the grand alliance, proving that everything the opposition parties said about Ershad during his regime was merely a game of political bargaining.
After the genuine people’s uprising in 2024, when thousands of students shed their blood, we see that the political calculations and self-serving games of many have not changed.
Even after such a major change, no political party came to power. With Dr. Yunus leading an interim government, within just a month, the extortionists in markets, terminals, etc., have simply changed hands. Who are they? Even then, a certain group of partisan, blind party followers, hiding the smell of their own dens, go around sniffing the scent of others’ backsides, which does not indicate a good future at all!
