Justice Must Be Served In Bangladesh For Two Ex-PMs
By GM Solaiman
09 May,
2008
Countercurrents.org
In
Bangladesh constitution, it is said that every one is equal in the
eyes of the law. Bangladesh has been ruled by two democratically elected
women for last 15 years. However, both of the former prime ministers
have accused the other one for serious corruption. In every meeting
they attended, in every press conference they attended, both of them
have said that the other one took billions of dollars in corruption.
They also have said that if they were elected, they would prosecute
the other one. Well, both Hasina and Khaleda got their chances. But
they never kept their promises to either prosecute the other one or
stop accusing the other. Mean while Bangladesh had been named as the
most corrupt nation in the world on their watch. Apparently, all these
talks were for one goal in mind. It was to get more votes, to get
to the power, and to do more corruption.
Two former prime minister of Bangladesh, Hasina and Khaleda, have been arrested by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) under anti-corruption drive. The ACC yesterday pressed charges against detained former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and 10 others for abuse of power and graft in awarding a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko. It is also processing formal charges against another former Prime Minister Sheik Hasina.
In Bangladesh
constitution, it is also said to uphold basic human
rights. We would like to believe that every one is innocent until
proven guilty by a court of law. The case now under proceeding by
Bangladesh courts. The due process will revel if they are indeed guilty
or not. As a bystander, I am also eagerly waiting for the decision.
This would also tell me if they have been telling us the truth when
they accused other one to be corrupted. Like any other thing in life,
you can use your glass half full or glass half empty scenario here.
I believe Hasina should be happy to know that finally charges had
been pressed against Khaleda. Can you imagine, for all these years,
she have been telling us that Khaleda is corrupt and must be punished.
Now it is beginning to happen. Similarly, Khaleda was also telling
us that Hasina is corrupt and must be punished. So, here we go, both
of them have been charged. Both of them must be very happy. All the
inhabitant of a country called Bangladesh now can live happily ever
after.
Not so
easy. Let us see what is happening in the ground. Today's
headline says "Release Hasina soon for polls". This is a
demand made by her party leaders. No need to do the court proceeding.
No need for justice, just release her. We will take her guilty or
not. Same goes for Khaleda's party. They demanded Khaleda's release.
Otherwise, they say, they will boycott the upcoming election. They
neither have time nor have appetite for any justice what so ever.
Just release them! Give the election and hand over the power to one
of them. I am not saying they are criminals, at least not before the
court rules as so. But how could a major political party demands unconditional
release of an accused
personal? Don't they have any respect for justice? Don't they have
any respect for the constitution? Why don't they demand the same
unconditional release for every one held behind the bar? Why don't
they demand to dissolve the courts and justice system in the country?
Why don't they demand to dissolve the constitution? Wait, if they
do, why do we need an election again?
I don't see this type of demand in any other democratic country. Can you imagine this in United States? Say trial is going on in federal courts, but Democratic Party or Republican Party is demanding the immediate release of that person. I believe governor Spitzer of New York must have made a big mistake. He should not have resigned. His party could have always demand that no action should be taken by court. That's all. Wait, this is united state and it is not the most corrupt country of the world.
Democracy does not mean an election only. It is not a means of getting into power regardless of guilty or not. In a democratic world, people elect their representative to be the law makers. Elected law makers make laws, but what for? So that the law is executed, isn't it? We must execute the law to find and punish the wrong doers. That is the whole point of election. Every political party has to understand and uphold this. If the political party leaders don't obey the law and do not have respect for the law and constitution, why would we need to elect them? What would they do after getting elected?
Justice must be served for these two former prime ministers along with others who are accused. If the court ruled that they are innocents, by all means, they should be free. If the court ruled that they are guilty, they must serve prison time like every body else. We must see that law has been followed. We must see that justice has been served. Only then we need to elect more law makers to make yet more laws. If we do not need any law to execute, we do not need any law makers either.
[GM Solaiman was born and brought up in Chandpur, Bangladesh. He is
now living in Silicon Valley, California. GM works in semiconductor
industry for living.He
can be reached at [email protected]]
