National Consensus Government for Ten Years?
October 14th, 2007
Professor Dr Badruddoza Chowdhury, the former BNP nominated President of Bangladesh, now leading another new political party, BIKALPA DHARA, has put up a suggestion for the country to have a ‘National Consensus Government for Ten Years’ that should be formed following the scheduled national election in 2008, and that to continue until 2018 even if there could be another election in between in 2013. He has no doubt demonstrated his sincerity and honesty in making the extra-constitutional proposal so far as his wish is concerned for end of envy and personal enmity between political opponents, doing away with politics of forced shut downs, destruction and arson of public properties, street fights between political rivals, reprisal killings of each other, that is, so far as had been in the past recurring politics of muscle power should no more prevail in the country in future and instead civilized and sober mode of social democratic practices should take root for everyday behavior for all citizens including, of course, of the political activists and for the next progeny. One must wonder if he was at all practical or has been having only daydream never to be realized.
Consensus, as Dr Chowdhury proposed, presupposes unity of thought and belief. No agreement in thought process or belief no consensus can be reached; even if some agreement were reached keeping difference in belief and thought, that consensus would hardly be durable. In Bangladesh politics, there exists in reality wide differences in belief and thought that have been continuing not for short period but for long time extending over centuries. Unity of geography, language, and political struggle for attaining some common goal, though at times, had apparent unity but in little course of time the unity fell apart as soon as the temporary goal had been attained. That was what happened even in the 1971 war of independence. Even the charismatic political personality of late 1960s and early 1970s of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman failed to keep on sustained unity of thought and action in post 1971 Bangladesh. Unfortunately when he tried to force on the people his own unity of thought in the guise of the lone party BAKSAL in early 1975, he ended up very sadly soon after within eight months of the imposed unity. The story did not end there. Soon after his fall from absolute power, the country made a fresh start parting away from the unity concept Mujib intended to sell and impose on the people. The failure was not for any other reason but for difference in thought process and ingrained belief of the common people that had been well n