December  2001 
Cover Story


Pawns in the power game

Bangla Hindus became an inevitable target, since in popular perception, they are seen as a vote bank for the Awami League

BY HAMEEDA HOSSAIN

Elections to the national parliament in Bangladesh were announced for October 1, 2001. As the country
moved closer to the polls, the national print media, in September, reported an escalation in political violence between the two major contenders to power, the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Some of these reports also mentioned incidents of violence against and intimidation of Hindu voters in particular constituencies. Quoting victims, the reports noted that gangs of young men had threatened Hindus to stay away from the polls. Perhaps taking note of these warning signals, the chief adviser to the caretaker government addressed a press conference on September 17, giving a reassurance that adequate protection would be provided for minorities and women to exercise their right to vote.

A correct diagnosis of this outburst of violence would not ascribe it simply to communal tendencies within the community, even though the main target was a single community. Given the uniformity of behaviour and the nature of the violence perpetrated by gangs of young men, we need to situate it in the growing political confrontation between the two major parties in the last decade, second, as a symptom of majoritarian populism and third, to materialist expectations.

We also need to question how the political and social framework has encouraged discrimination and even marginalisation of vulnerable groups. Where responses by the state and political parties have been ineffective, can protests by socially conscious groups, support to the victims or legal redress act as a sufficient deterrent against the violation of constitutional and human rights of vulnerable communities?

 

Anatomy of violence

Violence in the political culture of Bangladesh has been raised as a matter of serious concern by the media and all concerned citizens’ groups. The two main contenders for power, the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have openly maintained armed cadres to settle personal and political conflicts. Therefore, violence and intimidation have not been uncommon in election campaigns. But 270 political killings in the run up to the 2001 elections exceeded by all counts the violence in previous elections.

The media drew attention to attacks on individuals and property of Hindus, damage to their places and objects of worship, incidents of rape, looting of houses and extortion. Newspaper scans suggested that 80 incidents occurred between 15 to 30 September, 131 in the first fifteen days in October and 119 in the latter half of October. This was out of a total of 64,000 villages that make up Bangladesh and appeared to be concentrated in the south west of Bangladesh, in the border divisions of Khulna and Borishal, as well as in Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi.

Although it abated in November, stories of extortion continued to filter through, leading to internal displacement of some families, or their temporary migration to West Bengal, as reported by a BBC correspondent.

While the Hindu community suffered from a high sense of insecurity and exclusion, the lawless methods used to control votes, or to deprive citizens of their rights to participation shocked sensible, liberal opinion in Bangladesh. The blatant manifestation of a gang culture that spelt intolerance was seen as a danger signal for social stability, and not just for one community.

 

Background to elections in 2001

Since Bangladesh emerged from military rule in 1991, three elections have been held to the national Parliament. A broad based popular movement had succeeded in reviving "parliamentary democracy". The main form of participation was through elections, which have generally excited considerable public interest. Voting trends show that the two major parties have achieved a close balance in electoral strength. A marginal difference of 2 to 3 per cent in votes has led alternately to victory of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1991 and 2001 and to the Awami League in 1996.

This indicates that each party can rely upon a distinct and reliable constituency. Each party, therefore, stands to gain by even a slight shift in the voting pattern. This can be achieved by two strategies: through an alliance with other vote catchers, or by deterring supporters of rival parties, particularly from vulnerable groups or communities, from going to the polls.

In preparation for each election, major political parties have used public campaigns to persuade voters. It is also not uncommon for them to use force or intimidation to prevent obvious opponents or undecided voters to stay away from the polls. In each election, there is a degree of unfair practice, such as false voting, deterring voters from going to the polls, over expenditure and so on. But since winning is so important, more serious but less visible violations of election rules and code of conduct are also resorted to.

The stake in state power is essential for political survival. Preparations for elections therefore take on the semblance of combat, as public smear campaigns and resort to muscle and money degenerate into armed confrontation. Over the years, each major party has nurtured party ‘cadres’ or ‘activists’, whose ‘militancy’ is brought into play to win elections.

Because of these undemocratic tendencies, and the tendency of the ruling party to manipulate results, an innovative system of a caretaker government was instituted by a constitutional amendment in 1996. The immediately retired Chief Justice is appointed as the chief adviser, at the conclusion of the term of the previous government, main responsibility for him and his cabinet of advisers being to hold elections within 90 days. This system was introduced in 1991, after the fall of General Ershad, and has now become a constitutional requirement.

Notwithstanding these arrangements adopted by Parliament, after each election the losing party has rejected the polls as being unfair. This is why the loser usually renounces election results as being manipulated and tries to find means to delegitimise the results. This was the case in 1991, in 1996 and in 2001. Each ruling party has also tried to ensure its return to power through bureaucratic manipulations, use of public resources and facilities.

Intimidation of voters is also resorted to in some constituencies. While political candidates take to the hustings to woo voters, the party cadres find more militant and sometimes devious ways to pursue victory for their candidate. One of these is to immobilise the rival vote banks.

The Hindus became an inevitable target, since in popular perception, they are seen as a vote bank for the Awami League. In many cases, both the victims and witnesses have identified bands of young armed men, between the ages of 15 to 30 years, armed and riding on Hondas, as responsible for the attacks. The administration remained passive. Where the police are required to maintain law and order, they remained passive on the plea that no complaints were filed with them. Particularly after the election results became clear on October 2, the gangs acquired greater impunity.

The projection of majoritarian symbols in appealing for votes was seen to isolate the voters by religion and may have made easy targets of the Hindu community. In one or two incidents, some ethnic communities were also victimised. Earlier constitutional amendments had already tended to divide Bangladesh by religious affiliation. Thus the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1977 eliminated the principle of secularism, and the Eighth Amendment made Islam a state religion.

These had encouraged communalism and discouraged pluralism, which should have influenced social and political discourse in Bangladesh. The incidents of extortion and looting would suggest that the gangs were also propelled by materialistic temptations and that this could have been an easy sop for those who helped swing the votes.

 

State and political response

The media highlighted early signals of the violence reported by their district correspondents. The election commission had earlier identified 177 violence prone constituencies, 70 high–risk constituencies and 53 risk free constituencies. The army, which had been called in on September 18 to assist the civil administration in maintaining peace during the elections in the districts of Feni, Munshiganj and Bhola, was withdrawn, perhaps unwisely, immediately after the polls were completed.

The prognostications of violence were abundantly clear. Nevertheless, effective directions by the caretaker government to prevent the situation from degenerating into wide scale violence were missing. The government controlled electronic media could have been put to more imaginative use. Members of the government did not feel obliged to visit the concerned areas, which could have helped in the social mobilisation of concerned citizens in the community and alerted the local administration.

Political response has been totally short–sighted and guided by assertion of brute strength on the one hand and evasion of responsibilities towards the voters. A sensitive response called for elected representatives of both parties to make visible efforts in their constituencies to maintain peace. The situation demanded that the ruling party representatives rein in their gangs, and reach out to the losers so that both sides could come together to maintain peace and come to the aid of the Hindu community, who were the main victims.

The winning candidates from both parties, however, were not to be found in their constituencies, but were in Dhaka, as soon as results were announced. Candidates from the ruling party were there, allegedly to firm up their benefits and privileges. Winning candidates from the Awami League were also in Dhaka, preparing to protest the violence. As a result, the Hindu community were left in greater fear and insecurity.

Voting has become a high–risk right for ordinary citizens to exercise. Gains of an electoral victory, or capitalizsing on electoral losses became short-term objectives. More serious political concern would have led the winning party to take special ameliorative measures. There was nothing to prevent the leaders of the incumbent party to visit the sites or to issue reassuring statements even before they were sworn in. The opposition party too would have done well to stand by its voters.

The new government was sworn in on October 11. And, instead of containing the disaster, cover up attempts were resorted to. The home minister, after a helicopter trip over Ramshil in Gopalganj, where many of the Hindus from Aghailjhora and Gournadi in Borishal, had taken shelter on open grounds, claimed that the stories of violence against Hindus were contrived or exaggerated, and were a conspiracy against the new government.

The Prime Minister, soon after her swearing in had gone to Saudi Arabia, and upon her return on October 15 said that her government would instruct the Bangladesh Rifles and police to act immediately against the violators and to maintain law and order. It is not clear if any such action was taken but subsequently the Prime Minister also made references to ‘conspiracy’ and ‘exaggerated stories’.

The Durga Puja, the largest Hindu festival was held on October 22. It usually draws a large number of devotees. This year it was a subdued event. The government ministers made public statements asking the Hindus to celebrate the event and assuring them of protection. But as a mark of protest, there was no music and no lights; black banners were hung along the mandaps. While the mandaps were crowded with devotees and visitors in the cities, there were reports of extortion and breaking of idols from some villages.

As pressure grew for action by the government and even diplomatic representatives expressed their concern, on November 8 the government, appointed a four–member commission constituted by secretaries, to investigate the incidents. This was a closed committee that has not announced any schedule for submission of its report or to meet with victims.

Instead, sporadic news items have appeared in the press, in which a few Hindus are reported to have denied the violence. This would suggest that bureaucratic manipulations are directed at covering up rather than redressing the wrongs or repairing the damage.

The Awami League lost the elections but gained 40 per cent of the votes, which was high enough for them to retain confidence in their support throughout the country. However, they, too, were not on the scene, even in those constituencies where some of them had won with a massive majority. It was only a few weeks later that Awami League leaders starting touring the affected areas, providing sympathy and protesting the atrocities. If the two parties had acted with concern for citizens and had acted in time, the Hindu community would not have become hostage to party vandals.

 

Citizens’ Protests

The media provided early warning signals, and through both their columns and editorials, counselled restraint and reason and called for action by the government and political leaders. An exception was the right wing media, which blacked out the news. Many citizens’ groups, human rights and women’s rights activists, both in Dhaka and in the local communities, voiced immediate protests.

Organisations such as Sommilito Samajik Andolon, Bangladesh Mohila Porishod, Nari Pokkhyo, Citizens’ Voice, Association for Community Development and many other informal groups started visiting the sites, to meet with the victims and provide moral and other support. Recently, these independent initiatives have led to the formation of a 51–member National Citizen’s Committee convened by Dr Anisuzaman, a well-known and senior member of the University of Dhaka.

The testimonies they have documented, of incidents in Bhola, Bagerhat, Borishal and Chittagong, among many other places, provide convincing evidence of administrative lapses and political failures, which have cynically used voters but have offered no security to citizens. Evidence also points to the uncontrolled operation of party cadres, whose newly acquired impunity endangers civil life and civic values in Bangladesh.

Two murders in Chittagong in November, one of a college principal and the other of a temple devotee in Mireserai, provide more stark evidence. In the first case, a case was filed and two college colleagues, reported to be members of the Jamaat-i-Islami, a fundamentalist party, (two of whose members sit in the Cabinet), have been detained for questioning. In the second instance, the perpetrators have been identified.

Following these incidents, and realising the victims’ constraints in taking legal action because of fear and intimidation, Ain–o–Salish Kendro (ASK) filed a public interest litigation in the High Court on November 24 to ask for a proper investigation into the incidents, on why action was not taken against the perpetrators, and to provide compensation to the victims.

The High Court issued a rule nisi on 27 November, asking the government of Bangladesh to explain within four weeks why it should not be asked to take proper steps to protect the country’s religious minorities from terrorist attacks and harassment. The court further asked the government to investigate into the attacks on religious minorities and to submit a report on the matter by January 15.

Because there had been no public announcement by the government regarding arrangements for a public enquiry, ASK once again wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs, to make the schedule of enquiry public so that victims and concerned witnesses could record their testimonies. These accounts would provide a fuller picture of the victimisation and marginal-isation of minorities, which has been brought about through the prevailing politics of vendetta and vote capturing.

The government will no doubt try to muster administrative explanations, but the independent enquiries being conducted by different organisations will provide important evidence. And the support given by different groups should help build the confidence of the Hindu community which has been sadly shattered by recent events.

Legal cases, such as this one, take a long time to conclude but they are an important means of establishing the evidence of particular incidents as well as creating a general environment. By seeking justice against violence, this case is an important signal that minorities are equal citizens of Bangladesh and are entitled to full rights and protection under the Constitution. Nor, indeed, should any persons with affiliations based on religion, ethnicity or gender be disenfranchised or used as electoral fodder by political parties. Because their exclusion would spell disaster for society itself, as it would subvert its democratic aspirations. It is important for all, irrespective of political affiliation, to work towards pluralism and effective democratic participation, if citizenship is to have any meaning in Bangladesh. 

(The writer is director research at Ain–o–Salish Kendro (ASK) in Dhaka and a member of the bureau of South Asians for Human Rights, a recently formed regional human rights organisation. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone). 

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Sad tales of gang–rape of minority women, attacks on Hindus

Staff Correspondent

(As is often the case in India, both the caretaker government that supervised the elections and the new government led by Begum Khaleda Zia and the police machinery did precious little to stop the killing of Bangla Hindus, rape of their women and the loot and arson of their property. It has fallen to the lot of independent women’s organisations, human rights groups and other civil society actors to stand by Bangladesh’s victimised minority and demand justice. Reportedly, much of the press, too, has done its job. Reproduced below, as an example, is a report published by the Daily Star, Dhaka, on October 25, with the original heading.)

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP) yesterday observed that the repression on minority communities in the country was taking a serious turn as the administration refrained from taking any action against the attackers.

The women’s organisation further observed that the authorities concerned were refusing to accept the fact that soon after the election, the minorities were subjected to terrorist attacks. Minority women were specially the victims of rape and sexual harassment by political terrorists in many places in the country.

Acting General Secretary of the BMP, Dr Maleka Banu narrated stories of some of the repressed women at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday.

The BMP sent a team comprising its central committee leaders to Ramshil at Kotalipara and some other places in Bagerhat district to investigate the incidents of rape committed against minority women.

The team interviewed 10 tortured women between the ages of 13 and 45 at Ramshil. Out of them, six were abducted by terrorists and gang-raped repeatedly for several days. Many of them were raped even in front of their male family members and parents.

In Bagerhat district, the team talked with 15 women at Mollarhat, Fakirhat, Paglabazar, Baragaola, Mejagaola, Baraigatha, Poddarbari, Mothertuli, and Surigathi. Some of them were raped while the others were sexually harassed. The BMP also found four rape victims at Shriramkhati, two of them died from the torture.

The BMP expressed its utter surprise about the remarks made by the home minister and other government officials who termed the violence on minority women in many places ‘set game’, ‘rumour’ and ‘exaggerated descriptions.’

"This is a crisis point for the country," Maleka Banu said. "But the leaders of both the government and the opposition parties are not playing their due roles."

Her organisation demanded of the government to take immediate administrative steps against the culprits, give them the highest punishment for raping, and pay compensation to the affected families.

The BMP urged all political parties and conscientious citizens to come forward with a helping hand towards the minority communities.

The BMP would provide legal assistance to the repressed women in filing cases against the culprits.

It will hold a protest rally in front of the National Museum at 4 pm today to mobilise public support against the violence on minority women.

The press conference was also attended by Hena Das, chairperson of BMP, Bela Nabi, vice–president, BMP, Chitra Bhattacharya, Rakhi Das Purkawastha and Rekha Choudhury. 

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