ANTI-AUTOCRACY MOVEMENT: 1990 joint declaration forgotten
The joint declaration made by the combine of three political alliances, which forced the ouster of the autocratic Ershad regime on 6 December, 1990, to establish representative government and the rule of law, among other things, in the country remains unfulfilled after more than three decades.
The other major pledges made in the declaration were to establish a secular democratic atmosphere, hold credible parliamentary elections under a non-party caretaker government, introduce a sovereign parliament, ensure independence of the judiciary, protect the fundamental rights of the people and maintain the spirit of the 1971 War of Independence.
Politicians belonging to the three alliances now blame each other for the non-fulfilment of the promises they jointly placed 31 years ago.
The combine comprised the eight-party alliance led by the now-ruling Awami League, the seven-party alliance headed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the left-leaning five-party alliance.
Most of the vows in the declaration have not materialised due to the autocratic attitude of the ruling Awami League, said Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee member Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, who was a minister in the 1991 and 2001 cabinets led by Khaleda Zia.
‘The Awami League has snatched the people’s voting right,’ he told New Age on Sunday, adding that the party is now moving in the opposite direction of the spirit of the anti-autocrat movement.
The party is destroying every institution that is important for democracy, only to remain in power, he said.
‘There is now no respect and unity among the political parties which were instrumental in bringing down the autocratic Ershad regime,’ he noted.
The three-alliance joint declaration was signed on 20 November 1990 as a part of the mass upsurge that deposed military dictator Ershad.
After Ershad’s fall, a non-party caretaker government, led by then chief justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, was installed on December 6, 1990, later observed as Democratic Day by some of the parties in the three alliances.
The BNP and the AL later formed fresh alliances at different times, including Ershad’s Jatiya Party, in their alliances based on electoral considerations to go to power.
Rashed Khan Menon, president of the Workers Party of Bangladesh, a member in the present political alliance led by the ruling Awami League, blamed the BNP for the nonfulfillment of most of the commitments made in the joint declaration.
‘The BNP started patronising anti-liberation force Jamaat-e-Islami for coming to power in 1991 ignoring the spirit of the Liberation War,’ said Menon, who was a minister in the 2014 cabinet led by AL president Sheikh Hasina,.
Communist Party of Bangladesh president Mujahidul Islam Selim said that the people had now lost their voting and other democratic rights, which constituted the main pledges during the movement against the Ershad regime.
‘Both the big political parties — the Awami Leaguy and the BNP — have ignored the pledges to serve their partisan interests,’ he said.
They have held democracy hostage pushing the country against the spirit of the liberation war, he further said.
Ruling AL presidium member Abdur Rahman said that the BNP and its allies stood as the main obstacle to the implementation of the joint declaration as they had always been out to destroy the communal harmony in the country.
The Awami League has been working tirelessly to implement the declaration of the three alliances made during the joint movement, he claimed.
Several political parties are likely to organise events to observe the 31st anniversary of the fall of Ershad, who was also made a special envoy of prime minister Sheikh Hasina with the rank and perks of a cabinet minister. He enjoyed the position until his death on July 14, 2019.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the BNP emphasised the need for making collective efforts to resist what it said the authoritarian one-party rule to re-establish democracy in the country and free ailing party chief Khaleda Zia to ensure quality treatment for her abroad.
DUCSU-90 and the all-party student combine that fought the Ershad rule will observe the day as the day of the fall of the autocrat towards freeing democracy.
They are scheduled to hold a discussion at the Institution of Engineers in the capital at 10:00am today on the occasion.
The Jatiya Party of Ershad, who took over power in a military coup on March 24, 1984, is a partner in the current AL-led alliance and is the opposition in the current parliament.
News Courtesy:
https://www.newagebd.net/article/156605/1990-joint-declaration-forgotten
