The BNP has finally announced a plan for nation-wide protests. Beginning with a sit in on June 9 to protest controversial High Court Appointments, Begum Khaleda Zia will lead a day long strike on June 27, against what she believes to be the sitting governments ill-thought policies that sell Bangladesh and Bangladeshi sovereignty down the river. Moreover, she’ll lead on June 17th, she’ll lead country-wide protests against what she believes to be illegitimate control of media, through the repression of journalists and closure of media outlets.
Citing the governments numerous deals with India on infrastructure and utilities, and wider control over education and education outcomes, the former Prime Minister declared that “The programs I am announcing today is just a warning to the government.”
She struck a defiant note when she claimed that were the government to intervene on the protests and strike, she might be forced to seek a tougher stance against the Awami League.
These are tough words, and behind them float legitimate and contrived arguments and appeals. It is surely right that the government should face a protest movement against its strong-armed actions against opposition media outlets. The Madisonian account of diversity of voices, as the armature for deliberation is surely relevant in Bangladeshi politics. The government’s actions have, so far, created a chastening impediment to reasoned argument in the country.
Begum Zia’s claim of protesting the government’s deal with India, on the other hand strikes one as ill-served nativism. Claiming that India will be better served by this deal–one that almost any non-partisan will recognize as being mutually advantageous–she has chosen to turn her back on a genuine policy proposal to generate the much needed energy for Bangladesh’s growth and sustenance.
Her claim countering the Awami League’s claim that the BNP did not add sufficient utilities capacity during its tenure is not so much self-serving as quite beside the point. She will not get re-elected a few years out based on the megawattage she was or was not able to deliver. She will be judged, however, on the merits of what she did while in opposition to further the interests of Bangladesh and Bangladeshis.
Though I applaud her move to protest the government’s infringement on media contracts, I fear her move to lead strikes will yield a negative pay off for both her country and her countrymen. With an anemic global economy choking the demand for Bangladesh’s manufacturing industries, any substantial barrier to production will do more harm than good for Bangladeshi interests.
