EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

That dark night in 1971

Remembering the martyred

Forty years ago tonight, seventy five million Bengalis were witness to an orgy of killing and pillage and rape by the Pakistan army equalled by few in modern history. At a time when the people of the then East Pakistan as well as West Pakistan looked forward to an honourable, democ-ratic solution to the political crisis caused by the machi-nations of a class of West Pakistani politicians and the military junta led by General Yahya Khan, the regime went for the dishonourable act of subverting the people's aspirations through a resort to force. Under what was eu-phemistically given out as Operation Searchlight, the state of Pakistan launched a genocide that would leave millions dead and the lives of those who survived changed forever.

On the night of March 25, 1971, it was plain deceit the junta resorted to. While on the one hand it gave the im-pression that a way out of the morass was being found, on the other it went busily preparing the army to unleash the calamity that eventually was not only to dash all hopes for democracy but also undermine the very foun-dations of the state of Pakistan. General Yahya Khan flew out of Dhaka secretly in the evening, but not before he had given the order to his officers to go for a military solu-tion to the problem. On that night of terror, thousands were murdered by the soldiers. Among those killed were respected academics, students, policemen, East Pakistan Rifles personnel, rickshaw pullers, indeed citizens from all walks of life. The brutality of the Pakistan army ex-tended to the Central Shaheed Minar and Kalibari at the Race Course (today's Suhrawardy Udyan), which the sol-diers destroyed in unmitigated frenzy.

It was a night of unspeakable horror and unadulter-ated evil the Bengali nation went through on March 25, 1971. We remember those who died on that night and on all the days and nights that followed, right till our achievement of victory. Their sacrifices were to pave the road to our freedom. And those who killed on that night were forever tainted by ignominy. 

No election to Zilla Parishad

The issue needs a rethink

The Zilla Parishads are now set to have government-appointed chairmen. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, while informing the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) of the govern-ment's decision, has, however, assured the nation that the objective of this arrangement is to strengthen the lo-cal government system.

The prime minister's assurances aside, what still baf-fles comprehension is how can a non-elected body strengthen the local government system?

It is worthwhile to note that the article 59 of the Con-stitution has made it quite clear that “Local Government in every administrative unit of the Republic shall be en-trusted to bodies, composed of persons elected in accor-dance with law.” Oddly though, as far as the tradition goes, no election was ever held to form Zilla Parishad bodies. The practice of appointing MPs as Zilla Parishad chairmen were introduced during the rule of Ershad in 1988 under, Zilla Parishad Act. However, in 2000 the then Awami League government by repealing that Act framed another law that required an elected body to constitute Zilla Parishad.

So, the question that naturally arises is what exigency has come about now that the/ government is shifting from its original stance in favour of this new arrange-ment? The 15-member Zilla parishad conceived of in this scheme will be but the same old system of selecting rather than electing a Zilla parishad body, but presented in a new package, though not clearly outlined.

We would like to point out that a non-elected local government body runs the risk of being tinkered by the bureaucracy or the party in power. We also know from previous experience, how these local government bodies became ineffectual as well as a tool to serve the purpose of the executives of the state. Though elected local gov-ernment bodies can also be tampered with as far as its autonomy goes, there is still room for accountability in an elected body.

If the government is earnest about strengthening the Zilla Parishad, as the prime minister has given out at the JS, it would do well to have a rethink of its present stance and thereby live up to the spirit of the constitution.