A new dawn has ushered in, in Bangladesh
A vote revolution with smiling faces of voters betided on 30 December in the national polls in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Awami League has won a landslide victory in the elections. It is a significant victory for Bangladesh’s democracy, secularism, massive development works and true spirits of our glorious Liberation War of 1971. And definitely, it has ushered in a new era in Bangladesh. Many foreign and local election observers were allowed to monitor this voting revolution in Bangladesh. International monitors have largely praised the conduct of the election.
A loud and familiar chant would soon ring out across the country when the newly elected 11th parliament will go into session. “Joy Bangla! Joy Bangabandu!” the crowds will roar in unison, echoing the ruling AL party’s election campaign slogan for PM Sheikh Hasina to get in there for the 4th time in the hope that Banglasesh’s premier will deliver a new era of democracy, prosperity and peace. She has reached out to the voters and urged the nation to look forward and work towards helping the country’s economy grow.
People hope the vision of a new and prosperous Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, we all want is a shared one and transcends political party lines. As the would be PM afresh, we hope she will pledge to act fairly and impartially, without fear or favour for people of all classes and of all religions. We believe she could see all the mistakes that she made in the past and she will learn many things from the past history and run the state affairs aright. She now has become the mother figure of our people of this land so we must put our trust in her.
We are all Bangladesh’s people; what unites us is greater than what could ever divide us. Reprobated rulers – Gen Zia, Gen Ershad and Begum Zia divided us by rehabilitating the defeated forces of 1971 in every nook and corner of the country only to serve well their fiddling gains whereas their unsavoury acts were not, at all, necessitated.
Through the engagement and re-engagement policy, the new government is opening a new chapter in our relations with the world, underpinned by mutual respect, shared principles and common values. The 11th parliamentary polls have marked a turning point in Bangladesh’s democracy. The would be PM has repeatedly pledged to lead Bangladesh to a more democratic era. Now, we believe, we are promised a new dawn; the potential, under PM Sheikh Hasina’s party command, that a warm light will shine into the dark corners of society, banishing exploitation, joblessness, corruption and crimes. We hope this will not be a delusive dawn at a time of gathering darkness. The sign of administrative dysfunction of an inability to act in a coherent and holistic way, if any, will soon go away.
Celebrated journalist and columnist Syed Badrul Ahsan on the polls day aptly said, “This morning, we celebrate our collective democratic spirit, for we have, despite every odd and every impediment, upheld the cause of democracy and have not allowed the process of elected government to be disturbed or upended by extra-constitutional means or thwarted by sinister plots hatched by elements lurking in the dark. This morning we will vote for more of democracy, for the rule of law to underpin our society, for parliament to be a full and vibrant platform for expressions of popular aspirations, for the executive to be the embodiment of every citizen’s hopes and dreams, for the judiciary to inform us that the machinery of justice stands ready to strengthen and support us when assaults are made on the liberties we enjoy in our democracy. This morning, we vote for a new dawn of promise. This morning, we vote for strong, purposeful, committed, accountable and secular leadership. This morning, we wait for a beautiful end to a day wrapped in great expectations.”
Courtesy : SriLanka Guardian