Great opportunities to work with India, says Tarique aide as Bangladesh votes

Amin, who is spokesperson for the BNP’s election steering committee, also spoke on a range of other issues — on expectations from a BNP government, Awami League’s exclusion and the situation of Hindu minorities. Edited excerpts from an interview:

What are your expect­ations from the elections?

The first expectation is that people will be able to vote after a long time. They were deprived of their voting rights for over a decade-and-a-half. So there is great expectation that people will come with enthusiasm, with passion, to choose their own representatives…in a free, fair elections, and BNP will form the next government.

What does Tarique Rahman’s return mean for the democratic process in Bangladesh?

Tarique Rahman wasn’t here in Bangladesh but he was always connected with Bangladesh, with the grassroots, not just with the BNP but other stakeholders too, people of different professions and backgrounds. So his return means we are again on board for the development that will truly change the fate of the people. If he forms a government and becomes Prime Minister, he has identified plans in education, healthcare, agriculture, employment, farming, planning, environment… it will be a true change of people’s lives. People will become much more empowered. The government will be far more transparent, with a true essence of accountability. That’s what the people of Bangladesh expect from the nation as well.

The Awami League’s absence has raised questions over the inclusivity of these elections. India has called for the polls to be inclusive and credible. What is your response?

The people of Bangladesh made a choice. And of course, the party that you mentioned comes with a baggage of decades of human rights violations, corruption, state-sponsored extrajudicial and fictitious cases (against the Opposition). So the people of Bangladesh made a call. The choice was to reject that particular political party and move ahead with other stakeholders. BNP being the largest stakeholder, leading the mobilisation, doing the movement against the autocratic regime over the last 16 years, the belief is in our pathway to form the next government through free, fair and credible elections.

What about the Jamaat as a political force? Once marginalised, it has risen from nowhere. Today, it will possibly be the second largest political party and biggest challenger to BNP.

They have their own politics. Of course, Jamaat and BNP have different political ideals. For instance, if you just talk about women’s empowerment, BNP has become the pioneer of women’s empowerment during the times of Ziaur Rahman (Tarique Rahman’s father) when he established a women’s ministry. And Begum Khaleda Zia as Prime Minister, she became the hallmark of women’s empowerment all over the world.

Even in government, industry, the highest number of women at work started from BNP’s time, the NGOs, the SMEs, growth and free education for girls up to Class 12. All these were BNP’s policies, whereas in Jamaat’s policies, we see they don’t want women to work more than five hours. They have restrictions. We have seen some words that were abusive to women. Different political parties have different ideologies and women’s issues is just one example. The people are there to make a choice. They will express their choice to vote, and we believe people come up based on the policies that we have, the liberalisation that we have led, and the plans and programmes that our leaders have laid out.

How do you see India’s relationship with Bangladesh, which has gone through a rollercoaster ride in the past couple of years. Do you think if BNP comes to power, it will again reach the level where it was?

Of course, there are issues, but every issue can be an opportunity as well to forge better ties between people-to-people contacts. We would appreciate bilateral relations based on mutual trust, mutual interest — a reciprocal relation where we can serve both nations with equality, fairness and justice. I believe there are great opportunities to work together, not only within the neighbourhood, but for the wider world. If we work together in trade, industry, culture, education, security, and overall, there are areas of collaboration where we can all work together while serving the interests of all nations and ensuring that mutual benefit is protected.

What is the topmost issue on the agenda that Tarique will take up once he comes to power?

We need to take care of the law and order situation, improve accountability, because that’s been missing for a long time, and run the government to deliver the promises that he has made.. (We) will focus on people’s empowerment, a government that truly derives power from the people, not from the state apparatus. So the next BNP government will ensure that the root of power stems from the people, through transparency, accountability and a public mandate.

What about the situation of minorities, which has suffered in the last year-and-a-half?

BNP’s ideology is Bangladeshi nationalism, which means we believe every Bangladeshi citizen, irrespective of ideology, religion and faith, has the same rights, same protections, same freedoms, just like any other person. That’s the Bangladeshi nationalism that we believe will be a hallmark of the BNP government as well.

If you see, after August 5 (after PM Hasina resigned), we ensured that we worked together shoulder-to-shoulder, to protect people of all religions, and we protected the houses, temples and all religions, working as one team. That’s the Bangladesh we aspire for — a united Bangladesh, one entity, where we have religious cohesion, where we have coexistence, where we have dignity and mutual respect, protecting every individual’s rights, protecting every individual’s freedoms, and safeguarding the interests of every Bangladeshi.