Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia

Abstract

Cyclone Sidr was not the only storm to wreak havoc on Bangladesh last fall. The never-ending feud between the country's former leaders, Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, continued to paralyze Bangladesh's long-suffering political system. This time however, both women had to defend themselves from behind bars.When the interim government declared a state of emergency in January 2007 after cancelling elections set for later that month, it did so to curtail the violence that had erupted as a result of Zia's handpicked caretaker government. To ensure that elections are free and fair, it is mandatory that the incumbent government resign in the three months running up to the vote and give way to an independent interim administration that oversees the election. In keeping with the culture of paranoia that justifiably overshadows Bangladeshi politics, Hasina-and her party, the Awami League-led the protests against the selected caretaker, Iajuddin Ahmed, whom they accused of favouring Zia. Ahmed's resignation did nothing to quell the violence between supporters of the two parties, but it did allow the military to step in with the aim of tackling the country's widespread corruption.Among the army's first steps was to detainHasina and Zia-who leads the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-on charges of corruption and extortion. Hasina was slapped with an additional charge of ordering the murder of opposition activists earlier in the spring. Both women had been pressured to go into exile, but the military government seems to have backed off after a failed attempt to ban Hasina's return from the United States.Ordinary Bangladeshis at first raised few objections to the treatment of the former prime ministers. After all, that the two women are corrupt is no surprise-it is widely acknowledged that both have shamelessly and successfully attempted to politicize and bribe the very institutions meant to check their power, from the judiciary to their parties' grassroots. The novelty in this case is the nature in which the military is targeting them, and the chaos that has ensued. Under the current state of emergency, activists, civil servants, business leaders, and scores of politicians from all parties have been arrested. Public gatherings such as political party meetings, trade union activities, and demonstrations have been banned, and the military has shut out political parties from all debate. With repeated boycotts and limited communication between the government and opposition, much of the country is in a state of deadlock until the caretaker administration decides that elections should be held. The best time for that, according to the government, is when the country is finally free of corruption. Such an intentionally ambiguous goal can only mean that the army is intent on destroying Hasina's and Zia's influence once and for all, as part of the so-called minus 2 formula.It is impossible to understand Bangladesh's politics and the antagonism between Hasina and Zia without examining the chaos into which it was born. Both women are tied to two of the country's most important post-independence leaders and by extension, to their mixed legacies. Hasina is the daughter of Mujibur Rahman, independent Bangladesh's first leader. Zia is the widow of ex-president Ziaur Rahman, and like Mujib is one of the heroes of the liberation war. Both were assassinated.In a country where modern elections still rely heavily on the iconography of past freedom fighters such as Mujib, curtailing Hasina and Zia's influence will be no easy task. To begin with, simply labelling them rivals understates the degree of their enmity. Both women have been trying to undermine each other's power for more than two decades, and the resulting arrogance and violence has plunged a country with countless problems further into turmoil.The very sad fact is that both ladies are extremely corrupt, says security analyst and author Ayesha Siddiqa, a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. …