Nezam Uddin
Lecturer & Columnist
The Two Things in Our Politics
If you look at the political style of political parties in our country, you will repeatedly see two things: one, they capitalize on the votes of voters; and two, one party attacks the other. In public meetings and election speeches, they will start with “Bismillah” and say, “My family, my party has done this and that; that party has not done this, they are bad, and so on.” But I never see a single party say, “My party does politics for the country’s people, not for a family; we speak for the people.” That’s why in this country, at the inauguration of the Padma Bridge, built with the people’s money, the Sheikh family is present, but not ten farmers from the country. And when the League family leaves, the Zia family’s followers say, “Soldiers of Zia, unite and fight.” They also don’t say, “Soldiers of the country, unite; let’s fight together for the country.” That’s why we see family football tournaments in this country, but not public football tournaments. You will see that the leaders of the country’s two major parties lack democracy in their elections. Have you ever seen anyone outside the Sheikh family become the party head in the history of the Awami League after 1971? In the BNP, have you seen anyone outside the Zia family become the party chairman or prime minister? The point is—they claim to be democratic parties, they want to sit on the throne of power through a democratic process via votes, and they want to establish democracy in the country. Yet, there is never any practice of democracy within their parties. So how can they be democratic parties?
A Joke at the Nation’s Expense
They start dividing the country in the name of their parties from the very beginning. To get into power, it’s permissible to form alliances or grand coalitions with parties that opposed the Liberation War, but if their party’s interests are threatened, they will then politicize by saying, “They are anti-Liberation War.” They seem to be making a mockery of the nation.
The Power of Young Voters
Anyway, let’s talk about some data. If political parties do not move beyond the politics of votes, they can be sure of their downfall. According to the Election Commission’s data, among the 119.6 million voters in the twelfth national parliamentary election, 15.452 million voters had the opportunity to vote for the first time. Currently, the number of voters aged 18 to 33 is 39.539724 million. That is, almost half of the total voters are young. In the thirteenth election, this number will increase even more. This means almost 40 million voters are young! Even if we divide 10 million of them as party activists, there will still be 30 million young voters left.
The July Revolution and the New Influence
Meanwhile, after the July Revolution, the boys and girls aged 18 to 33 have gained a different standing within their families. For example, let’s say the total voters in my family, including my parents and siblings, are 10. Excluding relatives, these 10 votes are heavily influenced by my words. If I tell them to vote, they will, or if I tell them not to, they won’t. Now, similarly, whatever Khan Talat Rafi says in his family will happen, and the same goes for Sarjis’s family. And for Mugdho’s family, the same goes for Snigdho’s words. In this way, if 30 million young people influence just one voter each in their families, this 30 million will turn into 60 million. Have these parties, which claim to be popular or “the people’s party,” ever thought about what would happen to them if 60 million out of 120 million voters put one side on the list of irrelevance? Or, to calculate even less, those 30 million voters are themselves one-third of the total.
The July Revolution and the New Influence
Meanwhile, after the July Revolution, the boys and girls aged 18 to 33 have gained a different standing within their families. For example, let’s say the total voters in my family, including my parents and siblings, is 10. Excluding relatives, these 10 votes are heavily influenced by my words. If I tell them to vote, they will, or if I tell them not to, they won’t. Now, similarly, whatever Khan Talat Rafi says in his family will happen, and the same goes for Sarjis’s family. And for Mugdho’s family, the same goes for Snigdho’s words. In this way, if 30 million young people influence just one voter each in their families, these 30 million will turn into 60 million. Have these parties, which claim to be popular or “the people’s party,” ever thought about what would happen to them if 60 million out of 120 million voters put one side on the list of irrelevance? Or, to calculate even less, those 30 million voters are themselves one-third of the total.
