Words from the nation's conscience keeper
A work reminds Enayetullah Khan of the caretaker engineer
'Caretaker government' is a term that is inextricably linked to the political sphere of Bangladesh. And today, so many years into several periods of democratic governments, it still holds true, an unavoidable situation through which the country can go from one government to another without messy political confrontations and of course dirty manipulation of the elections. It may sound sad, but despite all the rhetoric about political processes and the necessity of democracy, political gurus of all parties have been proved to be susceptible to ways that do not conform to ethical practices of politics. That is the truth, unvarnished and pure. The fact that we need a caretaker government from time to time to set the country on a right course became a political imperative and this concept was conceived and delivered in the law chambers of Barrister Ishtiaq and Associates at Cosmos Centre in Malibagh. Funny, when people are engaged in heated political argument and when their words spew foam in passion, they forget that our problem is in the absence of the thing called fair play. When a party comes to power, it becomes addicted to it and therefore wants to cling on to it for life. In the process, the principles of serving a nation become the casualty. The Ishtiaq Papers, an apt name one must say, is an account by the late Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed about the process in 1996 that led to the 13th amendment to the constitution of Bangladesh incorporating the concept of the non-party caretaker government to ensure a smooth transition of power during elections. Ishtiaq Ahmed does not need any introduction because all his life he managed to keep himself above the pettiness of power play which continues to vitiate our politics. In fact, back in 1990, when General Ershad was stepping down from the presidency in the face of a mass upsurge, this scribbler was sent to the eminent lawyer with the proposal that he take over as president of the country. Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed smiled and made a witty comment: "I will decline but someday you must write this". A noted diplomat called him the 'conscience keeper' of the nation and so we can take The Ishtiaq Papers to be an objective account of the events that eventually led to the formation of a successful caretaker government and the holding of a proper and fair election. The book reads like a thriller because unless one reads it, the main incident that sparked off a confrontation between the ruling BNP at the time and the Awami League opposition will remain unknown. It may be hard to believe, but a parliamentary argument related to the Hebron massacre of 53 Palestinians by a Jewish extremist group started it all. The boycotts began when a ruling party member made an off hand comment and that eventually snowballed into an intractable political fiasco. The idea of the caretaker government took shape with people like Ishtiaq Ahmed trying to find an amicable solution to the political impasse; and after a lot of efforts that became a reality. But history is often distorted, especially in Bangladesh, because perspectives are hardly free of political bias. Therefore, this book works splendidly as an accurate historical account of what happened then. Often the inherent frustration of the writer is about our lack of political will to do plain old good for the country. In the detailed descriptions of the political wrangling of that period, time and again the author refers to the helplessness of the general people of the country who are the veins of democracy. The Ishtiaq Papers have a special relevance in our lives because once again we are under caretaker rule brought in to save the country from disintegrating into civil war. Interestingly, when we juxtapose the account of the book alongside the events that took place on the streets of Dhaka before January 11 2007, we not only realise the necessity of the present authorities being there but also acknowledge the repulsive side of our political infrastructure. It is a book that has come out at the right time and one that has to be in your collection. After all, it is a dispassionate account of what our politics is really about.
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