Left parties in Bangladesh in existential crisis
Mir Afroz Zaman
Since the time of British rule, the slogan of exploiter-exploited has been prevalent in the Indian subcontinent. The roots of communism, born from the desire for liberation of the exploited people, spread across the subcontinent. After the partition of the country in 1947-48, the left parties here were also vocal against the Pakistani rule. In the 1971 war of independence, a large part of this force stood by the freedom-seeking people of East Bengal.
However, their ideological differences and divisions became evident after independence in 1971. At the same time, the organizations were weakened by the leadership crisis. The left ideology that stirred the thoughts and feelings of the middle class until the 90s is now dying. In the last 16 years, several left parties including JSD, Workers' Party, Samyabadi Dal, Communist Center, and BSD have been accused by the public as collaborators of the fascist rule of the Awami League.
Although there are at least 30 left-wing political parties in Bangladesh, only a few parties, including the Mass Solidarity Movement and the Revolutionary Workers Party, were involved in the anti-fascist struggle. As a result, the parties are now in a state of existential crisis in the post-mass uprising political reality. Although all the parties that believe in communism are trying to come under one umbrella in the next election and participate in the election.
Saiful Haque, General Secretary of the Revolutionary Workers Party, said, we have close relations with all the left parties, and we are always in touch with everyone. Shahid Uddin Mahmud Swapan, General Secretary of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), said, the Democracy Mancha is trying to prepare its own candidate list. Now, how the election will be will depend on how the situation stands during the election.
12 parliamentary elections have been held in the country since independence. A review shows that in the 1986 election without BNP under Ershad's Shamnam, the left parties won a maximum of 22 seats. The parties won 11 seats in the controversial election in 2014 under the Sheikh Hasina government. In none of the remaining elections did the parties win more than 9 seats. And in the 2001 election, these parties did not win any seats. In some elections, their deposits were also confiscated.
With this situation on the electoral field, the question of how relevant the left-wing parties are in future politics has come to the fore. Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) President Mohammad Shah Alam said, if we can fight on our political line, then the country will speak for us in the elections after this election.
Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD) General Secretary Bazlur Rashid Firoz said, there is no room to deny that the left has become quite weak organizationally. We have to move forward by learning from whatever mistakes have been made.
In their view, the election is not the end, the left-wing parties that work with the promise of social change still have a future. Which may be visible after 2030.
