Bangladesh: The battle of the Begums has finally ended |
The five-decade-old political rivalry of Bangladesh’s “battling Begums” has ended. In what can be considered a ‘draw’, Begum Khaleda Zia, 80, the two-term prime minister, lost her battle for life this morning, and Sheikh Hasina, who ruled longer, is exiled in India after being ousted last year.
But while Hasina and her Awami League are barred from contesting the elections next February, Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is perceived as the likely winner.
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Zia’s death, notionally though, clears the leadership line for her son Tarique Rahman. Poignantly, his reunion with the ailing mother after 17 years’ exile in London occurred barely five days ago, as if in time to bid farewell.
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Conventional thinking in times of elections would give the Zia family the advantage of the “sympathy factor”. But BNP, now the largest mainstream force and an early starter in the poll campaign, is bidding seriously. It submitted Tarique’s nomination papers, and according to one report, also a set for the mother’s re-election.
Besides bestowing honour on the ailing party chief, this may well be part of the election strategy. Most prominent leaders in Bangladesh contest from multiple constituencies in the quest for the numbers.
Back to the two women and the family legacies they inherit. Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was assassinated in 1975. Khaleda led that of her husband,........