The philosopher Plato said, “One of the consequences of not participating in politics is to be ruled by the wicked.” One thing that is noticeable all over the world now is that most of the educated people belong to the middle class who are apolitical.

They think there is a risk in politics so it is better to avoid it. They think politics is a dirty thing, the government is corrupt, leaders are uneducated, and so on. It is their thinking that is pushing politics towards more ugliness but they do not realize it. The opportunists are taking advantage of their reluctance.

Politics is a matter related to the bone marrow of every human being. The child who is born today is also an obstacle in the chain of politics. So if people want to live in society, there is no chance to avoid politics. Rights are human instincts. And the main means of implementing this right is politics. So the role of educated people is more important in the struggle for the realization of the rights of oneself and the people of the society and not contempt.

It is questionable which way the politics of Bangladesh is going today or what role this politics is playing in establishing the rights of the people as a whole. Parliament is one of the means to develop the politics of a country. But unfortunately, the common man has no idea what is happening in the true parliament. What the government wants is effortlessly getting legitimacy from the parliament. The place of accountability seems very insignificant to the government. Due to which the opposition party is doing whatever they want by keeping it in the parliament. Jatiya Party general secretary Ziauddin Bablu said on June 13, “There is no rule of law in the country today, there is a culture of impunity.” The country has a ‘yes-no parliament. People have to face obstacles again and again to express their happiness, sorrow, pain, problems, and possibilities. ‘This means that the activities of the parliament have become hostage to the will or reluctance of one party.

The Awami League as a political party has lost its ideological trajectory, But it has retained state power since 2008. After winning the elections in 2008 with the advantage of Fakhruddin-Moinuddin, they came to power in the January 5, 2014 elections through a kind of voter-less election. The BNP did not participate in that election. On December 30, 2016, people from the Awami League’s support group did not allow anyone to go to the polls without confirmation. Despite holding two highly controversial elections in a row, they continue to wield considerable power.

There is virtually no opposition party in Parliament; Similarly, there is no voice of the opposition in field politics. There is no precedent in history that such a politics of silence was ever-present in Bangladesh. What has become clear in Bangladeshi politics is that the weakness of the opposition is one of the strengths of the Awami League. At present, the opposition parties seem to be roaming the field aimlessly. Crisis of credible leadership, delay in effective decision making, BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia as the main opposition party was released on conditional release but could not take a political decision. Due to which the organizational activities are almost stagnant and the apostates are becoming apolitical due to the formation of a committee consisting of people who are almost inactive in politics. Field politics, the failure to build a strong organizational team, as well as the international wing are playing an almost silent role. In this situation, political analysts think that it is necessary to bring strategic and qualitative change in the politics of BNP.

If the BNP is to return to a strong position, it must first set a ‘point of view’. To that end, it is necessary to determine policies and strategies keeping in view the changes in geopolitics and global politics. We have to create a credible position among the people on anti-corruption and good governance by bringing to the fore the image of misrule, corruption, and looting of human rights of the present ruling Awami League. Apart from that, the party needs to build credible leadership from the top to the grassroots by keeping it within the organizational structure.

What I wanted to say at the beginning is that educated people are becoming apolitical. The main reason for this is the reckless behavior of the Awami League leaders and workers, killing and disappearance, and creating a culture of injustice in society. But because of the inability of a massive party like the BNP to build any kind of resistance against it, everyone is becoming apolitical in order to save their dignity. They also think that the BNP’s political activities are now limited today to celebrations, online leaders’ speeches, press briefings, and press releases.

After all, the BNP has managed to retain its popularity by digesting various setbacks. Thousands of cases, jail torture, oppression, torture against millions of leaders and activists are constantly going on. In the post-independence period, no political party has had to fall into such a mess. The party has not been in power for 14 years. Taking this opportunity, the Awami League has been very successful in its anti-BNP campaign for this generation. Due to this, although many of the new generations kept researching politics, the BNP did not get a chance to present itself in a new way in front of them.

When a country’s government is in power without the mandate of the people, international support is needed to keep the government action, as well as to keep the field politics active. In both cases, the visible activities of the BNP were not observed. According to many, the BNP has not been able to maintain its previous position in the international arena. It is not clear what the BNP’s position is with Bangladesh and its neighbors India and China. As a result, the educated society of the country who are not willing to form any other party outside the BNP are in confusion. The reason for the BNP’s plight is to move away from intelligent, constructive politics and engage in flattery-based politics.

Even after this, I think BNP will be able to stand on its own two feet. An effective decision has to be taken now so that the leaders and workers can overcome the frustration and become aware of the implementation of the party’s decision. In order to deal with all conspiracies, it is necessary to take initiative to strengthen every organ of the organization, starting from the grassroots, by forming a credible leadership of tested, sacrificial people. Leaders and activists must take to the field at any cost on public issues to speed up the highway program. The BNP is in a very favorable position for this because no one has left the party even after so many tortures, attacks, and lawsuits. Lastly, it will be easier for the BNP to come back if it can set the right goals and create intelligent strategies in the domestic and international arenas. Otherwise, it is difficult to say where it ends.