Bangladesh Needs Reconciliation

Peace is something that Bangladesh deserves and urgently needs. Extremist stances are ingrained into its national psyche. Ever since dictator Gen. Hussain Mohammad Irshad was unseated, successive elections have put one of the two famous Begums on the prime ministerial seat. But such is the fractious nature of the polity that none of the two had a peaceful reign. Opposition benches have remained vacant for most of the time. The otherwise healthy bipolar politics should have lent the nation much stability. But the antipathy between the two poles has often degenerated into total chaos with streets turning into battleground and threatening to rend the nation asunder.
Bangladesh has been in existence for around 45 years. It would have been in the best interest of that impoverished country to promote understanding and consensus on national issues. Countries such as South Africa (under the leadership of Nelson Mandela) delivered peace and progress by pursuing the path of reconciliation. It is time the Bangladeshi political parties see value in fostering national consensus and adopting the path of peace and reconciliation.