Jalil says 'sorry' for ranting

In a dramatic flip-flop on his ranting and raving against Sheikh Hasina and her picks in the cabinet and party, and the general elections, former Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil has said 'sorry' for shooting his mouth off recently. Listen to audio excerpts of Jalil interview

Syed Nahas Pasha, UK Correspondent

London, Sep 29 (bdnews24.com)–In a dramatic flip-flop on his ranting and raving against Sheikh Hasina, her picks in the cabinet and party, and the general elections, former Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil has said 'sorry' for shooting his mouth off recently.

The disgruntled ruling party MP said he still suffers from the trauma caused by torture by the military intelligence DGFI during detention and blamed the mental state for the testy remarks he made while talking to bdnews24.com last week.

"I may have said things that welled up from anger… I'm sorry for that," he said in a 15-minute interview with bdnews24.com in London on Tuesday.

"The pain still drives me mad. That's why I had sought justice in parliament and asked her for redress."

But he did not get justice and often has a fit for that, Jalil said, trying to limit the damage to his political career after his broadside at the party stalwarts.

Now reduced to a member of the party's advisory committee, a body without much say in the organisational matters, Jalil first spoke to bdnews24.com last Wednesday.

A London-based ethnic TV station had aired excerpts of an interview with him hours before that.

His remarks, apparently for political score-settling, whipped up waves of anger and he was assaulted by activists of AL's youth wing Jubo League in Birmingham hours later.

The sidelined leader had said in the interview with this correspondent that he had made a mistake by not going against Hasina on his return to the country to protect his post during the 2007-08 caretaker government regime.

"It was my mistake not to go against her. My offence was extreme loyalty to her," Jalil had said in that interview.

"My decision was wrong. I should have taken her head-on," he said in a rude surprise to many in the ruling establishment.

This time, though, he sought to make amends for the tirade, days after a normally unflappable prime minister said Jalil should resign from parliament before questioning the 'fairest' vote.

"I'll be in politics, will pursue Awami League's politics under Sheikh Hasina. I believe and respect her."

"I hope that my leader Sheikh Hasina will redress this torture."

Jalil manoeuvred to deflect the attention on Hasina's bitter political rival –BNP chief Khlaeda Zia.

He blamed a 'stubborn' Khaleda for the failure of the dialogue between him and former BNP secretary-general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan in 2006 on a credible election.

"Khaleda Zia didn't want a fair and neutral election," said Jalil, currently on a visit to UK.

The Naogaon MP reneged on his earlier claims in the previous interview with bdnews24.com that his party reached a 'compromise deal' with the military-installed caretaker government that presided over the Dec 29 general elections.

"I didn't say anything about the election process. This was the most fair election among the all that I have witnessed in my entire life... in the history of Bangladesh and even during the Pakistan period.

"The elections could not be held if there was no 'deal'. I wanted to mean that a situation was created for the elections, like my leader was arrested. Khaleda, many of us were also detained.

"There was a talk with the leader (Hasina) to conduct a fair election.

"This is what I wanted to mean."

He made a reversal to clarify the 'compromise' remarks that BNP has seized upon to back up its contention of foul play in the parliamentary polls it so badly lost.

"About the deal I wanted to mean that there was a mutual discussion with then president Iajuddin Ahmed, while there was a movement to conduct a fair election.

"The advisers had meetings with the [AL-led 14-party and BNP-led 4-party], which were not successful.

"The next caretaker government came as the earlier discussions failed. They stayed for two years. There was also a meeting about a fair election through which we've achieved a fair election, this is what I meant.

"I didn't mean someone had put Awami League to office, and I didn't say so… I don't even believe that."

'Torture'

Was he really tortured?

"Definitely," Jalil says. "They tortured me physically, psychologically, made me to sign (statement)… didn't they?

"They took me to remand for 5-6 days, made tapes and sent those abroad through 'Concord'.

"How could this tape fly abroad if they didn't send it. I asked them, 'How (did it happen)?' They said a journalist has stolen.

"I asked, 'how did a journalist get in there?' I said, 'You are lying'."

The AL frontbencher said the pain renders him restless sometimes.

"I'm 70 years now. My father, while he was alive, didn't ever take me to task, didn't beat me.

"It's painful how DGFI had misbehaved with me after taking me into custody.

"This is why I spoke about it in parliament, I asked for the constitution of a parliamentary committee hoping to have justice for their (DGFI) misusing power.

"I've got no redress yet. I hope someday my leader will get me justice.

"I can't digest it that a man, who was never beaten by his parents, never rebuked, he is tortured by a DGFI staff... for whom I pay... they are paid by my taxes."

Cooling relations

The veteran was reminded in the interview that it was Hasina who had made him the general secretary, and a technocrat minister when he failed to get elected in 1996 and made him the head of a standing committee.

So, why does he go out of the skin to snipe at her?

"No, no, I don't have any grievance. I didn't speak of grievance or protest. I think I don't deserve more than what she has given me.

Jalil was also given party ticket despite his statements against Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana to the press during task force interrogations.

"She made me general secretary, a minister… I could not be those without her blessings.

"But my pain is that she gave me punishment. I wanted to know why she did so. She can do that, even a hundred times, for she is my leader.

"But I wanted to know what my mistake was.

"I was the only person to speak for the leader when everyone was speaking about reforms to exclude Sheikh Hasina from politics.

Last week, Jalil said '90 percent' of the current ministers were supporters of the 'reformists'--people who propagated the so-called reform moves in the party to sideline Hasina, allegedly with the patronage of the military-installed interim government.

Jalil on Tuesday asserted that he was still on her side.

"Yes, I'm. 'Boat' is not someone's own asset. It's owned by Bangabandhu, Sheikh Hasina and the people who are with it.

'Khaleda didn't want fair votes'

The former AL general secretary, who ran protracted negotiations with his BNP counterpart Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan in 2006, said the two major parties could not agree on common election ground because of Khaleda.

"Khaleda Zia is responsible for that. Because, if you recall, we sat for 10 minutes in the last day, where we agreed that we'd sit again on one point.

"Bhuiyan was asked to come with his leader's consent and I with the 14 parties', and we'd meet again for half an hour.

"I got the nod of my leader and 14-party alliance. She said 'go ahead', she gave me the permission.

"I was waiting all day, but couldn't reach him (Mannan). It was 11:30pm when I found him. I asked him to sit for 10 minutes, saying that journalists were moving around.

"He said, 'Jalil Bhai, you've got your leader's consent, but I couldn't contact her (Khaleda). What would I say there if I don't see her or get permission?'"

"The leader later sat with the 14-party on the point we agreed, endorsed it and told me, 'Go ahead and tell the press'."

"But Bhuiyan couldn't come due to the stubbornness of Khaleda Zia. She didn't want a fair election that time.

Comeback plans

Jalil said he believed it was too early to write him off.

Asked if he would be in active politics after his return home, the AL MP said: "Certainly, why not? I represent a constituency.

AL presidium member Matia Chowdhury week said the working committee will sit on Oct 3 to decide about Jalil.

"Why won't I do politics? Certainly I'll and it'll be the politics of Awami League, under her leadership.

"I rate her very high and I don't believe that there won't be any change in the country under her leadership.

"So I said out of frustration that there has been no success in the nine months."

Jalil had also launched a scathing attack on the party for axing him and four other senior leaders—Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Abdur Razzak—from the policymaking presidium.

He had lamented 'the lack of scope' to work for the party after being relegated to the largely ceremonial advisory council.

On Tuesday, though, he said it was the prime minister's privilege to shape her cabinet the way she pleases.

"We can't say like children to 'include us'. She'll do that if she feels the need. It's totally her affair to include (us) or not.

"We've the capability to give many things to the country and the party. We can contribute a lot under the leadership of Hasina."

Asked if he thought there has been a qualitative change in politics after the 1/11, Jalil said there was not much to show.

"It should have happened, but hasn't, not satisfactory in terms of the expectations.

Bigger issues not derailed

The former commerce minister said he did not think his outrage would derail many other issues like war crimes trial and 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman murder trial.

"No. I'm also determined to see the trials move fast in our country and punishment is given. It's a public demand, a demand of all the supporters of AL.

Asked if he thought the government would be able to accomplish the trials, he said: "I believe it in my heart that the trial must be done through the process it is on.

Outrage against outpouring

Hasina said in New York on Sunday that Jalil was given the party nomination and elected on popular vote.

"Has he been elected that way? He should resign first before making such allegation," she snapped when asked about Jalil's claims of 'compromise'.

Asked whether the party would take any action against Jalil, Hasina said: "I don't have any headache about it."

She said Jalil has been saying many things, and "let him speak."

Earlier on Tuesday, chief election commissioner A T M Shamsul Huda dismissed Jalil's comments on the 'election deal' as outpouring of a man utterly frustrated.

Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam on Monday said Jalil's remarks were aimed to smear the credibility of Hasina.

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