Prof Emajuddin Ahmed, Political Scientist, former Dhaka University Vice Chancellor : The overture of the ruling party AL’s general secretary for dialogue over telephone is positive and a dialogue should be initiated without further delay.
It would be a noble step if the government takes it positively. There is no alternative to dialogue to set the country’s politics on a right course. Dialogue is also essential for people’s welfare. Politics of cooperation and mutual respect will remain elusive until the high-ranking politicians vow to work together for the country through a dialogue. To me, the proposal of the AL’s general secretary Obaidul Quader for a dialogue is a positive one and everyone should go ahead with it.
The ruling party should take lead for holding talks. Because, this will make the dialogue much more effective and credible. The leaders of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are always in favour of holding talks. Therefore, the top-ranking political leaders of the ruling party should make the phone call to the BNP.
I hope that the dialogue will usher in a positive political environment. It will definitely generate new talks and new questions.
However, the dialogue should be accommodating. If we have a look at China-British or the USA, we will see that they resolve any crisis through holding talks. The high-ranking official does not go abroad keeping the opposition party in the dark. The agenda of talks is made public. What culture has developed here? I think everything should be resolved through dialogue.
Based on an interview by Ashiq Rahman, translated by Hossen Sohel