When the Opponent Became the Protector : A Strange Political Tale
—Professor M. A. Barnik

1. Example of BNP’s Politics of Mockery :

Dr. Muhammad Yunus has come to participate in the United Nations General Assembly; accompanying him are representatives from BNP, Jamaat, and NCP. Beyond the commotion of diplomacy, the tide of expatriate politics had already crashed onto the streets of New York. Awami League activists had announced—they would resist, obstruct, and display their ‘strength’ holding red-and-green banners. BNP leaders and activists were also present there. In reality, their presence became an unprecedented example of political mockery!

2. Garland of Flowers versus Blows of Hatred :

Just after leaving the airport, two contrasting scenes unfolded. On one side, Jamaat leader Abdullah Muhammad Taher was surrounded by a wave of floral receptions. With slogans, smiles, and embraces, he became the hero of the day. On the other hand, when BNP’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and NCP’s Secretary Akhtar Hossain were walking through the crowd, a lightning-like attack suddenly descended upon them. Pushed, shoved, and insulted with vulgar slogans by Awami activists, they were instantly trapped in a circle of humiliation.

3. Shield of the Opponent :

Where were BNP’s own party activists?—they stood afar like shadows, no one came forward. Perhaps fear, perhaps indifference. At that very moment, as though writing a new script in history’s pages, Jamaat activists came forward. Those whom Fakhrul had only recently denounced as “fundamentalists,” they stood as his shield.

Young Jamaat activists joined hands like a chain to form a human wall. They encircled Fakhrul and Akhtar Hossain, as if ancient warriors protecting their king. Amid pushing, roaring slogans, and a heated atmosphere, they escorted the two safely to their destination.

4. Mirror of Politics :

The incident appeared as a symbolic metaphor—
Some received garlands of welcome, others blows of humiliation.
Some received the silence of colleagues, others the unexpected sympathy of opponents.

Politics here stood before a mirror. Reflected in the mirror was the question—
Is politics confined only to the colors of party flags?
Or is politics that invisible human thread, which suddenly turns the hand of an opponent into the shoulder of a protector?

5. The Final Scene :

In the interplay of light and shadow on New York’s streets that day, history left a lesson :
The hand of welcome and the blow of humiliation can coexist on the same stage.
And sometimes, the opponent himself becomes the true protector.

This is the strange tale of politics—
Where garlands of flowers and thorns of humiliation,
Both become characters of the same story.

When BNP activists did not stand beside Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in his time of distress, just as they had not stood beside Khaleda Zia in her times of crisis—how can one expect that they would form a shield for Tarique Rahman in his time of peril? Knowing this, the death-fearing Tarique Rahman cannot dare return to Bangladesh!