Why Dhaka’s Former and Current Mayors Are Locking Horns
The public rivalry between two young politicians of the ruling party has intrigued many, but what is it really about?
Last week, a court in Dhaka ordered to freeze eight bank accounts belonging to Sayeed Khokon, the former mayor of Dhaka city’s southern part, and his family members.
Almost immediately, he publicly blamed his successor and party colleague, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, for orchestrating the trouble.
For some of you, Khokon’s accusations might seem a little off.
After all, for all the imperfectness of Bangladesh’s power structure, surely a mayor — who doesn’t have much administrative power — would not have enough influence to sway certain proceedings, right?
Perhaps, wrong, I’m afraid.
Who is Sheikh Taposh?
Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh (also known as Sheikh Taposh) is an extremely powerful man. He ticks almost all the boxes one needs to be successful in Bangladeshi politics.
He hails from a solid political family. His is one of the highest-paid law firms in town. He’s got a magic money tree, too!
His father Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani was a nephew of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding leader, and the father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. So Sheikh Mani and Hasina were cousins.
Mani was one of the four Chhatra League leaders who formed the Mujib Bahini in 1971 under the auspices of the Indian intelligence in parallel with the mainstream guerrilla force, Mukti Bahini.
When Bangladesh came into being, Mani went on to found the Jubo League, the youth wing of the Awami League. The Jubo League is now headed by another of his sons, Sheikh Parash, Taposh’s elder brother — which serves as a testament to the prime minister’s trust in her cousin’s family.
Some even argue — his detractors and allies alike — that in the event that Sheikh Hasina decides to retire, and her only sibling, Sheikh Rehana, and their sons and daughters decide not to succeed her, it is Sheikh Taposh who might be the country’s next prime minister, provided — of course — that the party continues to retain power.
Among those in the close circle of the prime minister’s extended family, only he has electoral and executive experiences. Before he was a mayor, Taposh was a member of the parliament, hailing from a prestigious Dhaka constituency, Dhanmondi.
He is also one of the founders and a director of a commercial bank: Madhumati Bank.
But more importantly in this context, Taposh is a lawyer by training and heads an influential pro-AL lawyers’ group. He — successfully — led activism and efforts on the premise of the Supreme Court to oust the former chief justice, Surendra Kumar Sinha. He was the first major party figure to call on the judge to resign, which he did while on medical leave in Singapore following an unprecedented and dramatic controversy surrounding the judiciary.
Sources say his advice is said to be solicited while appointing higher-level judges. His legal firm, Sheikh & Chowdhury, has recently represented some of the biggest clients in the country, including GrameenPhone, a Telenor subsidy and the largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh, in some of the most-talked-about cases.
So what is the ‘mayoral’ rivalry all about?
The court ordered to freeze the accounts of Khokon in a case filed with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) — a feared agency with considerable prosecutorial and discretionary powers, including sua sponte power to initiate legal proceedings. However, ACC has not always been above board when it comes to picking its targets. (In this case, the agency’s secretary Anowar Hossain reportedly said: “The ACC is an independent body. It does not work under the influence of anyone and works on its own accord.”)
Even if, for the sake of argument, one ignores whatever influence Sheikh Taposh may have in the legal arena, Khokon’s allegation that the plaintiff of the case is backed by the current mayor is still plausible. The plaintiff of the case is Delowar Hossain, a leader of a group of shopkeepers whose shops are in a market owned by the city corporation, thus allowing the incumbent mayor to have a say in this affair.
I am not dwelling into the dispute itself to keep things simpler, but it began when the current mayor or his office attempted to evict some shops which it said had been illegally set up. Subsequently, the shopkeepers claimed — privately and publicly — that they had paid a considerable sum of money to the then-mayor, Sayeed Khokon, and other officials to obtain the lucrative commercial slots in the market.
While denying the allegation, Khokon counter-alleged that the current mayor shifted the city corporation’s bank accounts to the Madhumati Bank that he partially owns and, as such, committed embezzlement.
In two public instances — once in a public rally and then again in a presser — Khokon did not mince his words while criticising his successor and even raised questions about the legitimacy of his election.
(Fun fact 1: Khokon’s own election in 2015 was not unblemished either.
Fun fact 2: Khokon’s uproar against Taposh in the presser became an instant meme on Facebook.)
While Khokon was not a very popular mayor himself, his late father Mohammad Hanif was. Hanif was Dhaka’s first elected mayor when two parts of the city were still together administratively. Hanif was also a trusted ally of the prime minister.
Owing to his family background, Khokon still has some following in the old Dhaka area. In the election that took place in 2020, he again sought the party nomination but was refused. Instead, Sheikh Taposh won the ticket.
Perhaps, the behind-the-scene rivalry over the nomination was what caused strife between two ruling party politicians. They also have grassroots backing in two different parts of Dhaka city: Taposh in Dhanmondi, while Khokon in old Dhaka. So two young leaders may see each other standing in the way of their ambition.
How Taposh responded so far
In response to Khokon’s public attacks, Taposh initially responded harshly and threatened with suing his predecessor for defamation. His allies subsequently filed two defamation cases, but he then came to his senses and the cases were withdrawn.
But the case lodged with the ACC has remained active.
The involvement of ACC — where politicians do not interfere, at least not publicly — gives the impression that Taposh, or anyone else for that matter, had nothing to do with its actions. In fact, in response to Khokon’s latest salvo, Taposh cleverly refused to comment, with his office saying the case is sub judice.
But what Khokon would probably say to that is this: “Do not fool yourself!”