Passing through a twilight zone
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
N.M. Harun
Judging by its strength in the parliament, the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which commands more than a three-fourths majority in the House, is solid like a rock. The ruling Awami League's election manifesto, "A Charter for Change", on the basis of which the government is apparently adopting its policies and programmes including the national budget, creates a seductive vision of a "golden Bengal". But a reality check on the state of the nation will show that the government and the country face daunting challenges both of governance and reclaiming the pristine ethos of the nation.
Bangladesh embarked on the mission of creating a viable state about four decades ago but things have come full circle. The problems of streamlining the civil and military bureaucracies, establishing an independent judiciary, practising healthy parliamentarism and, above all, introducing a responsible party system remain as acute as these were at the dawn of independence in 1971. Worse still, the controversies regarding the national identity, the war of independence and the constitution of the country have been raging since August 15, 1975; the nation stands divided into two antagonistic camps.
The people have, nevertheless, demonstrated through their enthusiastic participation in the 2008 parliamentary election that they are eager to break free from the vicious cycle of the past and bring a change for the better. This good feeling is tempered by the fear that the ghosts of the past may strangulate the Hasina government or any quixotic action of the government itself may be its own undoing. The country is passing through a twilight zone.
Déjà vu 1972-75: In retrospect, the August 15 conspirators usurped power in 1975 on the pretext of ending the one-party Baksal system and bringing down a government which perceptively lost much of its credibility with the people because of the 1974 famine, excesses of the para-military Rakhi Bahini, high-handedness of the Awami leaguers, lawlessness, corruption, price spiral, etc. But this power struggle was the tip of the iceberg. The real issue involved fundamental questions of politics and ideology -- an ideological struggle against the secular-socialist polity based on Bengali nationalism which emerged through the liberation war in 1971 and which was enshrined in the constitution of 1972. And the Islam-pasand polity, based on Bangladeshi nationalism, which is a euphemism for Bengali Muslim nationalism, and free capitalism, was foisted on the nation.
The present government has predictably taken up the issues of the trial of the war criminals, execution of the High Court verdict in the Bangabandhu murder case and the restoration of the original constitution of 1972 on a priority basis. A decisive battle between the forces of the pre-'75 polity who claim to uphold the pristine "Fundamental Principles of State Policy" (democracy, secularism, socialism and Bengali nationalism) and the forces of the Islam-pasand post-'75 polity is thus imminent.
It will be extremely naïve to think that the government will win the battle of polities as easily as a cakewalk. The Islam-pasand parties, led by the BNP, have practically been marginalised in the ninth parliament but they polled more than 37 per cent of votes cast. They apparently have a formidable popular base. More importantly, their tentacles are firmly rooted in the civil and military bureaucracies, business, finance, NGOs, media, educational and intellectual establishments.
Going it alone: The political scenario is marked by the omnipotence of the ruling Awami League in the parliament and a total disarray in the opposition camp. This is reminiscent of the 1972-75 period. The opposition does not apparently feel, as in that earlier period, any stake in the normal functioning of the government. Their survival depends, instead, on the failure of the government.
The government has already served a notice of death sentence to the post-'75 Islam-pasand polity. If the government succeeds in sending the killers of Sheikh Mujib to the gallows, trying the alleged war criminals and restoring the constitution of 1972 then the very political, constitutional and legal basis of the Islam-pasand politics will be dismantled. How can one expect the BNP and the Jamaat, the two opposition parties in the parliament, to cooperate with the government, in parliament and outside, in implementing this agenda?
The government and the ruling Awami League, along with its allies, will have to go it alone. They have received such an overwhelming electoral mandate that they are blessed with a rare opportunity, under a parliamentary system, to carry out a revolutionary transformation of the state through constitutional means. The problem is: though they have already taken some populist measures, they are running the affairs of state mostly in a cavalier fashion. Unless they can set an example in good governance, they will be in danger of losing the support of the people at home and the goodwill of the friends of Bangladesh in the international community.
A seeming calm notwithstanding, the political arena has never been more volatile than it is now. Nobody knows how the government will go about with its agenda of restoring the pre-'75 polity or handle the BNP, the Jamaat and other Islam-pasand parties and Islamist outfits nor does anybody know how the latter will respond to the government's policies and actions regarding the restructuring of the polity. Besides, the civil and military bureaucracies, the political classes in general and the business community in particular will be required to make radical readjustments in their respective fields in the event the pre-'75 polity is restored. The path ahead is hazardous and the incumbent government may feel complacent with its unprecedented parliamentary strength only at its own peril.
harun1943@gmail.com
Judging by its strength in the parliament, the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which commands more than a three-fourths majority in the House, is solid like a rock. The ruling Awami League's election manifesto, "A Charter for Change", on the basis of which the government is apparently adopting its policies and programmes including the national budget, creates a seductive vision of a "golden Bengal". But a reality check on the state of the nation will show that the government and the country face daunting challenges both of governance and reclaiming the pristine ethos of the nation.
Bangladesh embarked on the mission of creating a viable state about four decades ago but things have come full circle. The problems of streamlining the civil and military bureaucracies, establishing an independent judiciary, practising healthy parliamentarism and, above all, introducing a responsible party system remain as acute as these were at the dawn of independence in 1971. Worse still, the controversies regarding the national identity, the war of independence and the constitution of the country have been raging since August 15, 1975; the nation stands divided into two antagonistic camps.
The people have, nevertheless, demonstrated through their enthusiastic participation in the 2008 parliamentary election that they are eager to break free from the vicious cycle of the past and bring a change for the better. This good feeling is tempered by the fear that the ghosts of the past may strangulate the Hasina government or any quixotic action of the government itself may be its own undoing. The country is passing through a twilight zone.
Déjà vu 1972-75: In retrospect, the August 15 conspirators usurped power in 1975 on the pretext of ending the one-party Baksal system and bringing down a government which perceptively lost much of its credibility with the people because of the 1974 famine, excesses of the para-military Rakhi Bahini, high-handedness of the Awami leaguers, lawlessness, corruption, price spiral, etc. But this power struggle was the tip of the iceberg. The real issue involved fundamental questions of politics and ideology -- an ideological struggle against the secular-socialist polity based on Bengali nationalism which emerged through the liberation war in 1971 and which was enshrined in the constitution of 1972. And the Islam-pasand polity, based on Bangladeshi nationalism, which is a euphemism for Bengali Muslim nationalism, and free capitalism, was foisted on the nation.
The present government has predictably taken up the issues of the trial of the war criminals, execution of the High Court verdict in the Bangabandhu murder case and the restoration of the original constitution of 1972 on a priority basis. A decisive battle between the forces of the pre-'75 polity who claim to uphold the pristine "Fundamental Principles of State Policy" (democracy, secularism, socialism and Bengali nationalism) and the forces of the Islam-pasand post-'75 polity is thus imminent.
It will be extremely naïve to think that the government will win the battle of polities as easily as a cakewalk. The Islam-pasand parties, led by the BNP, have practically been marginalised in the ninth parliament but they polled more than 37 per cent of votes cast. They apparently have a formidable popular base. More importantly, their tentacles are firmly rooted in the civil and military bureaucracies, business, finance, NGOs, media, educational and intellectual establishments.
Going it alone: The political scenario is marked by the omnipotence of the ruling Awami League in the parliament and a total disarray in the opposition camp. This is reminiscent of the 1972-75 period. The opposition does not apparently feel, as in that earlier period, any stake in the normal functioning of the government. Their survival depends, instead, on the failure of the government.
The government has already served a notice of death sentence to the post-'75 Islam-pasand polity. If the government succeeds in sending the killers of Sheikh Mujib to the gallows, trying the alleged war criminals and restoring the constitution of 1972 then the very political, constitutional and legal basis of the Islam-pasand politics will be dismantled. How can one expect the BNP and the Jamaat, the two opposition parties in the parliament, to cooperate with the government, in parliament and outside, in implementing this agenda?
The government and the ruling Awami League, along with its allies, will have to go it alone. They have received such an overwhelming electoral mandate that they are blessed with a rare opportunity, under a parliamentary system, to carry out a revolutionary transformation of the state through constitutional means. The problem is: though they have already taken some populist measures, they are running the affairs of state mostly in a cavalier fashion. Unless they can set an example in good governance, they will be in danger of losing the support of the people at home and the goodwill of the friends of Bangladesh in the international community.
A seeming calm notwithstanding, the political arena has never been more volatile than it is now. Nobody knows how the government will go about with its agenda of restoring the pre-'75 polity or handle the BNP, the Jamaat and other Islam-pasand parties and Islamist outfits nor does anybody know how the latter will respond to the government's policies and actions regarding the restructuring of the polity. Besides, the civil and military bureaucracies, the political classes in general and the business community in particular will be required to make radical readjustments in their respective fields in the event the pre-'75 polity is restored. The path ahead is hazardous and the incumbent government may feel complacent with its unprecedented parliamentary strength only at its own peril.
harun1943@gmail.com