Growing Pains

Written by Col (retd.) R Hariharan Courtesy: SouthAsia Magazine, March 2010

Almost four decades down the road since independence, Bangladesh is still groping for visible socio-economic progress and a viable regional role. On March 26 Bangladesh celebrates its independence. Its was on this day 39 years back, when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of the nation, proclaimed independence, severing the umbilical links of the eastern wing with Pakistan. The blood bath and war that followed has made the birth of Bangladesh the most emotive issue in South Asia, second only to the Partition of India in 1947. This makes it a bit difficult for many in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to make an unbiased analysis of Bangladesh as a nation.

Bangladesh's growing pains rooted in its polemical politics and quirks of geo-strategy gained more attention than its achievements. Henry Kissinger's condescending description of the birth of the nation as an 'international basket case' is often quoted while talking about it. But it has evolved its own style of handling problems.

Bangladesh dealt with a crisis of governance when politicians ran amok in 2007 in its own ingenious way. An oligarchic 'care taker' government of intellectuals and bureaucrats took charge with the help of the army to restore order and some discipline in two years. But even more extraordinary was the smooth return of power to multiparty democracy after holding parliamentary elections in 2008. Similarly, in spite of the creaking political hiccups and corrupt structure, the nation was able to clock an average GDP growth of 5% per year.

Four decades mark the start of middle age in humans. But in the history of nations it occupies a small space. In the case of Bangladesh which has a hoary cultural and social history of hundreds of years, it would just be a footnote. However, it was a difficult journey all these years for a people determined to take charge of their own lives. The nation's journey to adulthood continues to traverse hotbeds of geo-strategic, ethnic, religious and economic sensitivities, aggravated by vagaries of climate.

Broadly, the 39 years of independence divides itself into three distinct parts - a brief period of euphoria of independence, a longer period of dominant military leadership in government and the reassertion of democracy. It was the strong trait of nationalism that enabled the politically savvy Bangladeshis to reject the monolithic single party system that started with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's unwise transition from populist democracy to the BAKSAL concept. Their spirit was not crushed even under two military dictators - Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman and Maj. Gen. HM Ershad - who doled out democracy in small doses.

The hazards of obscurantist extremism and incipient terrorism generated in the wake of dictatorships, while the rise of global terrorism were other problems the nation had to contend with. They triggered the move to push politics out of polemics and make a fresh beginning in coalition politics.

The nation's experience in parliamentary democracy had nothing much to recommend it. It failed to deliver because successive autocratic rulers tinkered with its original secular, multiparty framework. These arbitrary changes paved the way for religious obscurantism and political sycophancy and idolatry to flourish. Cronyism and corruption relegated accountability of the rulers to the sidelines. Political opposition and a free press faced the wrath of political henchmen.

The Battle of the Begums - the personalized conflict between Sheikh Hasina Wajid, daughter of Mujibur Rahaman and leader of the Awami League, and her bete noire Begum Khaled Zia, leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, had scuttled nation-building for quite a few years. The conflict became a fertile ground for these anti-democratic tendencies.

In the same period, global and regional power equations changed. The Cold War ended and globalization and free market were back in fashion. The knowledge revolution has changed the lifestyle of people everywhere. Consumerism is flourishing. China has become an economic powerhouse next only to the U.S. and Japan. India has taken advantage of the knowledge and communication revolution to become a major economic power. It has struck a strategic relationship with the U.S. and is reaching out to Southeast Asia to expand its trade and commerce.

A less noticed aspect is the shrinking reaction time of nations to take decisions and act on them due to advances in information management. To prosper, nations have to build strong structural frameworks for decision-making to take advantage of global opportunities. South Asian nations, including Bangladesh, have inherited an insensitive bureaucratic colonial administration. So progress in South Asia as a whole has come from individual initiatives of enterprising classes rather than the structured approach of the Chinese. This has to change.

A second impact of global changes is the growing sensitivity of people to basic human issues like human rights and freedom. These issues are no more limited to national boundaries. Real time global communication through the Internet has raised people's level of awareness on these issues, particularly among the younger generation. They now expect the government to look beyond party politics and provide the right structural and policy framework.

The third aspect is the problem posed by free market economies invading national shores. Trade and commerce have become instruments of national power rather than mere military strategies. This has compelled nations to shed protectionism to access global markets and seek regional alliances of nations to take advantage of geography. In South Asia, this process is yet to come to fruition. The SAARC endeavor is bogged down due to mutual suspicion and political pressures. The eastern part of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar can develop only through multilateral cooperation.

In spite of this, India has shown that building bilateral relations through Free Trade Agreements (FTA) can yield handsome dividends as evidenced by its FTAs with Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Unfortunately Bangladesh, due to its inward looking political preoccupations, has not been able to take full advantage of its location as the eastern gateway of South Asia to the huge markets of Southeast Asia. She has to come out of the shell of thinking only locally and should act globally. It has shown little interest in regional development initiatives forming part of India's bid to access ASEAN region and Southeast Asian countries.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, leader of the victorious Awami League-led 14-party coalition that has gained a strong mandate from the people, carries the burden of meeting the people's high expectations. At the same time, she will have to think out of the box to ensure that Bangladesh takes advantage of global changes. These demands will require her to change not only the style but also the form and content of leadership to take the people and polity along the extra mile. So March 29 is going be a day of soul-searching for the nation as a whole - people, polity and government - if they have learnt from the past. Can she do it? That is the moot point.

Skirmishes of the Battle of the Begums appear to be still on. The BNP has been boycotting parliament and the AL appears to be still in a mood of retribution. Sheikh Hasina has no choice but to go for national reconciliation and bring back Begum Khaleda to function as a constructive opposition. If Sheikh Hasina fails to do so there is a real risk of the nation sliding back into political chaos once again.

Other difficult issues facing her include the handling of Bangladesh's love-hate relationship with India, handling the growing Chinese influence in South Asia and playing a more proactive role in bringing India and Pakistan to come to terms with their regional responsibilities.

The uneasy India-Bangladesh relations are a product of their geography and history. India's sheer size and economic clout coupled with its physical dominance of almost the entire 4000 km border has created a 'small nation syndrome' in Bangladesh although it is the seventh most populous country in the world. On top of it, India's Pakistan-centric foreign policy framework has not given the recognition Bangladesh deserves in building a relationship. As a result Bangladeshi politicians tend to use India as an issue to kindle local passions for narrow political gains rather than building a winning relationship in the larger national interest.

Both Bangladesh and India have to handle problems created by their unnatural borders. It has left in its wake a number of disputes of claims and counter claims, and disputed enclaves and islands. Sheikh Hasina, conscious of her responsibilities has taken the first step in mending the fences with India with a visit to India.
Thus on March 26, Begum Hasina's job is to turn challenges into opportunities. She has successfully weathered the internal challenge posed by the mutiny of the Bangladesh Rifles early in her term. Now she has to make Bangladesh look outwards. There is no other option.

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