Bangladesh democracy going down from 5 January and dictatorial ruling going up

Bangladesh democracy going down from 5 January and dictatorial ruling going up

Journalist  Md. Nora Alam ( Sufi Borshan) from London:

A.

There is a profound relationship between democracy and development, while development may be possible without democracy, democracy cannot exist without equitable development. Development achieved by dictators and autocrats do not fully reflect people’s will and aspiration. Thus, impressive highways and gigantic buildings may not serve the purpose of the people. Only a handful rich and mighty may be benefited by these although roads and highways may serve the purpose of a vibrant economy with desirable investment. It is worthwhile to remember that during the 1950s, some Asian and African dictators built large and expensive structures in the name of development at a great cost to the people. These only served their egos without helping their people. This shows what hollow results development without democracy may produce.

Democracy, or democratic government, is "a system of government in which all the people of a state or polity ... are involved in making decisions about its affairs, typically by voting to elect representatives to a parliament or similar assembly," as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary. Democracy is further defined as  "Government by the people; especially: rule of the majority  " a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections."

According to political scientist Larry Diamond, it consists of four key elements: (a) A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections; (b) The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life; (c) Protection of the human rights of all citizens, and (d) A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens

B.

Democracy is regarded as the hallmark of the present-age civilisation. In recent times, a mighty wave of democratisation has swept the developing and less developed countries. Analysts agree that in today’s world, democracy has no viable alternative. It was especially in the 1990s that the tide of democracy submerged and annihilated dictatorial regimes in many countries. The same process put an end to dictatorial rule in the former Soviet Union and its East European socialist allies. In other countries where non-ideological autocratic regimes existed, similar democratic developments demolished them. The energetic emergence of democracy was accompanied by increasing dominance of open market or market-friendly economy. Private enterprise flourished as a result of flowering of democracy on one hand and emergence of open market economy on the other. In consequence, there was relatively rapid and widespread economic development. As democracy advanced so did open-market economy. It seemed that the trend of events synthesised the two developing processes.

C.

A dictator is a ruler who wields absolute authority. A state ruled by a dictator is called a dictatorship. The word originated as the title of a magistrate in ancient Rome appointed by the Senate to rule the republic in times of emergency.  Like the term "tyrant" (which was originally a respectable Ancient Greek title), and to a lesser degree "autocrat", "dictator" came to be used almost exclusively as a non-titular term for oppressive, even abusive rule, yet had rare modern titular use.

In modern usage, the term "dictator" is generally used to describe a leader who holds and/or abuses an extraordinary amount of personal power, especially the power to make laws without effective restraint by a legislative assembly. Dictatorships are often characterised by some of the following traits: suspension of elections and of civil liberties; proclamation of a state of emergency; rule by decree; repression of political opponents without abiding by rule of law procedures; these include one-party state, and cult of personality.

The term "dictator" is comparable to – but not synonymous with – the ancient concept of a tyrant; initially "tyrant", like "dictator", did not carry negative connotations. A wide variety of leaders coming to power in a number of different kinds of regimes, such as military juntas, one-party states and civilian governments under personal rule, have been described as dictators. They may hold left or right-wing views, or can even be apolitical.

D.

Human rights abuses dictatorial ruling time:

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Under the dictatorship of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, tens of millions of people were executed, starved to death or imprisoned in Gulag forced-labour camps. Poll Pot became leader of Cambodia in 1975. In all, an estimated 1.7 million people (out of a population of 7 million) died due to the policies of his three-year dictatorship. As a result, Poll Pot is sometimes described as "the Hitler of Cambodia" and "a genocide tyrant". Hun Sen is widely viewed as a dictator that has assumed authoritarian power in Cambodia using violence and intimation and corruption to maintain his power base.The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's military dictator Omar al-Bashir over alleged war crimes in Darfur.

At least 151 people were killed in political violence while another 192 in ‘crossfire’ and in custody in the last year, according to a report on human rights violation released by ASK Executive Director advocate Sultana Kamal and Ain O Salish Kendra . Of the political killings, 69 were burnt to deaths, said the report which was prepared on the basis of newspaper reports. A total of 3,051 people were injured in 556 incidents which took place due to political conflicts during the last year from January to November 31, it said. Of the deaths in ‘crossfire’, ASK report said 192 people were killed and custody  in RAB ‘crossfire’ while 24 in police ‘crossfire’, five in DB police ‘crossfire’, one in BGB ‘crossfire’ and another one in coastguard/ansar ‘crossfire’. Besides, four people were killed in police torture, one in RAB torture while 9 others were killed in police firing and one in DB firing. According to the report, some 99 females were victims of family repression. Of them, 72 females were killed in family repression.  Some 16 females committed suicides for repression while another 11 faced physical tortures. At least 846 females became victims of rapes, said the report.  At least 15 females were killed after rape and one committed suicide after rape. And also killing of children 133. Besides, attempts were taken to rape some 11 females. About tortures on Hidu community, the report said that 11 people were injured, 17 houses and one business enterprise were burnt last year. A total of 105 incidences of vandalised business enterprises, About 103 journalists were victims of tortures and cases were filed against three journalists for publishing reports. On border conflict, it said six Bangladeshis were killed in BSF firing and three were killed in BSF tortures while 22 people were injured and 36 were victims of abduction. (newagebd.net)

E.

To regard democracy and politico-economic development as contradictory is to each other is to go against the stream of history. Some maintain that rapid and impressive economic development has been possible under autocratic regime in several developing and less developed countries. Economic analysts have, however, found as a result of research that economic development in democracies is far more balanced and sustainable than under dictatorship. The most important thing in a democratic state is that the people can freely and spontaneously participate in planning and implementing the development process. Participation can effectively indicate the best path to meaningful economic development. Displaying apparently impressive statistics and data regarding economic development will sound hollow to ordinary people if their basic needs of food, shelter and clothing are not fulfilled and widespread unemployment haunts society. In consequence, increasing discontent and intense dissatisfaction dominate the minds of the poor masses. Social stability becomes shaky. Political processes become polluted and distorted and economic development cannot be truly realised. This is the reason democratic participation is a sine qua non of balanced growth and symmetrical economic development. In a society where economic development is positive and distribution is equitable, it is not possible for those in power to forcibly snatch away rights of the people. In our country in recent times, some quarters of the ruling party are loudly claiming that limiting democracy helps faster and greater economic development. It is necessary to judge such a statement carefully in the context of our own political history. Excepting the two-year rule of military-backed caretaker government, all governments in Bangladesh since the beginning of 1990s have come to power through democratic processes.

Nevertheless, there are dispute and controversy at home and abroad about the national elections of January 2014 in which 154 out of 300 members of the parliament were elected uncontested. It is necessary to remember that this happened in the context of boycott and resistance to elections by the opposition parties led by the BNP.

They alleged that national elections in the absence of caretaker government and under the incumbent Awami League government would not be free and fair. Whatever that may be, the parliamentary elections of 2014 remained questioned. As a result, the party in power despite its massive majority and stress on economic development cannot but suffer from a certain lack of confidence. It is psychologically in a delicate situation. Despite the authority’s flaunting ostensibly impressive statistics of growth and developments, investors in the private sector are not considering the economic environment investment-friendly. That is, perhaps, the reason only the public sector seems to have considerable investments while the private sector is shy. Indigenous private investment being inadequate, banks and financial institutions are overflowing with idle money. Foreign direct investment has also been far less than desirable. If the private-sector investment does not substantially increase, the dream of rapid and comprehensive economic development will remain unrealised. It is essential to generate confidence and hope in the minds of investors by creating positive hopes about the viability and sustainability of a healthy political environment. A smoothly functioning democracy with sound governance ensured by strong state institutions can secure all-round development. In less developed societies, democracy faces onerous challenges. There are many post-colonial states in which this situation prevails and Bangladesh is one among such polities. The problem in Bangladesh is not creating institutions but in restoring them. Bangladesh, even at its sanguinary birth, inherited a copying set of state institutions. Polluted and chaotic politics dominated by myopic personal leadership damaged and dwarfed these institutions and made democracy uncertain by politics of division and confrontation. This has handicapped development and slowed down and limited the pace of socio-economic progress. In the case of Bangladesh as in instances of other such societies, the malady is rooted in deeper socio-political ground realities.

F.

The major agents of political development in developing societies have been described as (i) political leaders, (ii) political parties, and (iii) the military. In some instances, labour, bureaucracy and the intelligentsia may demand special attention as significant factors. The dangers of personal leadership remaining too personal may be overwhelming. Political institutions may not grow under such a personal system. Legitimacy and legitimising succession may become a challenge that cannot be successfully faced. Uncertainties created by these challenges lead to the throttling of economic development of all kinds especially balanced growth and equitable development.

Democracy and development are complementary processes. This was proved in our country by the fact that replacement of the pre-1990 dictatorial regime with democratic governments led to a definite increase in the growth rate of our GDP. In the 1980s, the growth rate was a little over 4 per cent a year. By contrast, during the 1990s and also in recent years from 2000 to 2014, the growth rate has been approximately around 6 per cent a year. The government in power since 2009 has expressed satisfaction at its success at national economic development. At the same time, it has complained that in recent years, especially 2013, 2014 and 2015, the political turmoil and violence following the BNP-led opposition resistance considerably slowed down the pace of development.

There is little doubt that democratic environment generating political stability can alone lead to sustainable development. In politically stable environment underpinned by effective democracy with good governance, Bangladesh cannot only rapidly increase its growth rate by a point or two but also achieve a double-digit rate.

Democracy is a must for balanced growth and symmetrical development. In a real democracy, elections are not rigged, the opposition is not suppressed and human rights are not violated. In a democracy, the freedom of the media, speech and assembly remains unfettered. In such a system, it is possible for the ruling and the opposition parties alternatively to come to power. If elections are free and fair people can choose the political party that really serves them, bring meaningful economic development and ensure people’s welfare. Thus, the party that ensures participatory development through democratic processes secures its prospects in the polls.

There is another dark side of development without democracy. Lack of people’s participation in an undemocratic or insufficiently democratic order leads to skewed and inequitable development. Transparency and accountability are absent or present only inadequately. Politicians and public servants find scopes to behave irresponsibly and indulge in corruption. Such system tends to become authoritarian under personal rule and cannot be easily reached by the people. On the contrary, the rich and the privileged often have an easy excess to the rulers. They lobby effectively to secure their class, group or coterie interest by influencing the policy makers, planners and decision makers. When democracy is in exile by dictatorship or disguised autocracy, people at large are deprived of having their say in the processes of public policy formulation and implementation. Development without democracy remains unable to ensure the common good.