How democracy collapsed in Bangladesh

IN a statement made under the aegis of a group called ‘VCs for Kamala’, some prominent leaders of the tech industry (LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla) said they were united in their support for Kamala Harris in this ‘pivotal moment’. “We are pro-business, pro-American dream, pro-entrepreneurship and pro-technological progress. We believe in democracy as the backbone of our nation. We believe that strong, trustworthy institutions are a feature, not a bug, and that our industry — and every other industry — would collapse without them,” the group said in the statement, signed by over 700 tech leaders. This enunciates the two foundational principles on the basis of which developed countries have progressed — democracy and institutions. These are the two principles enforced strongly by men and women of courage who have fought and defeated the forces of autocracy, chaos, fascism and violence. The fight is still on and the forces of autocracy and chaos are pitted against democracy and the rule of law. Most of the institutions mandated by the constitution and parliament have stood steadfast in their duties in most of Europe and North America, although they are opposed by strong determined forces.

Democratic institutions were emasculated and could not or would not perform their duties. The streets were taken over by the cadres of the ruling party.

The ‘Magna Carta Libertatum’ (Latin for great charters of freedom) declared the sovereign to be subject to the ‘rule of law’ and documented the liberties held by ‘free men’, providing the foundation for individual rights in Anglo-American jurisprudence. Subsequently, the ‘divine right of kings’ was gradually taken away, leading to the establishment of democracy. It was this transition in society, where the rule of law and the empowerment of the common citizen were established, that paved the way for the creation of the great democracies. To quote former British PM Margaret Thatcher, “A country is not rich just because of its natural resources. If this were so, your country (Russia) would already be one of the richest in the world. But countries are prosperous only in so far as the system of government encourages the enterprise of the people. For it is enterprise which creates wealth… The capitalism which I support is not a free-for-all in which the powerful are able to exploit their position at the expense of fairness, decency and the common good. Capitalism can only function when there is a strong and just rule of law, to which everyone, including the government, is answerable.”

To take the argument further, it can be seen that most of the developed countries have evolved over a period of time strong institutions, as mandated by their constitution and parliament. They withstood the onslaught of the two world wars and their institutions did not flinch in the face of adversity but gained in strength and emerged victorious. On the other hand, less developed and recently independent countries might have started with the right intentions and institutions, but soon caved in to the lust for power and money, besides bigotry, and in the bargain gradually destroyed their institutions. Democracy gave way to autocracy and the dictatorship of a party or a coterie or a person so much so that the armed forces came to be looked upon as a beacon of hope and justice. The judiciary, the elected bodies, the political entities — all fell like ninepins in the face of the onslaught by the anti-democratic forces opposed to the rule of law, forces opposed to the development of the poor and downtrodden, forces favouring the ruling party, coterie or individual.

Now coming to the country in the context of which the above has been written, Bangladesh or East Pakistan — as it was then known — had all the ingredients necessary to be a state on its own. Politically, culturally and historically, it had nothing in common with Pakistan except religion (that also was not total). However, it continued to be trampled under the iron heel of the Pakistani army, which let loose a reign of terror and massacres. The army was the court of ‘first and last resort’; all other institutions had been emasculated. The people rose and formed the Mukti Bahini and a credible leader rose in the form of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Backed by the sage and courageous leadership of Indira Gandhi, Bangladesh was born. Tragedy struck at the very beginning with the assassination of the Sheikh and most of his family members in 1975. The army and the forces of autocracy began to call the shots again. Bangladesh returned to square one. However, Sheikh Hasina, with the support of her people, became the popular leader of Bangladesh. Elections were held, parliament came into being, an elected government was formed and with this and the formation of democratic institutions, the entrepreneurial genie was released. Bangladesh started to grow economically and so did the people’s standard of living. The nation started improving on most parameters of development — human and financial. At the same time, the external and internal forces of destabilisation were at work under the guidance of Pakistani intelligence agencies and extremist Islamic organisations. In order to face the onslaught of these forces, the ruling party cadres and the administrative structure also began to resort to extra-judicial measures. Gradually, a malaise set in — political intolerance, corruption, violence against opponents. More and more Opposition leaders and activists were locked up. Charges of rigging elections were levelled against the ruling party, and Opposition parties were not allowed to function freely. Democratic institutions were emasculated and could not or would not perform their duties. The streets were taken over by the cadres of the ruling party.

When the crisis came, Bangladesh had become a dictatorship bereft of independent and strong institutions. What began as student unrest was politically and administratively mishandled. Finally, Hasina ordered the police and the army to shoot down her own citizens — hundreds died, and the blood will stain her hands forever. She had to flee the country which had brought back her father to an independent Bangladesh and she waits alone in some obscure corner of Delhi for asylum somewhere. Coming back to the statement at the beginning, “we believe in democracy as the backbone of our nation. We believe that strong, trustworthy institutions are a feature, not a bug, and that our industry — and every other industry — would collapse without them…” One would just add that not just the industry, the whole nation could collapse.

The author is a member of the Tribune Trust