Will the prime minister wake up before it’s too late?

Published : 2 Oct 2010, 11:39 AM
Updated : 2 Oct 2010, 11:39 AM

Amid the gloom and doom that often accompany news about Bangladesh here in the United States, there had been a refreshing departure last week. A leading newspaper and a senior American official had dwelt at length on the remarkable progress Bangladesh has made in the past two decades and the potential it holds for future development.

In a long article on September 28, the Wall Street Journal columnist Sadanand Dhume insists that Bangladesh is no longer the 'basket case' that Henry Kissinger once dubbed. Rather, it has come a long way to overcome the infamous appellation and well on its way to become a success story whose most recent history can be summed up as a blur of political protests and natural disasters punctuated by jihadist violence and the occasional military coup.

He ticked off a long list of accomplishments Bangladesh has made in terms of social and economic progress — respectable GDP growth, impressive agriculture development, increased rate in girls' education, reduction in infant mortality rate and so on.

Much the same view has been expressed by Robert Blake, the Assistant Secretray of State for South and Central Asia. In a major policy speech at the San Diego World Affairs Council on September 30, Blake praised Bangladesh for its steady economic growth over the last two decades, which he said, has been another important factor in lifting millions of Bangladeshis out of poverty. Few people know that despite the global recession, Bangladesh's economy has continued to maintain a growth rate of 5-6 per cent per year for almost two decades, he said.

'Bangladesh is now the world's third-largest exporter of ready-made garments – I'd be willing to bet that the clothes that a number of you are wearing today were made by some of the millions of Bangladeshi garment workers, the overwhelming majority of whom are women.'

Indeed, with a female prime minister, opposition leader, foreign minister and agriculture minister, it should come as no surprise that women's empowerment and girl's education rank high on the nation's list of priorities, Blake added.

Both the Journal columnist and the American official mentioned that President Barack Obama at a reception for world leaders, who attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York, congratulated the Bangladesh prime minister, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, for receiving a prestigious UN award earlier in the week. Bangladesh is one of six countries in Asia and Africa feted for its progress toward achieving its Millennium Development Goals, a set of targets that seek to eradicate extreme poverty and boost health, education and the status of women worldwide by 2015.

This is exciting stuff and should be a matter of great pride for any Bangladeshi or for those who care about the country. But the problem is many, if not most, Bangladeshis who have to endure the daily grind would beg to differ with Blake and the Journal columnist.

And they cannot be blamed. Indeed, the growing anger about the way the country is being run threatens to spill over into the streets and could set the country once again on the path of violence and bloody confrontation.

In fact, you don't need to be a political scientist to gauge the mood of the common people. I was in Bangladesh recently and saw firsthand how resentful and angry people have become at the ruling party.

The people are already smarting under the burden of rising cost of living. But they seem to be more upset at the widespread highhandedness of the ruling party in general and the growing lawlessness in particular. What is particularly disturbing is that they have come to believe that all this is being sanctioned at the highest level.

Three recent incidents are enough to support the widespread perception. The transfer of almost all district officials from Pabna, reportedly at the behest of the prime minister, has created an impression that she was more interested in protecting the local party activists than the neutrality of the administration.

Second, the chaos and the unbearable traffic jam for hours in Dhaka in the name of welcoming the prime minister at the airport after her return from New York conveyed an impression that the ruling party highups are more interested in self-indulgence than caring for the common people, who had been subjected to untold suffering on that particular day.

Last, but not least, the reported forcible locking up of a number Dhaka University students at Shahidullah Hall by the hall unit Chhatra Lreague president for their refusal to go to the airport to receive the prime minister posed a pertinent question whether Bangladesh is turning into a banana republic

These incidents are quite reminiscent of the suffocating days prior to the tragic events of August 15, 1975.

I only hope and pray that the powers that be can wake up in time. Otherwise the consequences might become too dangerous even to contemplate.

—————
Arshad Mahmud is a senior editor and Washington Correspondent for bdnews24.com.