SENT
TO SAAG ON 13.05.2009
IS
DEVELOPMENT A SISYPHUS IN SOUTH ASIA
By Kazi Anwarul Masud (former Secretary and
ambassador of Bangladesh)
When Bangladesh society was seemingly becoming
schizophrenic, the government and the opposition divide, despite the hug
between the present and the past Prime Ministers at the tragic demise of the
husband of Sheikh Hasina, is yet to show compassion in policies and practice, distributive
justice is yet to come to fruition and inequality
in income distribution between the rich and the poor, if sale of cars is to be
taken as a barometer, then the inequality has not decreased, it is difficult to state
that we are out of the woods on the
economic front even during the period of global recession. Without compensatory increase in real income
the disposable income of the general masses is yet to increase. Toll extortion
from transport ferrying goods from one part of the country to another coupled
with alleged “tax” paid to law enforcement authorities continue and as a result
the price of goods, particularly of the
essentials, are yet to show signs of coming down. Since the rich as a group is generally
associated with conspicuous consumption of goods any increase in the price of
essentials, which may be substantial relative to the income of a middle income
group, they remain unaffected. Similarly the ultra-poor remains unaffected by
price increase because price of goods is in any case beyond the purchasing
capacity of these people .Despite the availability of coarse rice within the
income range of the middle class and the government’s decision to reactivate
the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, the government could perhaps, consider whether price determination, defined as “the
method used by a market or administrators to fix a price” could be availed of.
Increasingly it is being accepted that some important prices are not determined
in the market by demand and supply but by herd instinct, negotiations, domination
(by illegal forces in countries like Bangladesh, power and speculation. Our
authorities could emulate the British practiced of (1973-80) administering
price policy applying rules of a price code enforced most rigorously
particularly against cartels which had to gain approval in advance for price increase?
The French had similar policies in the 1950s and 1960s. The British also had
legalized price ceilings as Rent Act to help the low income households. Our
authorities could also take note of price discrimination in the form of
charging different prices to different customers for the same product or
setting different prices for different quantities of the same product. Free
market advocates would argue against state intervention so that economic
activities can follow their natural course without governmental regulations in
order to encourage production and give consumers complete freedom. But with
increasing complexities in state and international economies the number of
adherents of laissez-faire doctrine has shrunk. The recession ridden global
economy is unlikely to come to our rescue and the tradition of tax evasion
being firmly rooted in our psyche mobilization of domestic resources may not be
adequate. Chrsi Sciabarra (of New York University- A Crisis of Political
Economy-30.04.2009) writes “there is no free market. There is no laissez-faire
capitalism. The government has been deeply involved in setting the parameters for
market relations for eons…Real, actual, historically specific “capitalism” has
always entailed the intervention of the state. And that intervention always had
a class character; that is, the actions of the state have always benefited and
must always some at the expense of the other”.
Perfect competition in the market in the
classical sense does not exist (certainly not in Bangladesh) with a large
number of buyers and sellers engaged in trading homogeneous products with a
perfectly elastic supply of factors of production. Since unfortunately the
world is filled with Hobbesian human beings basically self-interested and
seeking gain and glory state intervention in controlling sky rocketing of price
has become a moral and political necessity. Even if Bangladeshis are asked to
accept the First Principles of the Scottish philosopher Robert Owen that it is
necessary for the large part of humanity to live in poverty and ignorance to
secure for the remaining part such degree of happiness which they currently
enjoy, the authorities can not evade their responsibility to ensure the basic
needs of the people. Added to these difficulties Bangladesh authorities have to
deal with the aftermath of the August 17th country wide bombing
carnage. The daily reports emanating from investigations by our intelligence
and law enforcement authorities unmistakably point to a link between the
bombers and the Islamic extremists in the country. Dr. Sudha Ramchandaran (The
Threat of Islamic Extremism in Bangladesh- PINR- 27.07.05) alleges that
Bangladesh government’s relaxed approach to the issue of Islamic extremism
“could enhance Bangladesh’s attractiveness as a haven for terrorists fleeing
counter terrorism operations elsewhere”. She finds faults with the open
courting of Islamic fundamentalist Jamat-e-Islami by successive Bangladeshi
governments, its inclusion in the coalition government which has given
encouragement to radical Islamic groups, insurgents from north East Indian
states finding sanctuary in Bangladesh,
and alleged cooperation between Pakistani ISI and Bangladeshi intelligence as
contributing factors to the rise of Islamic extremism in Bangladesh. On
the other hand Sree Radha Dutta makes the point that after seceding from West
Pakistan Bengali nationalism lost its relevance and the dividing line once
again has moved back to religion. Now Bangladesh must differentiate itself not
from West Pakistan but from West Bengal. Therefore successive Bangladesh
governments have been embracing Islamic symbolism “and once again Islam emerged
as the national identity”. Quoting Rohan Gunaratna (Inside al-Qaeda:Global
Network of Terror) Sreeradha Dutta alleges that the February 23, 1988
“Declaration of Jihad against Jews and Crusaders” by Osama bin Laden was also
signed by Fazlur Rahman, the head of the Harkat-ul-Jehad- e- Islami(HUJI) of
Bangladesh which has emerged as collaborator of al-Qaeda operations in
Bangladesh. The emergence of communal divide leading to social fragmentation
and alienation of the minority community may contribute to the deepening of
political instability, problems of governance, Islamization, dangers of
extremism and lack of social cohesion. While comments by Indian scholars are
sometimes taken with a grain of salt in some quarters in Bangladesh the
demarche to Condoleeza Rice by Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry among others
urging her to advise then President Bush
to raise in the recently held UN Summit the issue of political violence in
Bangladesh is a serious matter. The reaction of then Bangladesh authorities to
treat this as an internal communication between the US Congress and the US
administration would have been laughable had the matter not been pregnant with
serious possible consequences. Kennedys and Kerrys are heavyweights and are
unlikely to sign on a petition just to humor a few constituents as has been
argued by some apologists of then ruling party. With reduced significance of
the Westphalian concept of sovereignty the US legislators’ fear of “Bangladesh
becoming a failed state and a base of operation for international terrorist
organizations” prompted them to make recommendations which are inherently
intrusive and under ordinary circumstances
would have been rejected out of hand. But the terrorists’ attacks of
9/11 have taught the Americans the necessity of looking closely into the
affairs of geographically distant lands. The West is particularly worried about
the instructions given to students in religious schools (the number of such
schools is said to be sixty four thousand in Bangladesh) at the expense of
secular education. The West’s worry stems from the fact that the dreaded Taliban
were products of madrashas in Pakistan and Afghanistan. These schools, observes
Joseph Schatz, “sometimes teach extremists, anti-Western curriculums and have
been identified as recruiting bases for Taliban type movements”. Funded by
Middle Eastern sources for decades many of these religious schools are now financially
independent which perhaps has caused Pakistan government’s efforts to register
these schools to falter .The 9/11 Commission Report recommended a long term US
commitment to provide comprehensive support for Pakistan including in the area
of improving education. Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world that
spends less than 2% of its GNP on education. Pakistani example has a direct
relevance for Bangladesh for the following reasons:- (a) after Pakistan
Bangladesh is the third largest Muslim country in the world, (b) if the number
of madrashas in Pakistan is more than one hundred thousand it is sixty four
thousand in Bangladesh and the character of these madrashas are not
significantly different, (c)in both countries the pupils(Taliban) are easily
indoctrinated and turned into fanatics, (d) the students are given military
training for Jihad initially ostensibly to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan and
later for the “freedom” of the Kashmiris while in Bangladesh as the August 17th
investigations continue to reveal the Islamic extremists’ aim was to establish
an Islamic theocratic state in Bangladesh. As the Brussels based International
Crisis Group observes the choice that Pakistan faces is not between the
military and the mullahs, as is generally believed in the West, it is between
genuine democracy and the military-mullah alliance that is responsible for
producing Islamic extremism currently in the form of vicious sectarian
killings. And if Tanzibul Ikhwan leader Maulana Mohammad Akram’s threatened
march on Islamabad last December ( government’s response was to placate him as
he has reportedly considerable influence among middle ranking army officers) is
any indication, Pakistan is yet far removed from acquiring even a tepid form of
secular government The ongoing armed struggle between the Taliban and the
Pakistan army, displacing half a million people from Swat valley to
comparatively safer areas, presumably at the attests to the strengthening of
the Taliban stronghold in Pakistan New York Times(11th may
2009)reported that that a truck filled with explosives struck by a CIA missile
in South Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold, was an indication of the renewed
capability of the Taliban of acquisition of strength in aid of militant
Islamism in Pakistan. The Taliban is also on the roll to recoup the
fighters lost in battles with Pakistani forces and the NATO stationed in
Afghanistan from among young fighters in
the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia The aims of the al-Qaeda at the
moment appears to be to mount major
terrorist attacks, cause insecurity, and embarrass the Pakistani government. Such
a strategy seems to be in line with the al-Qaedist philosophy that considers
the Muslim nations no less deviants from the “true” path of Islam as the
infidels are. Since the Taliban are least worried about democracy and more emphatic
on so-called Western social “degeneration” from which they vow the Islamic
world has to be “rescued” coupled with Pakistan’s age old enmity with India and
the loss of Afghanistan as “strategic depth” India should be very cautious in
dealings with Pakistan despite Zardari’s friendly pronouncements regarding
Pakistan’s archenemy. None in the subcontinent should forget that al-Qaeda
terrorism is transnational and the Muslim majority countries being “soft
targets” are more likely to be both terrorist victims and areas if recruits.
India has been victim of terrorism for a long
time, partly state sponsored from across the border and partly home grown. Unless
terrorism can be eliminated Indian aspiration to be in the league of fast
developing countries is bound to stumble. Constitution of India’s GDP
does not indicate a fast lane growth. The importance India is being given by
the rich and the famous is partly because W W Rostow had predicted decades back
(The stages of economic growth) of the eventual rise of China and India was
because of more than two billion people the two countries would have coupled
with the resourcefulness of the people. Yet both countries suffer from abysmal depth
of poverty (Shanghai and Mumbai being unrepresentative of the countries)’s real
state of development. Terrorism and allied expenditures that could have been
better spent on education, health, and other infrastructural projects have to
be diverted to defense. It is believed that apart from the US India is the
fourth largest spender on defense. Without getting entangled with the
merit/demerit of the case suffice it to say that constant terrorist threats can
not but thwart India’s economic development, an essential requirement to
correct the imbalance of the global economic and political structure resultant
of the decisions made by the victors of the Second World War.
Bangladeshi authorities would be well advised
to monitor cooperation between religious parties and Islamic extremists of Bangladesh and Pakistan. Public
outcry about religious extremism in Bangladesh notwithstanding it is believed
that the US views Bangladesh as a key partner in the Islamic world.
Bangladesh’s moderate foreign policy coincides with the US interest in the
Islamic world. Bangladesh is party to most anti-terrorism conventions as well
as SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism. Bangladesh’s cultural
trend is still believed to be secured in secularism and the contagion of Islam
pasand political parties has yet to affect the people at large. Yet every so
often we read press reports of Islamic extremists being arrested by law
enforcing authorities along with war materials. If the figure of 30% intake in
the armed forces by the BNP-Jamaat government between 2001-2006, a report
dismissed by the World Bank as not being based on proper study, is to be given
some credence then Bangladesh and South Asia have reasons to worry.
The US
and the West are acutely aware of poverty, corruption, political violence and
communal divide threatening peace and stability in Bangladesh. Bangladesh
authorities would be doing themselves a service and the country a favor in
helping to avoid a disaster in the making by taking resolute political action
against Islamic extremism and strengthen good governance in its most expansive
definition enabling the poverty ridden people a chance to live a life they are
entitled to.
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