[lbo-talk] Bangladesh: Drift into chaos?

Jim Devine jdevine03 at gmail.com
Mon Jul 25 08:11:32 PDT 2005


I wrote:
>>a friend from Bangladesh says that this is too sensationalistic.<<

Ulhas wrote:
> I inserted the question mark in the subject line, since I wasn't sure. Jim D may request his friend to clarify his position.<

My friend responded to the London TIMES opinion piece:
>The article gives the impression that following the elections in
2001, the party in power, in connivance with Islamic extremists, is moving Bangladesh towards Islamic fundamentalism and may pretty soon turn into Taliban Afghanistan.


>In my opinion, this is at the least a misreading and at worst a
deliberate distortion of the situation in Bangladesh.The article is replete with examples of "information by omission."


>It's not that all is well in Bangladesh. There is much to be
disturbed about. The bomb attacks on the opposition and the subsequent negligence by the party in power to get at the truth, the assassination of a senior and respected former finance minister, events of Islamic extremism are all true. But the important point, in my opinion, is that they represent only a small shift from business as usual in Bangladesh. This is the sad state of political affairs no matter which party is in power.


>Disrespect for the rule of law, abhorrence of any form of human
rights, is endemic in the politics of both the BNP and Awami League. For example, neither party has allowed an independent judiciary even though each party regularly announces it in its election manifesto. Both practice the politics of patronage, pillage and corruption. But the Awami League, which is just as bad as the BNP when in power, has mouthed the right phrases [re democracy, human rights] and convinced a segment of the West that "the sky is falling". The events of Sept. 11, and the more recent terrorist acts in the UK have also made alarmist views (such as this article) more credible than otherwise.


>So should the rest of the world be alarmed? I think not. Bangladeshis
are well aware that their primary problem is economic. The political zoo is allowed to operate on the sidelines as long they are on the fringes of Bangladeshis' attention. But when the situation starts to get "serious" the government clamps down, if only not to disrupt foreign aid. So they will rein in the hooligans, make some cosmetic moves towards the rule of law, and make some concessions towards human rights...... and then the political parties will go back to their "normal" state of affairs.


>In spite of all of this, Bangladeshis are finally seeing some
improvements in their living standard, with steady economic growth of 5+% each year. It is doubtful whether Bangladeshis, having tasted the fruits of economic success, would allow any disruptive elements to take that success away.< -- Jim Devine "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" -- Richard Feynman



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