Bangladesh will take off only after improved law and order situation

Chinese students are taught, a Chinese colleague once told me, that democracy is not a panacea for all ills. "If democracy is so good, why is India so poor?" the Chinese were left to ponder. Democracy is not a guarantee for anything. Unless there is peace and tranquility, development is bound to suffer. India's problem has been lack of peace. It has fought three wars with Pakistan, one with China. India's relation with Pakistan has always been confrontational, requiring the expenditure of crores of rupees on defense. Then there is the question of a restive population. Since its independence in 1947, there have been intermittent Sikh and Naga/Mizo secession insurgencies. There has been unrest in Assam. And for the last fourteen years India has been embroiled in a murderous uprising in Kashmir. None of these are conducive to rapid development. Bangladesh is fortunate in that we have none of India's problems. Ethnically and linguistically we are homogenous. The only significant ethnically different Bangladeshis are the Chakmas and other tribals in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. For Bangladesh to progress, we must treat them fairly and as one of our own.

The writer considers himself fortunate to have studied with a large number of Hindu students in the primary school and in the university, and with Christian and Chakma students in High School (Faujderhat Cadet College.) When one is exposed to students belonging to different faiths, those religions are not abstract concepts any more, but have faces to go with the faiths. Interaction with Chakma students made the writer appreciate their unique culture. We must let them practice their culture, and let their culture flourish. As the majority or elder brothers, so to speak, we must be generous to them. I was extremely pleased to see the Chakmas and other tribals moving into the mainstream of Bangladeshi life. This must be accelerated. We must be equally generous to our Hindu and Christian communities. We must treat our Hindu population with dignity and as equals, let them practice their religion freely, and when necessary protect their houses of worship. The same should be true for Christian Bangladeshis. Hindu Bangladeshis must not be held hostages to whatever happens to Muslims in India. Another requirement for Bangladesh to forge ahead is for all its citizens -- Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and Chakmas and other tribals -- to be truly equal, and participate equally in the nation's development.

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For developmental paradigms Bangladesh must turn its eyes away from the West and towards the East. Our submission to Western hegemony has brought us nothing but subjugation, humiliation, aid-dependency, and very little development. This is the time to break free from the West's suffocating embrace. Our models should be our near neighbours -- Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, the latter two Muslim democracies. One of the secrets of the success of Malaysia and Indonesia has been to treat their minority Chinese citizens as equals and to harness the business acumen of their Chinese citizens for the development of their nations. Malaysia and Indonesia have developed their nations relying mainly on indigenous ingenuity and respecting their indigenous heritage. They have achieved western standards of development and living, without much western assistance. We must do the same. This is not necessarily a blanket criticism of western efforts. What works in Western Europe and America, may not work in Bangladesh, because of our geographic, racial, ethnic, linguistic and religious differences. Because of our proximity, and similarity of our race, ethnicity, culture and religion, what works in Malaysia and Indonesia, might very well work in Bangladesh.

When one looks at Muslim nations in the Middle East and North Africa, all one sees are nations headed by despotic kings (who had succeeded their despotic father kings), life-long dictators and life-long Presidents. Of the four Muslim majority nations that practice democracy, three Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia -- are in Southeast Asia (the other being non-Arab Turkey). Instead of being on the fringe of the Islamic world -- Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia are Islam's new, progressive frontiers! We must also forge friendly relations with the regional superpower, China. A Chinese colleague once told me that it is China's policy to come to the aid of smaller nations persecuted by bigger ones. I am delighted to note that Bangladesh government is aggressively pursuing the above "Eastern strategy."

During my visit I was also impressed with the entrepreneurship of the Bangladeshis. We have an acute sense of demand and supply. There are over thirty private universities in Dhaka alone (albeit, many are one-building university!) For the affluent, there are several city malls; the one I visited, Rifles Square, rivals any in America in terms of dé

cor, cleanliness and quality of merchandise, including fast food. A friend took me to his factory in the Export Processing Zone in Savar. The machinery, the 24-hour operation and the product of his denim factory rival any in America and Europe. One can witness vivid sign of women's empowerment whenever one happens to be near a garment factory during the change of shifts. A friend of mine, a civil engineering professor at BUET, told me that in spite of the erroneous assertion of our western masters that the soil of Dhaka is too soft for even a house basement, Bangladeshi engineers are drawing up blueprints for underground trains at Dhaka. I saw Bangladesh's private sector bursting with entrepreneurial enthusiasm. It is the duty of the government to get out of the way!

There is one area of national life the private sector cannot provide: security. That is the government's responsibility. The government must tackle the law and order situation head on, and win. Without a law-abiding citizenry, Bangladesh's elevation into the upper echelon of prosperous nations will remain a pipe dream. The last thing Bangladesh needs is unsolicited advice from foreigners. No foreign nation should tell Bangladesh what to do. Bangladesh should act in its own interest, not in the interest of India, US or any other country. If a foreign nation truly wants to help Bangladesh develop its police and security forces, it should put its money where its mouth is and provide the funds for training and up to date weapons; otherwise Bangladesh should ignore their advice. The better course for Bangladesh to follow is to be self-reliant and start its own weapons factory.

Finally, a little bragging is in order. With a population nearing 150 million, Bangladesh is the world's fourth largest democracy (after India, US and Indonesia). Bangladesh is twice the democracy as is the UK, France, Germany and Italy (each with a population of around 60 million), and 25-times the democracy Israel (6 million) is. Along with Muslim Indonesia's Megawati Sukarnoputri, currently Bangladesh is one of the only two democracies headed by a woman. Bangladesh is the only democracy EVER in the history of the world to have had two women as both the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition (Khaleda Zia, and Sheikh Hasina) for thirteen years, and counting (March 1991-...). Yet, Bangladesh gets no respect.

Instead of profusely praising Bangladesh's unique feat in the field of democracy, The New York Times, in its December 14 editorial blasted Bangladesh as a nation of "Muslim extremism," "a culture hemmed in by extremism and corruption," and among the world's most dangerous countries for journalists," and asked "Washington...to demand" from no less than a dignitary than Bangladesh's Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the release of an obscure, unheard-of-before Bangladeshi journalist arrested on the charges of espionage for Israel. How The New York Times, which made no mention of Bangladesh's democracy in its editorial, learned so much about the arrest of the person in question, Mr. Salahuddin Shoaib Choudhury, so quickly, and wrote an editorial vouching for his innocence and demanding his release, when long time Bangladeshi journalists like the writer had never heard of him, remains a mystery! Bangladeshis at home abroad and must be pro-active in publicising the moderation and democratic values Bangladesh espouses, and counter malicious smear campaigns being waged by certain quarters in the US, who are livid because Bangladesh has had the audacity to stand up to an accused Israeli spy!