Civil society needs to be perked up right away

According to the declared programme of Dr. Chowdhury, he would first meet the different professional groups of the civil society. It may be pertinent here to delineate "civil society", as many political leaders and columnists interpreted the term quite differently and there has been an apparent but unnecessary mystification between the "political parties" and the "civil society". In the speeches of different political leaders and also in certain newspaper columns, the term civil society has been used to mean the broad spectrum of the professionals of the country such as the journalists, writers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, professors, retired judges and bureaucrats etc. The question that may quite naturally come to one's mind is whether the members of the major political parties are also the members of the civil society? If so, then why the term "civil society" is often used as if it's another group outside the existing political groups? A few politicians even called the civil society as a pressure group.

However, the fact remains that the civil society is neither a pressure group, nor a political group, nor even a so-called third force in the political arena of Bangladesh. The civil society is what it should literally and sensibly mean. By the word "civil" we mean "of or relating to the citizens of a country" and by the word "society" we mean an association or a social order. Therefore, the civil society is nothing but the association of the citizens of the country. As we know, a citizen of a democratic country has certain rights which may include voting right, right to speak or write, own property, and many other fundamental rights. On the other hand, a citizen has also certain definite obligations such as allegiance to the sovereignty of the country and it's constitution and all other legal provisions and a definite commitment to do good for the country and be supportive to the fellow citizens. Therefore, the members of the citizen's association or the civil society exhibit certain essential characteristics and these are:

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(a) they must have allegiance to the sovereignty of the country and its constitution;
(b) they must be conscious of their rights and obligations and be the law abiding citizens;
(c) they must have a commitment to the welfare of the fellow citizens.

It follows therefore that the concept of the civil society has a distinct connotation of ethics and that all the conscientious citizens of a country, in sharp contrast to the criminals and corrupt individuals, are the members of its civil society. Thus the members of the civil society may include the members of the opposition parties as also those of ruling political parties, professors and the students, the doctors and the nurses, the top bureaucrats and the petty clerks, the industrialists and the workers, the landlords and the peasants, the intellectuals and the laymen, and there can be no stratification on social, economic, political, or any other ground apart from that of morality or rectitude. Therefore, it makes sense when Dr. Chowdhury says that by the civil society, " I mean any conscious patriotic individual in general, where people from any quarter, professional groups, political parties get in."

Accordingly, the civil society of Bangladesh takes in the vast multitude of people all over the country as opposed to any group or segment and therefore, there is no scope to belittle the role of the civil society in the national political arena. However, unlike the political activists, the members of the civil society generally remain dormant almost like a sleeping tiger, then again once the tiger wakes up for any compelling reason, it can take control of the entire situation and nothing can stop it from proclaiming that he is the real power.

The real power of the civil society lies in the moral power of it's members and armed with the moral power, the civil societies of different countries could radically change their destinies. It may be pertinent to note that the incidence of civil disobedience movement has a direct linkage with the civil society. The civil disobedience is a form of non-violent opposition to government policy, usually on the grounds of conscience and morality. As we know from the history, the first exponent of the civil disobedience movement was M L King, who led black civil rights movement in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. More elaborate form of civil disobedience was launched by Mahatma Gandhi leading to the independence of India in 1947. In our national context, we had since observed the power of the civil society in our language movement in the year 1952. Here, may we not forget that the movement for recognising Bengali as the state language was a distinct movement of the civil society as opposed to an agenda of any of the then political parties, albeit a few political parties only lent support to the movement at a later stage. It's now a historical fact that the said movement resulted in the advancement of our Bengali nationalism leading ultimately to our independence as a sovereign nation.

It is generally felt that the time has come to perk up the civil society once again to get rid of the prevailing malfunctions, and that Bangladesh would never be able to face the challenge of the new millennium unless immediate steps are taken to ensure "a government of the people, by the people and for the people." However, it is also not expected that Dr. B. Chowdhury can change the scenario all by himself. Therefore, it is rational for him to take into account the national celebrities like Dr. Kamal Hossain, and other important personalities and join hands with the saner political groups to form an alternative front or platform and take a national stand to get a good riddance from the putrid polity. For Bangladesh, it has almost become a craze to support or not to support a political party on the basis of one's acceptability or non-acceptability of the deceased leaders instead of the living ones. This incoherent attitude needs to be given up right away.

The tenure of the government is also a vital factor in ensuring people's democratic rights as well as in reining in the un-satiable greed for power and money, creating thereby an awful vested interest group. In Sweden, the term of the government was for three years even a few years ago and in the western democracies, normally it is four years. With the socio-political index of the countries like Bangladesh, it would be fairly reasonable that the term of an elected government should be not more than three years, in order that the accountability situation of the party in power as also the sustainability process of democracy can find a real strength. Frequent elections, albeit may appear to be a bit expensive monetarily, would go a long way to bring about a socio-economic stability by calming down the political fevers and heated rivalries of the opposing political parties. This would also ensure a better evaluation process of the system of governance through people's frequent participation.

There is no doubt that the people could no more be happy with the subsequent dynastic rules and that the advent of the personalities like Dr. B. Chowdhury or Dr. Kamal Hossain in the leadership of the civil society heralds a new dimension in the total political spectrum of the country, for the country is almost starving for an enlightened direction. Obviously, this would involve a great deal of organisational activities on the one hand and coping with the black money and muscle power on the other. In the national context, it is not important which political power or personality comes to power or which one leaves it, but it is absolutely important to contain the present sizzling state of affairs, and ensure a thriving economy. If the goal is clear, the purpose is honest, and the efforts are sincere, the days are not far off when the nation shall be led by the personalities who would be leaders in their own rights, instead of the past legacies.

Hafeejul Alam is a management specialist.