Democracy on Bishwa Road

Rumi Ahmed

Published in the New Age (9 February 2008)

During the last years of Ershad, a tide of road building projects went on throughout Dhaka. Bijoy Sarani, Panthapath and Malibagh Bishwa Road were all built during that time. Those beautifully paved roads were walled out from the neighbourhoods by ceramic brick and grilled walls. There was bougainvillea blossoming on steel-grilled structures in short intervals. They all really looked like parkways and malls rather than a city thoroughfare in a third world country.
Soon after Ershad’s fall, all the beautification vanished. Panthapath pavements and Bishwa Road footpaths turned into slums and fish markets. Those bougainvilleas were all gone in a very short time. The steel frames for bougainvilleas turned into structures holding the shanties. Some urban ‘bhodrolokes’ cited this as an example of how democracy had gone wrong and how we had been better off under Ershad.

The triple bottom line

Amer Ahmed

Published in the Forum (Feb 2008) 

The failure of communism in the twilight of the 20th century seemed to vindicate the champions of the free market — be they Chicago libertarians or Washington Consensus neoclassicists. However, even as command economies fell, the world came to witness new crises in the fledgling free markets. From the disastrous privatisation of Bolivia’s natural resources to the violent upheavals in the former Soviet Union, capitalism and the free market failed time and time again to provide sufficient conditions for sustainable growth. The promised virtuous cycle of economic and social development often did not come to pass.

Of food and fuel

Jyoti Rahman

Published in the Forum (Feb 2008)

Politically, Bangladesh stands at a cross-road in 2008, with credible elections and sustained democracy being a realistically attainable choice. Yet, it is an economic issue that can overshadow all socio-political developments. Rising food price inflation — agflation — is arguably the greatest problem facing the country today. And while there are domestic factors at play, the global nature of agflation makes it difficult for the policymakers to stem its rise.

Although agflation started picking up in 2003, it has gathered pace in the past few months (Chart 1). Food prices rose by 11.7 per cent during the 12 months to October 2007, to be over 50 per cent higher than their 2002 levels.

There are many reasons for high and rising agflation.

Wanted: Open minds

Asif Saleh

Published in the Forum (Feb 2008)  

One of the biggest casualties of the post-1/11 scenario is the loss of a space for a healthy dialog without getting labelled. It seems now people are very afraid to take any firm stand on any issue for the fear of being labelled.

The civil society in Dhaka is fragmented into multiple brackets. How much of it is ideological and how much of it is simply about access? Without packaging people up in multiple labels, it seems not many people are willing to engage in evidence based criticisms and arguments.

Say a good thing about the government, you are automatically branded as stooge of the army. Talk about due process for political leaders, you are branded as someone who wants to go back to pre-1/11 days. Say that religion based politics should not be banned for the sake of democracy, and you are branded as a rajakar/Jamati.

National security: The democratic model

Mashuqur Rahman and Sikder Haseeb Khan

Published in the Forum (Feb 2008)

Preserving and protecting national security is one of the most important responsibilities of any government. As foreign policy and national security challenges have become more complex, governments have looked to devise appropriate analytic and decision-making bodies. One such innovation has been the National Security Council.

In democracies that have adopted the National Security Council, the council acts as an advisory body on national security policy to an elected head of government. It is subordinate to the head of government (which in Bangladesh would be the prime minister), and has no authority over the decisions of the government’s chief executive. In its more severe form, however, the National Security Council is often used to exert military control over policy, even after power is handed over to civilian governments (Thailand is an example of this).

The problem with evil: Addressing 1971

Tazreena Sajjad

Published in the Forum (Feb 2008)

“The problem is why we can or should no longer speak of evil, and why who so seem to be increasingly suspect, self-serving and irrational; why to speak of evil is in a peculiar way to perpetuate it, but at the same time, to refuse to be contaminated by the word is to perpetuate what it denotes … the repertoire of evil has never been richer, yet never have our responses been so weak.”
– Andrew Delbanco

Artwork by Kamrul Hasan

At a talk in Washington D.C. in January, I heard the following: “[T]here is talk in Bangladesh right now of trying the war criminals, you know, those who sided with Pakistan, having these tribunals, but I personally think it’s not the time for Bangladesh to come up with policies that divide the people.

Not for sale

Rumi Ahmed

Published in the Forum (Feb 2008)

The sound of my pager breaks the silence. A text message flashes in my pager: “Mr. John Doe is now a donor.” An attempt by the resident doctor to keep me informed of my patients. This text would seem meaningless to anybody, but these words may potentially bring back a meaningful life for half a dozen souls.

Let me give a little background. Mr. John Doe was in the neurosurgical intensive care unit with head injury in a high-speed motor vehicle crash. His brain injury was extensive and the hope of a recovery was fading rapidly. In the morning I had a long conversation with the family that included the parents and the siblings. The family was in agreement that if there was no hope, the doctors might withdraw life support. They also inquired whether their son could donate his organs; those may save the lives of others.

Say ‘no’ to national security council

Asif Saleh

Published in the New Age (02 Feb 2008)

In countries where strong democratic institutions exist and where the military has never offered any threat to take over the state machinery, NSC has been used to deal with external threats and coordinate defence strategies. However, in countries where the military has been a dominant force in internal politics, NSC has been used to institutionalise the military’s role in politics, writes Asif Saleh

Jillur Ahmed, Channel I host of Tritiyo Matra: So is National Security Council coming?
General Moeen U Ahmed: Well, we have been hearing about it since last year. Let’s see. It’s there in India and Pakistan – so why not in Bangladesh?