An unconstitutional govt can never be democratic

The Liberation War of 1971 comes up repeatedly in various ways. That was a time of great hardship. Each of us was in grave danger. Every day, every night, even every moment was filled with terror. We thought about our own safety, at most we were occupied with concerns about our loved ones. We exchanged news, wanted to know what was happening where, listened to the radio, thought about how to help the freedom fighters, while those who were at war were fighting for their very lives. There was work for all of us. Danger pursued us, but we also had dreams. There was a dream ahead. A collective and enormous dream. We hoped we would drive the invaders out, that we would be free, and towards that goal we worked. Everyone wanted to contribute in whatever way they could.

That process of thinking, dreaming, and shuddering in nightmares still continues; but the collective dream seems to have disappeared. Now there is little thought for everyone’s freedom; each is busy with their own. The question is, what did I gain? What happened to me? In 1971 too, it is not that no one thought of themselves. Of course they did; but even amidst that nightmare we knew that our personal freedom was tied to everyone’s freedom. Unless the country was freed from the invaders, none of us could survive individually. Therefore the struggle for survival became a universal struggle. Not that all of us were in one place. Some were inside the country, some outside; but wherever we were, the only thought was when the country would be free and how the murderous Pakistani occupiers would be driven out.

And what happened afterwards? What was our experience after victory? It was entirely different. We found that we had become divided. Our dreams had become personal. We had no time to think about collective interests, though the tasks of the collective remain immense! We need to eliminate poverty. We need investment in industry. We need to concentrate a little. We need to advance in education. These are tasks to be done together. None of these can be done by one alone; yet we are not coming together to do them. Whatever is being done, is being done on an individual level.

Why are we not doing things together—this is something worth pondering. When we try to think, it seems endless. We blame the political leadership; but the country became independent because of political leadership. It was they who built up the movement for liberation. Not the bureaucrats, businessmen or professionals; it is the politicians who can claim credit for what was done. They could not take us far enough. They advanced to a limit, and then their journey ended.

Yes, the state became a party. The state under which we lived during British rule was much larger. With the establishment of Pakistan, we made the state smaller. Bangladesh, compared to that, is an even smaller state. This state is new; but how new is it? That is the big problem. We got a new state, but the structure and character of the state, which under the British and Punjabis was bureaucratic, remained bureaucratic in independent Bangladesh. It did not change. The same laws and courts, the same rules and regulations, the same administration and various forces still exist.

In a bureaucratic state, power rests with the bureaucrats. Under colonial India, British bureaucrats were supreme. In Pakistan too, bureaucrats ruled the state and their military bureaucrats carried out genocide in East Bengal. In Bangladesh we have repeatedly experienced military rule, caretaker governments, states of emergency, interim governments, and so on. Even when it seemed political leaders were ruling the country, the key to power was still in the hands of bureaucrats.

An unconstitutional government can never be democratic, is not democratic, and has no way of being democratic. Democracy requires accountability. Bureaucracy allows no accountability. In democracy, power is spread across all levels. In a bureaucratic system, all power is centralised. In democracy, the people’s representatives govern; in bureaucracy, rule is carried out by a few parachuted-in officials. They do not think of the country’s interests, only their own.

The failure of political leaders lies here: they could not dismantle the old bureaucratic state and establish a democratic one in its place. They gained the power to rule the state and remained content with that. Yet they soon realised that real control of power had passed into the hands of anti-national forces. They thought they had become united. The state that was established through the people’s struggle should have belonged to the people later—but in that work they had no interest at all, and still do not.

The political leadership we speak of is in fact a ruling class. A powerful new ruling class has arisen in Bangladesh, who do not seek the development of the people, but their own. This ruling class, under various names, seizes state power and governs with the help of bureaucrats. They quarrel among themselves, sometimes in extremely ugly ways. But their quarrels are not about ideals. On ideology they are one and the same. They want plunder, and the type of clashes that arise among plunderers are what we see among them. The main current of politics is a struggle over division of spoils.

I spoke of ideology. That ideology has a name. Globally it is known as capitalism. Capitalism does produce; but the capitalism established in our country is not interested in production, but in plunder. On the other hand, all the faults of capitalism we have to endure constantly. For example, looking after personal interests and indulging in luxury. This was not the case in 1971. Then, everyone’s interests became one, and there was no question of luxury. People thought about how to free the country and were inspired by self-sacrifice. We speak of the spirit of the Liberation War. That spirit was democratic, the essence of which was to establish equality of rights and opportunities among all people. That equality developed on the battlefields of 1971. Those battlefields were not confined to one place, but spread across the country. Why only across the country? The struggle went on abroad too, with the involvement of expatriates.

The capitalist ideology has returned. The British ruled with that ideology, the Pakistanis were trained in it, and today’s rulers are also rooted in capitalist ideology. As a result, not only the ideology of the state, but the ideology of society has remained the same as before, unchanged.

The first thing we need is work. People want work. The people of this country are not lazy, they are workers. When relief workers go to disaster-affected areas, they hear the people there saying, giving us relief is good, but what we need is work. The famine-stricken people say the same—we want work. Today there is a desperate cry for work all over the country. In search of work people rush around frantically, at home and abroad. Abroad, they grab jobs that local people there do not want to do. Yet our ruling class has no interest at all in creating employment. Corruption increases; but opportunities for work do not.

To increase work there must be investment. For investment, capital is needed. The rich can invest capital; but the rich in Bangladesh are not interested in investment. That they will set up factories, invest in agriculture, fish farming, forestry—such enthusiasm is not seen. They do not want to take risks, they want to plunder. Meanwhile, this bureaucratic state does not create an environment for investment either. Because they understand bribes and corruption, but not job creation.

Another serious development has taken place: inequality has increased. The rich have become richer, the poor poorer. In the last fifty-four years of Bangladesh, this has been the greatest period of rising inequality. The unity created by the spirit of 1971 has been crushed repeatedly by this rise in inequality. Not only does inequality remain between rich and poor, but inequality has grown between the positions of men and women. When women perform well in the workplace, when their presence in industry has surpassed all previous limits, their security has not improved. Nor can it be said that their dignity has increased.

The glory of 1971 was patriotism. That patriotism is no longer visible, because of the unchecked dominance of capitalist ideology. If everyone thinks only of themselves, then who will think of the country? But think we must! Without the country, we do not exist. Not only will identity be erased, but we will have no ground to stand on. We will drift like moss on water.

Thinking is not enough, work is needed. The greatest work is to make the state and society democratic. Who will think about this and join in the work? It will be those who are patriotic and democratic. Their numbers are not small. The spirit of the Liberation War was not created in a single day; it exists and will continue to exist.

Otherwise the danger will increase, as it is increasing now, and will go on increasing. Our future depends on this give-and-take. Many tasks are urgent. But the most urgent is not to forget that the country must be made democratic in the spirit of the Liberation War.

Sirajul Islam Chowdhury: Emeritus Professor, University of Dhaka