Untold Facts

Democratic Culture and Social Justice Can Ensure Continuity of Democracy

‘GONOTANTRER JONYA SACHETON THAKTE HOBE JATE PISCHAN THEKE ESHE KEW GHAR MATKATE NA PARE’ that sounded in Bengali words into my ears on the February 22nd evening through an audio media in Dhaka. That being the saying from the top executive boss’s mouth for fear of getting neck broken from behind clearly meaning that undemocratic elements might grab State power through unusual means or even illegal back door, that further implied rise of ‘Third Party’ in the political power game of Bangladesh.
The cautionary signal is nothing new as had been time and again sounded by quite a few foreign ambassadors, particularly by the US ones in the early period of the BNP combined government that began to run Bangladesh by winning landslide election victory in October 2001 A.D. One might as well term the recent rhetoric nothing different in tune from the one we used to hear then off and on from corners years ago.
Democracy in Bangladesh remained fragile from the very inception in 1972. Why, that could be a valid query difficult to make straight forward satisfactory reply to. If one could look back a bit carefully and cautiously, one must discover few issues in the matter. The central issues, however, to me, are immature democratic culture, on the one hand, and massive poverty of the millions, on the other.
Democracy, as many take it, is voting in ballot boxes on the polling day, particularly during the national one, and hardly anything beyond. Neither the leaders seeking office in election nor the voters appreciate that democracy is about rights of every citizen, on the one side, and duties incumbent on each and every citizen, on the other, not only during election process but as a continuing day to day activities each day in and out for one’s rights and obligations for respectable and responsible citizen. The continuing process should gradually build up the psyche of every citizen’s high qualities of tolerance, patience, consideration for others’ rights and all legal dues as equal citizens, and access to norms of equality of opportunity.
Equality of citizen in the eye of law and access to equality of opportunity are both complementary and supplementary in the sense that democracy in essence aim to attain through organized social framework and its management operation. Age old feudalism is a hindrance in attainment of social equality. National resource constraint as against huge population of 150 million and so also poverty as in reality in Bangladesh has made additional difficulties for democracy provide fruits effectively at the popular level. Continuity of the colonial administrative set up has added to further hindrance for democracy offer its full benefits to all, particularly, to the most disadvantaged citizens in millions.
The news that new M.P.s had sessions for orientation in the parliamentary process may be appreciable exercises. But I was not happy to know that they had only a sort of ceremonial program in procedural matters of the parliamentary business and nothing of development and operation of democratic processes, institutions and their actual operation as in process in the Western advanced countries. Get to know process is no doubt an important exercise but the background of democracy and parliament as institutions, I happened to know, would be more important than procedural details of the floor of the house.
Let us take the example of the history of the Magna Carta of 1215 A.D. in England, and so also of the Habeas Corpus in legal procedure or due process of law and in upholding the rule of law so far as citizens’ basic human rights are concerned. I am not sure how many of the new M.P.s are fully aware of these basic human rights issues as they closely relate to democratic culture.
Justice to everybody implies not only guaranty of civic rights but also ensuring economic opportunities to work in freedom, earn lawfully and spent for honorable living. Unless and until equity and justice are established there in society for all citizens, liberty, freedom and democratic rights would remain elusive, and so also would remain unrealized fruits of democracy for all people. These issues have to be clear first in the minds and psyche of the leaders at all levels and trickle down into the perception of the common folk that I may like to call a social psychology of democratic culture. Basic education and leaning reinforced by fundamental humane value system, I would presume, would do the real and substantive good in building the congenial social psychology.
Bangladesh is neither a welfare society nor an efficient free market economy. Aberrations are everywhere in social administration. Massive poverty being the main impediment, poverty alleviation must be given priority. But there is no short cut to the poverty alleviation of Bangladesh. Massive development and productivity is the prime need. That means investment in raising quality manpower and generation of huge new employment. These are not easy task to be accomplished in few years with the limited natural and other resources Bangladesh has at her disposal. Exploitation and efficient use of her all available and feasibly usable resources at their optimum are likely options that the people and their public leaders must be able to appreciate. Digesting relevant information and building up of individual awareness would be a necessity at all levels.
Free market economy has benefits so far as full blooming of individual potentialities are concerned; but it has disadvantage for the less able lot unable to keep up in the rat race, disabled and low IQ groups unless organized safety net is efficiently provided for in the socio economic system. Even so, widening inequality in free market operation is a reality in many developing countries including Bangladesh.
The other lacuna in the free market is the absence of ethical and moral values that demand and supply equilibrium alone can not ensure social justice. As a Muslim nation there is scope to bring in and integrate ethics and morality of high order in society at base level, first, through including ethics and morality in school curricula that Bangladesh has lack in general school learning materials along with quality education for all children and youths.
These are some of the tidbits that are sine qua non for effective democratic society and government. Unfortunately, Bangladesh had had little of them, particularly during the initial years. Nowhere democracy had been in operation until the 1975 revolutionary changes took effect following the successful 15th August army coup that followed the 7th November people-army joint uprising. It was really a peculiar and unusual occurrence that the leader/s who spoke volumes about democracy and got saddled in State power having had loud promises for democracy did, in fact, bury all bits of democracy by bringing in lone party BAKSAL dictatorship. Still more curious matter was that the army men who took in November 1975 paved all way for pluralism and democracy in governance of Bangladesh since then now for about continual 34 years. If the process is continued and further refined in years ahead, democracy would have firm grounding. The onus is more on the leaders at various levels to nurture the process that I may wish to call congenial democratic culture taking all along with the development accompanied by openness, fairness firmed up by high ethical and moral standards. If such fairness could be ensured, there would be none to disturb the democratic process; but should that derail as it did in early 1970s (1972 to mid 1975) we may not avert the danger of being caught and get neck broken from behind.

Author: Prof. Dr. M.T. Hussain