WRMEA, August 2010, Page 66

Waging Peace

Bangladesh Facing Serious Challenges

"HUMAN RIGHTS and Healing Through Dialogue and Reconciliation in Bangladesh" was the topic at the June 14 session of the American Muslim Alliance Foundation's monthly policy forum, held at the Carnegie Endowment Center for International Peace in Washington, DC. Sharply divided speakers engaged with a large audience for an emotionally charged discussion.

Muhammad Tajul Islam, assistant secretary-general of Asian Center For Human Rights, provided a detailed description of the history of democracy in Bangladesh. "Political stability and economic prosperity is possible in Bangladesh," he stated, "only if we can bring about a change in our political culture and democratic practices."

Currently Bangladesh is ruled by an elected government headed by Shaikh Hasina and the Awami League. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has boycotted parliament on several occasions. This, in fact, has become a habit in Bangladesh, Islam said—whichever party is in power, the opposition refuses to attend parliament. This acrimony prevents Bangladesh from functioning as a democracy, Islam stated. He stressed the need for Bangladesh to learn from its history, because any glorious achievements Bangladeshis have made were possible only after they had set aside their differences and united toward a common goal.

Ambassador Osman Siddiqui, former U.S. ambassador to Fiji, urged the U.S. and other nations to pay attention to the major issues plaguing Bangladesh, including human rights abuses, poverty alleviation, eradication of illiteracy, and other socio-economical goals. The promotion of human rights must be the central U.S. foreign policy goal, the ambassador said, because "the existence of democracy and human rights helps deter aggression, promotes the rule of law, combats crime and corruption, strengthens good governance and prevents humanitarian crises."

Amazingly, despite the inability of its leaders to work together as a government, and extrajudicial killings, the people of Bangladesh continue to vote in masses. "Approximately 80 percent go to the polls...The leadership of the country does not reflect the maturity of its people," Siddiqui stated. He also pointed out that Bangladesh remains one of the few democracies in the Muslim world and is a valued long-time participant in international peacekeeping roles around the world. Bangladesh's economy is growing, partly due to an increase in educated women entering the workforce. Siddiqui concluded by expressing confidence that, with a little help from American policymakers, Bangladesh can overcome obstacles.

According to Advocate Dr. Shatul Islam, if Bangladesh is to succeed, its citizens must learn tolerance and how to listen to one another in a sincere and meaningful way. "If our politicians are to learn anything from history, it must be that the way to political stability and economic prosperity is through unity, tolerance, dialogue, and reconciliation," he added.

Arshad Mahmud, a Washington, DC-based journalist, who said he has been consistently blacklisted by each government, provided a more skeptical view of Bangladesh. He'd covered nearly all of the elections in Bangladesh for 20 years, he noted, and "before 1991 there was not a single free and fair election." The only free elections have occurred during caretaker governments, he charged. If an election is held when either political party is in power it is not fair, he added, and that's "a terrible thing for democracy." When he talks to common people in Bangladesh, Mahmud said, "they are boiling and ready to explode." He called for Bangladesh to embrace the rule of law, which he defined as "if you commit a crime, no matter who you are—you'll be punished."

Anthony Dean Trachina, State Department desk officer for Bangladesh, described four U.S. presidential foreign policy initiatives, and noted that Bangladesh was the only country involved in all four: global climate change, engagement with Islamic countries, global health, and food security initiatives. Trachina agreed with the other speakers that there hadn't been much progress on human rights issues, especially extrajudicial killing and politically motivated violence. There's been some progress on human trafficking of women and children, he said.

Independent media are struggling in a country which once had a vibrant free press, Trachina added. Mahmudur Rahman, editor of the Bengali-language Amar Desh, remains in jail after police stormed through a barricade set up by his newspaper's journalists on June 2. The newspaper has reopened after being closed for 12 days.

After lively questions from worried immigrants, panelists and audience members all agreed to hold similar forums in the near future to help U.S. policy take a new road in South Asia.

—Delinda Hanley