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Experience of Asian Civil Society to Advance Democracy at the National Level: Case Study Bangladesh Adilur Rahman Khan1 Colonialism had never been a homogenous process and even the post‐colonial processes were not even for all parts of Asia, particularly South Asia. Consequently, the challenges of advancing democracy has also been different for different South Asian countries. In this short note I will highlight a few points from the experiences we frequently face as a human rights organisation in Bangladesh when dealing with issues of ‘democracy’. Colonial and post‐colonial legacies Independence from British colonial rule was a negotiated process between the British colonial power and the ruling classes of South Asia. Liberation from colonial rule did not automatically instituted a democratic polity. Given the fact that historically the ruling class of South Asia came essentially from feudal and higher caste backgrounds, the immediate challenges the people of South Asia faced stemmed from caste, aristocracy, feudalism, patriarchy and various other forms of oppression, common in societies where social, economic and political relations were still dominated by personal dependence, rather than the abstract market economy. Pakistan suffered badly compared to other South Asian countries. The political power went quickly to feudal land lords and this class, in alliance with the army, installed a state with the task to develop a capitalist economy without challenging the feudal structure. Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) experienced a strong and powerful peasant movement under the leadership of A. K. Fazlul Huq and Mowlana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, successfully undermining the zaminders and moneylenders in Banglaesh and clearing the way for a liberal land reform process as well as intensifying democratic aspirations among the masses. The same did not happen in the then West Pakistan. The nature of the political power became essentially the political alliance between the feudal landlords and the army. This alliance was politically reinforced by the United States of America during the cold war period because of the geostrategic interest of USA in South Asia during that time. With the support from the USA, the ruling classes of Pakistan intiated a capitalist transformation of the economy by exploiting the predominantly agrarian East Pakistan. The exploited surplus from the agriculture of East Pakistan was used to industrialise West Pakistan. This process of exploitation culminated into political conflict and the formtion of linguistic and cultural nationalism of the Bengali‐ speaking people of the then East Pakistan. Ideologically it appeared as a nationalism that identified the Islamic ideology of Pakistan as its political enemy, which was further reinforced by the role of various ‘Islamic’ political parties during the 1971 liberation war, particularly the crimes and brutalities they committed during the war. This trauma, till today, keeps Bangladeshis divided and the relation betwen religion, culture and language is still an issue to be resolved. Resolution of this relation could define the extent to which peoples of Bangladesh are politically divided and what are the possibilities of negotiation and formation of a coherent political community that makes a democratic state viable. This unresolved 1 Adilur Rahman Khan is a founder member of Odhikar and at present the Secretary of the organisation. 1 question appears as the political division between the secularists and the Islamists. The war against terrorism has further complicated the situation Lack of the founding act of constituting a democratic state A democratic state requires a founding act of constituting itself into a democratic polity. National liberation or the nationalist spirit of the opprssed nation is not enough to ensure a democratic state. After the 1971 liberation war, the Awami League set up a Constituent Assembly with the parliament members of the then Pakistan National and Provincial Assembly, who were elected from East Pakistan to write the Constitution of Pakistan. In December 1972 a Constitution for Bangladesh came into being by this 'Constituent Assembly'. The Awami League recorded a victory in the first Parliamentary elections in 1973 amid the allegations of rigging by the Jatiyo Shomajtantrik Dol (JSD) and the National Awami Party (NAP). Within years, a State of Emergency was declared to contain political opposition. The Constitution was amended on 25 January 1975 (known as the 4th amendment of the Constitution) to limit the powers of the Legislative and Judicial systems, and all existing political parties were either dissolved or banned. Consequences: Coup and Counter‐coup On 15 August 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with most of his family members (except two daughters who were abroad at that time) was killed in a coup organised by a group of mid‐level army officers. A new government, headed by a former Minister of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's cabinet, Khandakar Moshtaque Ahmed, was formed and Martial Law declared. Successive military coups occurred on November 3rd (four top Awami League leaders were killed during this time inside the Dhaka Central Jail) and November 7th, resulting in the emergence of the Army Chief of Staff, General Ziaur Rahman, a liberation war hero, as the focal point. He pledged the army's support to the civilian government headed by the President, Chief Justice Sayem. Sayem then promulgated martial law, naming himself Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA). Ziaur Rahman was elected for a 5‐year term as President through a referendum held under Martial Law in 1978. His government removed the remaining restrictions on political parties and encouraged opposition parties to participate in the pending parliamentary elections in 1979. More than 30 parties participated in the parliamentary elections of February 1979, but Ziaur Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won a majority of the 300 seats. In May 1981, Ziaur Rahman was assassinated by a group of Army officers in Chittagong (the port city and the second largest city in Bangladesh) in an attempted coup. The Vice‐President Justice Abdus Satter took over as Acting President and a Presidential election was held where his position was formalised. The Army Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. H.M. Ershad took over the reins of power in a bloodless coup on 24 March 1982. He dissolved Parliament, declared martial law, suspended the Constitution, and banned all political activity. In December 1983, he assumed the presidency. Over the ensuing months, Ershad sought a formula for elections to legitimise his position and established the Jatiyo Party as a political vehicle for the transition from martial law. He resigned as the Chief of Army Staff and was elected President in 1985. The Awami League and Jamaat e Islami parties contested the Parliamentary elections under Ershad in 1986, which was boycotted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the leftist Five Party Alliance. Hardly anyone came out to vote, since the results could be forseen. However, Ershad declared that even a 3% turnout would constitute a legal election. In 1988, he dissolved the Parliament again in the face of political 2 movements and declared elections, which was subsequently boycotted by all the major political parties. Ershad eventually stepped down on 6 December 1990 following growing protests and general strikes against his rule and handed over power to a caretaker government headed by the Chief Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed. On 27 February 1991, the BNP won the elections held under the caretaker government of Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed and formed a government led by Begum Khaleda Zia, wife of former President Ziaur Rahman. In September 1991, the electorate approved changes to the Constitution, formally creating a parliamentary system and returning governing power to the Office of the Prime Minister, as in Bangladesh's original Constitution. In October 1991, members of Parliament elected a new Head of State, President Abdur Rahman Biswas. In 1994, opposition leaders resigned en masse and initiated a joint movement led by Awami League, Jamaat e Islami and Jatiyo Party to unseat Khaleda Zia’s regime. President Abdur Rahman Biswas dissolved the Parliament and an election was held on 15 February 1996, which was boycotted by the main political parties. The new parliament, comprising of BNP and independent members, amended the Constitution and included the provision of a caretaker government before every Parliamentary election. This is known as the 13th amendment of the Constitution. Thereafter the President dissolved the Parliament again and a new caretaker government was formed. Former Chief Justice Habibur Rahman was asked to head that government. The Awami League won the national election held on 23 June 1996. Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the leader of the Awami League, formed a coalition government with General Earshad’s Jatiyo Party and ASM Rab’s JSD and became the Prime Minster. In the 2001 elections, the BNP won and formed a coalition government with Jamaat e Islami while Islami Oykko Joyte and Bangladesh Jatiya Party supported this government as partners. At the end of its term, this government handed over power to yet another 'Caretaker government' headed by the President, amid violent street protests initiated by the supporters of Awami League led alliance and the next election was due on January 22, 2007. On January 11, 2007 a military backed 'Caretaker Government' usurped power with the support of a majority of the ‘civil society actors’ and remained in power for two years, instead of the constitutionally stipulated 3 months; suppressed and detained many, including politicians; and organised the Parliamentary elections on December 29, 2008. The Awami League led alliance gained a three fourth majority in this election organised by the military backed 'Caretaker Government'. Present obstacles Since 1991, Bangladesh has time and again failed to maintain a democratic form of government together with a democratic culture. All the governments up to now have been involved in suppressing people's right to self determination through torture, extra‐judicial killings or secret killings.
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