Economy and religious fanaticism

Most political analysts reckon that these extremists are capitalising on the deep rooted antagonism between our two major political parties. Hatred between the main opposition Awami League and the BNP continues to fester. When London underground was bombed and more than fifty innocent people lost their lives, main opposition leaders of both Conservative and Liberal Democratic Party dashed to the 10 Downing Street and pledged their all-out help and cooperation to the Prime Minister Tony Blair to face this tragedy with courage and fortitude. Strangely enough, in Bangladesh when 63 districts were bombed almost simultaneously, leaders of the Awami League called for a nationwide hartal in protest. Perhaps Sheikh Hasina could not conceal the deep resentment she felt at the way she had been treated by this government when she herself narrowly escaped death and many of the Awami League's prominent leaders were brutally murdered by similar bombs and grenade attacks. People might think I'm a bit naive to compare British political culture with that of Bangladesh, but I think political parties must maintain some sort of decency when nation's security and integrity is at stake. Leaders of our country need not look beyond Afghanistan to comprehend what happened when narrow minded leaders engaged in such politics of terrorism.

In Turkey, the army intervened in civilian politics three times in the past 30 years -- in 1960, 1971 and 1980 -- to restore order and the democratic process when they seemed to be threatened by extremists. These militants must come to terms with the truth that those who use religious fanaticism as a self-proclaimed argument for stability leave a legacy far more volatile than the condition they seek to cure. Civilian institutions that could lay the foundations of genuine grassroots democracy can never be fully developed by perusing the politics of parochialism.

Unfortunately politics of our country is increasingly resembling a game of football without any rules or referee. In Bangladesh democracy means election and winning the election by majority only. Most parties are controlled by powerful political leaders who are less concerned to develop practical policies than to win the election and, so the policies that are put before the electorate are polarised. With a view to winning election, political parties engineer different tactics to secure electoral support. Policies geared to short-term electoral consideration involves a disturbing political business cycle that inhibits the development of the sound long-term economic policies. Paradoxically, newly elected government always try to reverse the policies of a previous government. This prevents the long term policy stability that is vital for economic growth while also contributing to the kind of public disillusionment with the politicians that leads to ungovernability.

In the countries of the South East Asia, it is the middle classes that are most often the wellsprings of national development and, indeed of a nation's moral and political fibre. Ironically, in Bangladesh, despite the emergence of an educated middle class and development of a sizeable industrial base, its politics still revolve around religious issues, especially at the time of electioneering. Politicians seem unable or unwilling to accept that their callous manipulations are setting the stage for what could be the nation's worst conflagration. We cannot afford the luxury of permitting the display of pernicious ideology of extremism and intolerance in our society. The so called fundamentalism is undermining the country. It is depriving us of our dignity. If such practice of bombing rampage continues international community may isolate Bangladesh and put this country in virtual economic quarantine.

Bangladesh largely depends on foreign aid and investment. In pursuit of economic policies designed to attract foreign aid and investment, first the government must try to sharpen up efficiency, increase productivity and raise profitability of the existing industries and all these efforts can only succeed if accompanied by strict measures to contain the religious extremism and consequential social unrest. There is a real concern about national security.

Most prominent political annalists think there may be great many pitfalls of our intelligence agencies. Otherwise, how they could have remained so blind on that terrible morning? Now they must act with unified sense of urgency and launch preemptive strikes on the terrorists' hide-outs if necessary. Government should explicitly adopt a zero tolerance strategy to deal with this new reality. If, however, antisocial behaviour goes undetected or unpunished and if people around us flouting the rules and getting away with it, then others will learn that the rules and customs are not to be taken seriously, in which case people almost certainly go on disregarding them. Indeed in a society where law breakers routinely go undetected or unpunished, the law-abiding may eventually feel that their ideas of right and wrong are being undermined. Government should send clear massage to the terrorists that they can run but can't hide, they will be hunted down and punished severely. Government should get tough on crime and the causes of crime. The Prime Minister in a speech on 8th September in Parliament assured the countrymen that the government would identify the perpetrators of the blasts and bring them to book by deploying all its might and resources. We will be blissfully happy if she lives up to her promise.

Anam A Choudhury is a former investment banker.