Long road to democracy

TODAY the country is celebrating two historic events in one – Fall of Autocracy and Revival of Democracy. It was fall of autocracy alright but whether democracy has been resurrected in its true and pristine from is a matter for the people to tell.

The true character of democracy in the country was brought out very aptly in 2011 by a leader of the BNP when he ruefully remarked, "We have only 18 inches of democracy," while being hemmed in by the police, as were his colleagues, in front of his party office, unable to go out on the streets on a day of hartal they had called in September. It must be added that similar treatment had been also meted out to the opposition when the BNP was in power.

In the more than 44 years of its existence, democracy has been conspicuous in Bangladesh either by its long absence or its feeble attempt to survive in a quasi – and largely dysfunctional - state. And a greater part of the history of Bangladesh had been predominated by the involvement of its armed forces in the country's politics, beginning from August 15, 1975.

Unfortunately, democracy in Bangladesh had a very convoluted start; it faltered at the very seminal stages of the country's road to self-governance. The very democratic rights, for which the Bengalis fought the Pakistani establishment, were trampled on the formation of one-party rule in January 1975. Ironically it was a democratically elected Parliament that signed its own death warrant by voting into law the 4th Amendment in January 1975. That, unfortunately, was the start of a non-pluralistic political order with brief intermissions of quasi-democratic regimes, until 1991.

The brief BAKSAL period, that witnessed the abrogation of democratic institutions, including the guillotining of the media, ended on August 15, 1975 with the entry of the 'Khaki' on the scene and the brutal murder of the Father of the Nation along with many members of his family.

There is a large corpus of literature on the tragic event of August 15, on why and how it came about. The incident initiated a chain of events that were to shape the political developments in the country for the next two decades. It saw the imposition of martial law whose head, of all people, was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The situation soon changed but not before another upheaval through the so-called "7th November Sepoy Revolution" when General Ziaur Rahman formally assumed power. The period between 1977 and May 1981, under General Zia, can best be described as a period of command politics that witnessed the politicisation of the military and also the distortion of the legacy and history of the liberation war by allowing razakars and anti-liberation forces into power and politics.

But the pseudo-democratic period of Zia also saw changes in the four Basic Principles of the Constitution and incorporation in it of 'Bismaillah' and "Faith in the Almighty Allah". That was when religion came into politics.

President Zia and his rule came to a violent end with his assassination on May 30, 1981. Although there was a peaceful handover of power to the Vice-President, and the army, with the then Chief of Army Staff General Ershad, had expressed complete obeisance to the elected government, the fealty was short lived and so was the Sattar interregnum.

General Ershad's views about the future role of the armed forces in running the affairs of the state adumbrated his takeover in March 1982. He lasted ten years during which time he floated a new party, held a general election that was participated by the AL, made Islam the state religion, politicised the military and militarised the civil administration as a continuation of President Zia's policy.

Ershad lasted that long mainly because of the state of animus between the two major political parties, a relationship that has influenced politics in the country, and which continues even today. 

By the end of 1990, people's patience had run out, and for once the political parties managed to close ranks to bring Ershad down. Ershad realised the wisdom of choosing discretion to valour, particularly when he saw that his power base, the army, had deserted him and had expressed their loyalty to where they should, the people.

The general election, held under an interim arrangement, helped revive democracy in Bangladesh in January 1991 after a long 15 years. But regrettably, democracy was marked by a deficit of trust as exemplified in the formulation of a very unique arrangement - that of a caretaker system of government that would run the elections. The changing positions of the two parties at different times on the  issue of caretaker system has exposed the fact that it is not democracy or serving the people that mattered to them but going to power and holding on to it at all costs. The events preceding the adoption of the 15th Amendment doing away with the caretaker system validate this point all the more.  

The January 2014 election was unique and so is the present Parliament stemming from it. More than half the Parliament seats were uncontested and the opposition in the Parliament is also a part of the ruling coalition. The election was marred by violence on an unprecedented scale perpetrated by the BNP in its efforts to hinder the voting. The shenanigans that the AL employed in persuading, cajoling, enticing and coercing the participation of the JP is too well known to most of us to be recounted.

Unfortunately, the whiff of fresh air that swept over the country with the end of military rule in 1991 and resurrection of the democratic process was only a whiff. It was short lived primarily because of the way the two major parties, the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, that were alternately in power since 1991, chose to conduct politics and practice democracy.

The AL introduced a dangerous precedent of boycotting the Parliament followed most diligently by the BNP when it was in opposition. While the democratic space has become more and more constrained due to government policy of not allowing the BNP any grounds, politics had also taken a violent form in the first three months of January 2015, again on an  unprecedented scale. And a dangerous precedent is being set when the government chooses to brandish the flag of 'development' as if we must chose either it or democracy.

A good part of the second AL regime (2009-2014) was encumbered with the question of how the next parliamentary election was going to be held. We got the answer. However, the question still persists. We wait to see how things develop and whether the AL will opt to ride roughshod over the sentiments of a large number of voters and stage the same kind of election it did in 2014 and make our road to real democracy even longer.  

The author is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.