The 'Moderate Muslim Democracy'

Former US President Clinton visiting Bangladesh in 2000

Some commentators including this author, however, went against the wishes of the President and insist elsewhere that democracy is always secular and liberal and there is no Muslim or Christian democracy. It seems, the President was willing to endorse those Muslim majority nations as MMD that have some sort of democratic practices in place, for example, holding general elections with regular interval. Bangladesh, Indonesia and Turkey (all Muslim majority nations) fall under this category. The exception is Malaysia. No one calls Malaysia an MMD (also a Muslim majority nation) since it has successfully implemented and followed almost all the basic principles of liberal democracy over the last half a century.

In this commentary, we would like to argue that even a so-called MMD is no longer justified for Bangladesh any more. The nation has made a U turn as far as the MMD is concerned and is approaching fast towards its destruction. This commentary further argues that the major features of Bangladesh's MMD are none other than: thriving corruption, notorious cadre politics and uncontrolled criminal activities, in short known as triple-C.

Bangladesh's last 34 years of existence have experienced three regimes with formidable contrast: a short-lived democracy immediately after independence (1971-75); Military-turn-Civil authoritarian regime (1975-90); and a so-called Moderate Muslim Democracy (1991- present).

Except for the initial democratic period, the duration of the authoritarian and MMD regimes are almost equal, 15 years each. It apparently shows that the triple-C has thrived at an unprecedented speed in the last 15 years (1991-present) compared to that of the preceding authoritarian regime (1975-90).

This is not what the people wanted when they brought down the Military-turn-Civilian rulers in 1990. Almost universally, the people extended full support to the politicians of both persuasions (AL and BNP). Consequently, both the parties by turn ruled the nation. Since 2001, however, the BNP assumed power again, and is now leading the government under a four party alliance.

The way democracy has unfolded in Bangladesh during the last 15 years, one may ask whether our politicians lived up to the trust bestowed by the people to them in 1990. Without hesitation, the answer is a resounding "no." There is no need to argue the "no" case, since the corruption, cadre, and crime are no longer secret weapons in the Bangladesh body politic. They have been breeding unchallenged everywhere, anywhere, and anytime. By all means, what has been happening in the areas of corruption, cadre politics, and crime in the recent years is quite staggering. The question is why.

All the past and present governments failed to recognise the role of the opposition in the affairs of the nation. In any democracy including MMD, the opposition is regarded as the opposite side of a same coin. The way all the governments under the so-called MMD handled opposition in the street and in parliament was not seen ever before even during the worst time of Military-turn-Civil regime in the late 1980s.

In particular, the heavy-handed approach followed by the incumbent surpassed all the previous records. It made a new record in the history of Bangladesh when the opposition leader and her party colleagues are facing physical extermination and literally living under a constant threat on life. How is it possible for the opposition leader to become an effective opponent while she is technically under house arrest since August 21, 2004, after an attempt on her life?

In this carnage she lost more than 20 of her leaders and workers. Since this period, the incumbent has failed to restore the opposition leader's full mobility within the country with adequate safety and security. Moreover, the unsecured status of the opposition politicians as a whole led to the killing of two front ranking leaders of the AL (Shah AMS Kibria and Ahasanullah Master).

Under these political circumstances, the government remains unmoved and the Home Ministry remains stubbornly unaccountable. It seems that the term accountability is unheard of under the rules of the BNP-alliance. One may, however, insist that this is nothing new in Bangladesh politics. During the immediate past AL-led government, the then opposition leader (current PM) and her colleagues also suffered from similar kind of insecurity.

While this may be true, it is certain that no MP's life was lost due to assassination. Most importantly, the safety of then opposition leader was kept at zero risk since she was residing in a no-go zone (Dhaka Cantonment) of the Dhaka city. In contrast, if one looks at the current housing and safety measures taken by the state for the present ppposition leader, this has no match. The opposition leader deserves similar treatment to what was received by her predecessor, at least in safety and security terms.

Both the PM and the opposition leader, irrespective of party politics, deserve fool-proof security in this era of terror and uncertainty. One must not forget that in the parliamentary system the opposition leader is considered as the alternate prime minister. In this regard, both of our leaders are the living proof. In essence, without a proper role for the opposition in the affairs of the nation, no democracy is meaningful, MMD or otherwise. Without this role in place the triple-C (corruption, cadre, and crime) will certainly remain unchallenged and will invite another man-made catastrophe.

In conclusion, we are well aware that none of the commentaries delivered on this subject by members of the civil society or the editorials appearing in this daily reached even to the bottom rung of the political ladder, since we know that no one takes them seriously. Unfortunately, the corruption, cadre politics and crime under the so-called MMD have reached to such a point that the very security of the nation is at stake. A nation state cannot tolerate an endemic corruption, notorious cadre politics and uncontrolled criminal activities for an indefinite period. In an alarming environment such as this, politics of arrogance and intolerance must be avoided to save whatever democracy remains in Bangladesh.

Dr Moazzem Hossain is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.