Should we follow Bangladesh in view of success of their interim govt?

Question

stoppage of corruption,militancy crime.Glorification of freedom fighters.Transparent administration.Will Indians be so lucky to get rid off politicians?

Answer 1

NO NO NO. The beauty of India compared to it's neighbours is not hving a military coup(this interim government is exactly that) or anything to undermine the constitution or the political process. I understand u r also ridden with rotten politicians, but trust me, as a Pakistani, it will be the beginning of a downfall(see history of interim government declared in the 50's by Pakistan). It is true Musharaff has been the top leader for a long time making considerable progress, but after the May 12 killings in Karachi and his dismissal of these events and his ego hv increased, this is troubling. The only country that has survived military coups and still progress albeit after many years later is Turkey. Bangladeshi military are starting to slip up and showing their darker side and power hunger. Journalists who are critical of them are now being kidnapped and tortured. A shutdown of VOIP communications has deprived Bangladeshi's of cheaper communications to their relatives overseas. Military leaders usually lack long term vision and hence budgeting and civillian work is not their forte'. India is fine as it is. Stronger political will by the people, education, accountability and media can make a change. It may take long but this helps in stability. India is now a new economic superpower. I do not know of any military dictatorship that has done this.

Edit:
I'll take the poster 's word on the situation in Bangladesh...for now, because of his advanced and experienced age and familiarity with Bangladesh. However the targeting of journalists and banning of political magazines and other media do not bode well at all--who holds the interim govt accountable? With each day passing there will be unease. The word of the caretaker government must be kept. It's true I speak of history patterns compared to current events which may not currently seem to reflect to the past, but it is very easy to abuse a promise in a 3rd world country. Musharraf was absolutely brilliant at the beginning, but he has slipped. Only time will tell. I only wished tht Dr.Yunus had gone on with setting his political party, but as the honest man he is, he found the support lacking and dropped the idea of pushing a agenda.

Edit:
I apologize for the lack of understanding of the CTG and the President's power to evoke it. However in the 50's in Pakistan a President did evoke the same powers only to be usurped by Ayub Khan(although in this case the integrity of this man is probably nothing like the current Joint Staff who are actually sincere in their efforts, unlike Ayub).

Bangladesh in itself does have a horrid journalistic record as Pakistan did/has under the politicians. Unfortunately the CTG are still at it. Tasneem Khalil being abducted and then released, Himal Magazine ban and the earlier media gag at the beginning of the emergency with accusations of exceptional detentions and extrajudicial killings of NGO's. The only difference between under the political rule compared to current emergency is the speed at which these incidents had happened.

Truth of the matter is, u are an optimist, and I am a pessimist. A culture of corruption can not be easily beat without Long-term planning, investments and future generations. Musharraf actually was close to the ideal u suggest India and Pakistan is to follow. Unfortunately the outside world forced him to create parliament, though from Grass-roots levels(which was good,but...), and left him unable to revamp the bureacracy...which is still his biggest regret and ours. Like you said...we will see.

Answer 2

Military wants to capture power again in Bangladesh.Military
cannot be an alternative to corrupt democratic society.
Initially military can do some tightening of corrupt practises
but later on they become more corrupt and cause harm to the society.
Ego and greed are the main reasons for corruption.Unless
the culture of a country is improved by better economy
management and education the position will not be better.
You go to Bangkok and see how military people behaves
rudely with you.

Answer 3

Even Hasina couldnt glorify her father but present govt did.
Rajakar"s list was prepared by this govt.
Terrorists and fundamentalists were prosecuted irrespective of their influence.
Even khaleda"s sons were not spared.
Strict on corruption
Politicians are really worthless.India needs such a strict administrator.

Answer 4

nobody knows when will there be another coup in Bangladesh.
our's is a fairly gud one

Answer 5

YOU CANNOT BE SURE THAT THIS WILL BE ALL RIGHT IN THAT RULE.

Answer 6

I lived in Pakistan under two Martial Laws. First Field Marshall Ayub Khan's and later General Yahya Khan’s Martial Laws. India is fortunate enough that they are rid of this chronic disease that Pakistan has been born with and still suffering from its consequences.

It seems that both respondents above, hells_club and sdev006, are having mental template of military-rule from that of Pakistan's experiences. They are very right on their observations even for Bangladesh also for a) General Ershad's military regime in particular, and b) General Ziaur Rahman's military regime to some extent.

However, both of them failed to gauge the differences between Martial Law and present Non-party Caretaker Government (CTG) that came to power on 12th January 2007 when the President declared 'state-of-emergency' on 11th January night, as per the constitutional provision as agreed and incorporated by majority vote in 1996 in the parliament jointly by Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). If the present CTG is illegal then blame the politicians who amended the constitution and enacted the bill for the CTG.

The thing that may have eluded the eyes of most of the foreigners (Indians and Pakistanis in particular) is that the Military has backed this fragile CTG so that they can perform their constitutionally mandated duties. The major opposition political parties led by AL chief Sk. Hasina was making the country look like a 'failed state' to appease her masters in India and also to fish in the troubled water. The inept BNP led by inefficient chief Khaleda Zia also played into the trap of Hasina and the country was heading for total chaos. It is not like any military ruler stepped-in and declared their often repeated lines: "the country has been saved".

In Bangladesh, the CTG was so weak at the beginning on 12-1-2007 due to the preceding events of in-fighting among the civillian Government and Opposition parties that started when BNP was handing over power to the first CTG on 27-10-2006, the country was almost poised for a civil war which was openly trumpeted by the AL and its allies to cower down the then ruling BNP and its allies. So, the President (Dr. Iajuddin) and the newly installed Chief Advisor of CTG (Dr. Fakhruddin) had no alternative than to call the Armed Forces to aid civil administration. Which is still continuing as Joint Forces, meaning Army, Navy Air Force, Police and BDR combined working under one command and doing the task being assigned only by the Chief Advisor of CTG and his 10 Advisors. The eyesore thing is that the present Army Chief (General Moin) being himself a freedom fighter is speaking more than he should have spoken. This may be giving a wrong signal to outside world that in Bangladesh the Army is running the show.

It is amazing to note that the present days Bangladesh have done something which could have been emulated by not only India and Pakistan but all the similar apparent 'failed countries' of the world where in the name of preserving democracy the logic of peaceful and corruption free country was put on the back-bench. Please ask your politicians to come & visit Bangladesh and learn a few decent things which were unthinkable to us also before the 11th January 2007 events.

Put down your feet and learn the lesson from present Bangladeshi administration as to how to improve peoples' lot. Stop snobbery and learn the finer tricks to govern country with utmost honesty and dedication.

Sorry for the strong words, but it is worth using if at least people of this subcontinent are benefited, if not the poor people all over the world!

By the way, please do not forget that Dr. Yunus's Grameen Bank (Micro-credit) system is being emulated in more than 28 countries of the world.

Slogan of the day: Make politicians accountable to people.




This is in response to ‘hells_club’ (above)’s Additional information (Edit):

1. We have to remember that the country is now under ‘emergency rule’ and in the constitution of Bangladesh it is clearly written as to what are the rights of citizens being temporarily suspended now. There is no ambiguity as these laws were framed by the politicians (BNP in Govt and AL in opposition) jointly when they revised the constitution back in 1996. There were no pressures on them from anybody (particularly the Armed forces) when they incorporated such clauses as they (civilians) were running the show.

2. There were neither journalist targeted nor any banning of political magazines by this CTG. I would like to have some example and/or names of such incidences if anybody differs. However, please remember that the ‘emergency rule’ is in existence from 11th January 2007 and this is a very much constitutionally mandated rule.

3. The constitution of Bangladesh has explained clearly as to whom this Caretaker Government (CTG) would be accountable. At the moment they are accountable to the President of Bangladesh – Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed who as BNP candidate was unanimously elected by the last parliament in their first sitting in 2001. The President would hold the office till the new parliament sits and elect a new President, hopefully in early 2009.

4. The corrupt politician, businessmen and such big fishes are passing each day with unease since their thieveries are unearthed and about 400 Crores (Marcosian) Taka has been returned back to Bangladesh through official channel by the efforts of the present CTG and there are thousands of Crores of taka still lying in different Banks and institutions which are being brought back to Bangladesh.

5. Please do not tie up the Chief Advisor (Dr. Fakhruddin) and/or his 10 Advisors with their promise / word thing. They are working transparently and all the major power’s Ambassadors and High Commissioners in Dhaka are watching over their shoulders on regular basis, which itself is an affront/insult for our country; but we are not looking at these oddities/niceties now since our aim is to give the people a clean slate to choose their future elected representatives who are devoid of money and muscle power to win election, like those we can see was and were happening in Bangladesh (Khaleda Zia & Sheikh Hasina); India (Laloo jee), and Pakistan (Newaj jee); just to cite a few examples.

6. It is true that sometimes it is very easy to abuse a promise in a 3rd world country like you said that “Musharraf was absolutely brilliant at the beginning, but he has slipped”. Our Bangladeshi Armed forces has already seen that their past C-in-C General Ershad has been out from jail after bidding his about 6-years terms for corruption. Ershad is now a day attending courts to clear himself from the various pending cases. Our Armed forces are now more interested to have international posting in UN Peacekeeping mission where they are upholding our country’s image and also earning handsomely! However, your cautionary words are very genuine for our type of 3rd world countries.

7. The dirty politicians of Bangladesh in recent past as well as during the last 15-years acted like trade-unions of 3rd world countries. They booed down Dr. Yunus and harassed him publicly, so as to discourage him from joining politics and making their life difficult. So, may be in future either him or some better people are coming in the forefront by floating new political party with the caliber of Dr. Kamal Hossain, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and such ‘clean’ people.

Btw, the nooses are being tightened around the neck of Khaleda and Hasina as their own trusted people are disclosing some hair-raising facts to the Taskforce Intelligence (TFI) interrogators. Watch and see what is going to happen within this month of June 2007.

You may read a few issues of Weekly Holiday at http://www.weeklyholiday.net/ and find for yourself how and where Bangladesh is heading…