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Bangladesh government faces serious crisis

11/02/2012

During last few days, the tension between Awami League (AL) led coalition government and the opposition BNP

was developing. While the ruling 17 party led alliance is desperately trying to boost its image, Bangladesh

National Party (BNP) is trying to exploit the anger of the masses due to deteriorating social conditions.

The 17 party government alliance won a landslide victory 231 seats in the 260 seat parliament - in 2008December exploiting the widespread opposition to the military backed regime which ruled the country since2007 and against the BNP, which is traditionally aliened with the military. Though there are around another two

years to finish the present term, the ruling AL is already facing opposition from the masses.

According to the reports, only several thousand joined the 20-km human chain called by the AL on February 07in Bangladesh capital Dhaka. This protests is a attempt to counter the campaign by the BNP against the

government and to show that it still commands the support of the masses.

Though it said the human chain is to defeat BNPs conspiracy to foil war crimes trial and throttle democracy,

AL is itself acting autocratically. Speaking at the protest, Shahara Khatun, a leading member of the AL said,they will work to keep the opposition off the streets.

Khatun is referring to the protest called by the BNP on March 12, which they plan to organize in a grand scale.

To exploit the growing discontent of the masses to the present government, BJP leader Khaleda Zia declared on

January 09, that they are fighting to topple the government at the southern port city Chittagong. BNP warned,

if government obstruct the next month prote, they will call their supporters for sit-in and hartal (shop closers

with general strike).

But the more serious of the challenges faced by the government is the threat of the coup in the military. On

January 19, the Bangladesh military announced that a coup attempt to overthrow the coalition government on

January 9-10 by several officers were prevented. According to the details, it was alleged that 14 to 16 top and

middle-level officers of the Bangladesh army- retired and currently serving- including some abroad, have got

involved, with banned Islamist fundamentalist Hizbut Tahrir (HT). HT appeal to military officers to topple

government accusing the killer of your brothers and establish the Khilafah to save yourselves and the Ummahfrom subjugation to US-India.

Military coup's are not accidental in Bangladesh, where the weak bourgeois relied to safeguard its rule. Itsindependence leader Mujibur Rahman, and nearly all family members were killed by a group of army officials in1975. For 15 years until 1990 the country was ruled by military and AL led coalition took power in January 2009from a military backed care-taker government.Though the actual support for the coup is not clear, this indicates the division inside the military. It is notaccidental, Islamic fundamentalist are in the top positions in military, which has a long history of wooing withfundamentalism.It was the military dictator Lieutenant General Ziaur Rahman who codified Islam in the Bangladeshi constitutionin 1970's by replacing the commitment to secularism in the first 1972 constitution. The Islamization wasadvance by proclaiming Islam as the state religion in 1988 by another military dictator Lieutenant General H MErshad.

But the real danger for the government is the discontent of the ordinary soldiers. In 2009 February, Bangladesh

Rifles (BDR), the country's border guards mutinied against the army officers in senior posts killing at-least 70

people, mostly army officers. Though it was attribute to the various conspiracy theories, the main reason is the

poor social conditions including the salaries.

The government is in a serious crisis. Though it hoped to boost the industrial development, especially in the

garment industry, through pro-market reforms and and attraction of Foreign Direct Investments, to boost the

employment and mute the social tension. But under the impact of the world economic crisis, this policy is in

crisis.

The overall inflation is in nearly 12percent in January, around 1.5percent rice from the previous month. The

prices of essential food items including rice, pulse, fish, eggs,fruits, edible oil and packaged milk increased and

also house rent, transport fare, price of garment and household costs. The prices of electricity has been increased,

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while curtailing subsidies making living conditions difficult. Aggravating the problems of the government, Taka

was devalued 21percent against dollar in past one year.

The government plans to boost its revenue by collecting the fees by granting overland access to India to reach to

its North-east states and South East Asia was also did not materialize. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Hasina

refused to grant permission after India reneged on a commitment to sign an agreement to share the ware of

Teesta river, which flows through the Indian state of West Bengal before entering Bangladesh. This only

heightened the problems of the Hasina government by increasing the wrath of Bangladeshi chauvinists includingBNP, who consider any agreement with India as a betrayal of the national interest.

Islamic fundamentalists also very much angered with the trails organized by the present government to bring to

book the war crimes committed during the liberation war in 1971. The former leader of Islamic fundamentalist

Jamaat-e-Islami,Golam Azam and number of others were charged for involving in genocide in support ofPakistan. Azam is accused of instrumental in forming al-Badr and al-Shams killer squads which killed freedom

fighters, political leaders and workers, commit arson, and carry out loot, plunder and rape. Government formed

the tribune to deflect attention from the economic and social crisis confronting the masses.

Big business is not happy about the developing situation. In a press conference on February 03, leader of three

main associations of the garment manufacturers, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association

(BGMEA), Bangladesh Textile Mills Association and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and ExportersAssociation,urged the political leaders to stop protest activities which put the economy in trouble. Shafiul Islam

Mohiuddin, president of BGMEA bitterly said, Those who want to destabilise the democracy are considered as

conspirators in the country.