Following a blueprint of their Pakistani counterparts, the Bangladeshi military is forcing political leaders into exile. On the other hand, the US government, while claiming goals of democracy in Iran, Iraq, etc, stays quite vis-a-vis Bangladesh.

The case of democracy in Bangladesh is a sad pointer in many ways. From an internal perspective, it shows an absence of understanding that strengthening of participative processes will only occur through engaging of participative processes. Democratic institutions can be strengthened only through these institutions actively solving problems of militancy, of fundamentalism, of corruption, etc – not by the army moving in at the smallest opportunity.

The Bangladeshi army seems to be following the blue print of their Pakistani cousins. Immense pressure is being applied to the major political leaders to leave the country. They are being threatened with trials for alleged corruption, extortion and murder. It is possible that all of the above are true – in which case they should be arrested and tried. By using this as a leverage to get them out, it is clear that the military government is focused on weakening any leadership that can engage in democratic processes and has any following.

Reports have been circulating the Khaleda Zia is being pressurized to leave for Saudi Arabia and that some members of her family may have been arrested. Some sections of media have reported that Khaleda has announced that she will not go into exile while other sections report that a specially chartered plane is waiting to fly her out of the country.

Similarly, Sheikh Hasina, who has been in the USA when the military took over, is claiming to travel back to Bangladesh by mid-May, even as others claim that she may stay in exile in the USA. The military government has certainly been trying to ensure that she stay in exile.

The Bangladeshi community has stayed mostly quiet after some initial response. Even the sizable expatriate community has not voiced their opposition to these events.

This turn of events certainly affects the future stability of Bangladesh. Every time military takes over a country, democratic institutions lose their roles in governance of a nation. Elections held under military governments are always tainted. Bureaucratic processes are influenced by military interests and stop representing civilian needs – Pakistan is a case in point.

But perhaps, the most puzzling aspect of this is the response of the USA and EU. While they have trumpeted their goals of taking democracy to the world, their complete lack of response in this case is stark. It loudly points to the hollowness of their claims – that in fact the campaigns for democratization are focused on countries where they have interests in controlling governments. Iraq. Iran. Cuba. Syria. Etc. Bangladesh depends largely on foreign funds – in 2004, 45% of its budget was based on revenue from foreign funds, donations, aid. Most of this was from USA, EU and Japan. Surely, this would have been the easiest opportunity for the USA and its allies to strengthen democracy by asking the Bangladeshi military to back off. 45% of the country’s revenue is not peanuts and the Bangladeshi military would have had huge pressure to back off.

But that is not what has happened. The international media which covered the transition of the Nepali government quite extensively has also stayed quiet. While international human rights groups have expressed solidarity with Bangladeshi groups demanding reestablishment of democracy, we wait and watch.

Related Links
Bangladeshi Political Leaders Forced Out?
Bangladesh Emergency: Occasion for Killings and Kidnappings
Demanding Better Governance from Bangladeshi Parties
Government Beats Up Non-violent Dissenters. Again.