The eastern neighbor of India has just joined back the club of democracies. After a gap of two years of military controlled regime, Bangladeshis have come out in large numbers to elect their rulers. The 80% voter turnout reinforces the democratic leanings of the fragile nation. Sheikh Hassian’s Awami League won a landslide victory with 229 seats (with alliance 258 seats) in kitty out of 300 parliamentary seats. After very long years of dictatorship Bangladesh boarded the democratic flight. In 1991 the people of Bangladesh decided to throw dictatorship and reenter the democratic process.
For another fifteen years there was democratic governments run by two Begums – Sheikh Hassina and Begum Khaleeda Zia. The former’s Awami League and the latter’s Bangaldesh National Party (BNP) managed the country with a bit of development and a lot of corruption charges. The charged up political atmosphere blinds people from finding the exact truth. It is normal for opponents to throw corruption charges. The legal mechanisms should investigate the charges and give a verdict. Either punishing the accused or freeing if there is no evidence should have been the normal legal procedure. But in south Asia the legal battles take ages and the accused dies naturally.
Due to these lengthy legal battles and common political corruptions, people are wise enough to ignore corruption charges. More cleverly they give mandate alternatively between the two Begums. When they were feeling suffocated with the Begums the army installed a regime which want to free the nation from the control of two women. The army controlled regime’s failure to satisfy the people brought democracy back. The 150 million people’s nation is slowly climbing the development ladder despite the frequent political tamashas. One can credit democracy for this changeover.
It is also a country where there is a fine culture of voluntary organizations working zealously for the welfare of the masses. Mohammed Yunus’s Grameen Bank is one of best examples for turning out the economic situations of the poor. The micro finance revolution of Yunus which won Nobel Prize has impacted other countries too. India is a big beneficiary of the Grameen Model. The Self-Help Groups which are silently ushering economic freedom of the women across the country is one of the finest impacts of Bangladesh.
India should be happy with the outcome of the Bangladesh elections. With the friendly Sheikh Hassina in power it should uses its diplomatic levers and development doses to pull Bangladesh out of the economic quagmire. A proactive Indian support for the development of the eastern neighbor will help in many ways. The foremost challenge will be to continue Sheikh Hassina’s comfort with India. Her government should be aided with all possible support to create visible social changes without revealing India’s hand to the public. Any explicit revelation of India’s involvement will strengthen opposition’s hands and weaken Sheikh Hassina.
Along with the developmental support India should extract a tough action by the Bangladeshi government towards anti-India operators on its soil. Like the quiet crushing of ULFA militants in Bhutan using the government goodwill, India should reenact the same play in Bangladesh. With the most of the anti-India operations originating from the Bangladesh soil with the deadly HUJI it is an utmost importance for India to concentrate on the welfare of this tiny country to secure its people from frequent terrorist attacks.
For another fifteen years there was democratic governments run by two Begums – Sheikh Hassina and Begum Khaleeda Zia. The former’s Awami League and the latter’s Bangaldesh National Party (BNP) managed the country with a bit of development and a lot of corruption charges. The charged up political atmosphere blinds people from finding the exact truth. It is normal for opponents to throw corruption charges. The legal mechanisms should investigate the charges and give a verdict. Either punishing the accused or freeing if there is no evidence should have been the normal legal procedure. But in south Asia the legal battles take ages and the accused dies naturally.
Due to these lengthy legal battles and common political corruptions, people are wise enough to ignore corruption charges. More cleverly they give mandate alternatively between the two Begums. When they were feeling suffocated with the Begums the army installed a regime which want to free the nation from the control of two women. The army controlled regime’s failure to satisfy the people brought democracy back. The 150 million people’s nation is slowly climbing the development ladder despite the frequent political tamashas. One can credit democracy for this changeover.
It is also a country where there is a fine culture of voluntary organizations working zealously for the welfare of the masses. Mohammed Yunus’s Grameen Bank is one of best examples for turning out the economic situations of the poor. The micro finance revolution of Yunus which won Nobel Prize has impacted other countries too. India is a big beneficiary of the Grameen Model. The Self-Help Groups which are silently ushering economic freedom of the women across the country is one of the finest impacts of Bangladesh.
India should be happy with the outcome of the Bangladesh elections. With the friendly Sheikh Hassina in power it should uses its diplomatic levers and development doses to pull Bangladesh out of the economic quagmire. A proactive Indian support for the development of the eastern neighbor will help in many ways. The foremost challenge will be to continue Sheikh Hassina’s comfort with India. Her government should be aided with all possible support to create visible social changes without revealing India’s hand to the public. Any explicit revelation of India’s involvement will strengthen opposition’s hands and weaken Sheikh Hassina.
Along with the developmental support India should extract a tough action by the Bangladeshi government towards anti-India operators on its soil. Like the quiet crushing of ULFA militants in Bhutan using the government goodwill, India should reenact the same play in Bangladesh. With the most of the anti-India operations originating from the Bangladesh soil with the deadly HUJI it is an utmost importance for India to concentrate on the welfare of this tiny country to secure its people from frequent terrorist attacks.
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