“What I saw in Bangladesh”
Re: "What I saw in Bangladesh," Nokib-E-Kibria (Aug. 8).
Nokib-E-Kibria wrote: "My last visit was in 2005 and I noticed after three years that there had been a lot of change. First of all, at the airport everything was good, no hassle, quick service, all in order and everything on schedule. No hartal and no violence and I was able to use and enjoy all my valuable time." I also visited Bangladesh in 2006 and I also found everything was good and there were no hartals and protest marches. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting various parts of Bangladesh.
However, there was one big difference between my visit and Nokib-E-Kibria's visit two years later. During my visit, Bangladesh was a democracy and people were looking forward to next election with some apprehensions. Their concerns proved to be accurate and Bangladesh plunged into turmoil as the two main political leaders -- Shiekh Hasina of AL and Khaleda Zia of BNP -- could not find a common ground to hold the election. Their infighting brought the country to a standstill, leading to the declaration of emergency. It is a great pity that the political leaders of Bangladesh caused great harm to the democratic process by their infighting.
Democracy is about public participation in the political process and when political leaders refuse to listen to each other as representatives of the people, they put the whole democratic process in danger. Ancient Athenians, who invented democracy, realised this and they created what was known as Athens Council to put a check on the leaders. The Athens Council, composed of 500 citizens chosen through lottery, had the power to veto any law which they considered too overtly partisan and did not respect the wishes of the minority. Ancient Athenians believed that democracy is not a tyranny of the majority and must take into account of the views of the minority.
Today's parliamentary system depends on the cooperation between various political parties to stem any dictatorial power of the prime minister. This is why the leader of the opposition bears an enormous responsibility to provide the needed check and balance. As such, cooperation between various political leaders is essential to the running of democracy. When political leaders forget to cooperate with each other, they undermine the institution of democracy. Bangladesh should look to Pakistan where after years of military dictatorships and infightings by political leaders, the political parties have learned to cooperate with each other to keep democracy functioning.
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