Not too distant a memory for the ageing population in Bangladesh is the nine-month long gruesome ordeal that they had to go through before realizing their most cherished dream - freedom. It was not just gaining political emancipation that the freedom fighting was all about; the abysmal economic disparity the then East Pakistan was groaning under set in the first place the stage for the masses to rise up in revolt. Forty years have gone by since and yet of particular relevance in the present day context of Bangladesh is the observation made by the thirty second President of the USA, Franklin D. Roosevelt. "True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made."
It is not that all these years have not yielded any economic benefits for the people; in fact, GDP growth since the 1990s has been way above 5 percent on average compared to the average growth rate of about 4 percent in the 1960s. That said, the fact to be noted is that today an estimated 40 percent of the population cannot afford to meet the minimum dietary energy requirement of 2122 calories per day, economic security for most of them apparently remaining a long way away from being ensured given the increasingly cramped financial abilities of the government. Meanwhile, price developments and the imperfect controllability of inflation are undercutting seriously whatever economic security there is for the majority of the rest of the population.
The phenomenal growth of the RMG sector and hefty remittance ushered in an era of hope for the deprived millions in Bangladesh and were it not for perennial corruption, macroeconomic mismanagement and a miserable lack of good governance we would now be in a much better position in terms of achieving the Millennium Development Goals within the target year 2015. Curiously, the root cause of all the maladies is the vicious power game that institutionalizes Machiavellianism in politics. Cadres composed of thugs are known to play an important role in consolidating the power base of the mainstream political parties in Bangladesh and to nurture the cadres money needs to be earned, albeit unlawfully, which partly accounts for even ministers getting away with their corruption.
Economic security is inextricably linked to political stability and political stability can hardly exist in an environment where political parties are more interested in retribution than in reconciliation. How many more One Elevens the nation will have to face, one wonders, before our politicians realize that confrontational politics only opens the door of power to political predators. We note with grave concern that people are disappearing only never to be found again. Prima facie evidence suggests that in most cases such disappearance is the result of political vendettas. If the fate of the previous BNP government is anything to go by, the immediate course of action for the ruling Awami League should be to turn the tables by refraining from settling the old score. Let political prudence prevail!
Happy New Year!
