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BANGLADESH
Political Challenges and Religious Conflicts
Anudeep Dewan
University of Oregon
November 22; 2016
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Table of Contents
Part I: POLITICAL HISTORY OF BANGLADESH .................................................................... 2
Part II: POLITICAL CHALLENGES ............................................................................................ 5
Part III: RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC CONFLICTS ...................................................................... 8
Part IV: RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................. 12
Bibliography
14
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Part I: POLITICAL HISTORY OF BANGLADESH
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated Muslim majority country in South Asia,
rife with a string of political problems of its own, that are rooted deeply into the colonial rule of
the British Raj, and the shared political, geographical, cultural and religious ties with India and
Pakistan. As part of the divide and rule policy, the British rulers divided Bengal into West
Bengal (now a state of India) and East Bengal (now Bangladesh) on the basis of majority religion
in both states in 1905. While West Bengal
was predominantly Hindu, East Bengal had
a Muslim majority. As the result of two
violent partitions, East Bengal was carved
out into Bangladesh: first as East Pakistan
in the 1947 Independence, merging with
Pakistan due to the Islamic majority
population both had in common, but
geographically separated by India; then
seceded from Pakistan, later as Bangladesh
after a second violent partition in 1971.
Though Bangladesh is a new country in
terms of its legal framework, its existence
and culture dates back to two thousand or more years (Rashid).
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Fig I: Location of Bengal
Fig II: Partition of Bengal (1905)
Source: Pakistan Geotagging Blog
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Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is now known as the founding father of the nation led the
campaign for Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan. 1971 saw a brutal and violent 'War of
Liberation' where the Pakistani army cracked down on East Pakistan, killing thousands of people.
Though the exact number of casualties is yet unknown, independent researchers believe that
300,000 to 500,000 people died in the liberation war. East Pakistan gained independence by the
end of 1971 to become Bangladesh, the land of the people whose mother tongue is Bengali. "The
emergence of Bangladesh in 1971 did not achieve internal peace. Instead, there was more
violence, an attempted imposition of a one party state, the assassinations of two heads of state,
long periods of military rule and finally in 2000, the emergence of a vulnerable democracy"
(Khan, 2010). Sheikh Mujibur came into power after independence, and created the Awami
League Party, only to grow increasingly authoritarian and run the country with a government that
lacked capacity (Lewis, 2011). Mujibur was assassinated along with most of his family members
in 1975 by army generals to bring his government down. General Ziaur Rahman took over the
control of the state in 1977, forming Bangladesh National Party (BNP) which would later emerge
as one of the political strongholds. He was assassinated by General Ershad in 1979 to start yet
another few years of military rule.
In 1990, Bangladesh saw a surge in protests and mass movements by the main political
oppositions that threw Ershad out of office. Post 1990, the politics of Bangladesh turned from
military to democracy. Zia's widow, Khaleda Zia had emerged as a popular opposition leader
leading the BNP, whereas Mujibur Rahman's daughter, Sheikh Hasina Wazed took over the
helms of the Awami League Party. The electoral politics, since then, has been firmly in place,
but the democracy suffers from a growing number of uncertainties (Datta, 2003). The problems
in the democracy that ensued post 1990 will be addressed in the following sections of the paper.
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Part II: POLITICAL CHALLENGES
According to Moniruzzaman (2009), the major two political parties are deeply divided
between the following contentious issues:
1. Political Ideological Issues (Identity)
2. Secularism and religion
3. Role of parties in the Liberation War
4. Election Commission Vs Electoral Commission
The following are the main political challenges faced by Bangladesh due to the aforementioned
issues:
•
Personal vendetta and extreme polarization
The deep seated animosity between the leaders of the two big political parties: Begum
Khaleda Zia (BNP) and Sheikh Hasina (AL) have surpassed political ideological differences.
The personal vendetta and distrust against each other was so strong that in 1980's they even
refused to join hands and fight against the military rule of Gen H.M. Ershad even though both of
them were opposed to military rule. (Datta, 2003). While Hasina has started a war crime
investigation that has convicted several leaders from BNP and the Jamaat e Islam party, Khaleda
has attempted to remove the traces Mujibur Rahman's role independence from history. This
animosity has been coined as 'Battle of the Begums' in media and discourse. The antagonism
against each other has been seen as saving the country from the other’s leadership and a display
of ‘zero-sum attitude’ (Khan 2010)
•
Hartaal and Political Violence
Bangladesh politics also suffers from irresponsible opposition practices that do not
accommodate tolerance of political differences. Hartals or general strikes called by political
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parties were common practice in post democracy Bangladesh. Every election sees allegations
of electoral malpractice by the opposition parties. Actions of opposition irresponsibility have
been portrayed through denial of election results and indulgence in street protests and general
strikes, often leading to violence. The consequence of violence politics is the
institutionalization of violence as a legitimate means to express political demands
(Moniruzzaman, 2009). Imtiaz Ahmed in State, Society and Democratic Futures points out to
this irony in democracy, of irreconcilable or polarized relationship between the party in
power and the party in opposition.
Fig. III: Hartals in East Pakistan and Bangladesh, 1947-2002
Year
Regime Type
Number of Hartals
1947-1950
1951-1954
1955-1958
1959-1962
1963-1966
1967-1970
1971-1974
1975-1978
1979-1982
1983-1986
1987-1990
1991-1994
1995-1998
1999-2002
Democratic
Democratic
Military
Military
Military
Military
Democratic
Military
Democratic
Military
Democratic
Democratic
Democratic
Democratic
1
5
16
1
6
38
36
1
48
52
245
216
279
332
Total
1172
Source: Moniruzzaman Md (2009)
•
Clientelism/ Entrenched Patronage
Khan (2010) asserts that the organization of politics along the lines of patron-client
factions is a structural feature of developing countries. Because of structural imbalance between
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economic and political power, patron-client politics plays a significant role in developing
countries, and Bangladesh is not exempt from this. According to Lewis (2011) and Khan 2010,
patron Client relationships have played an important role in Bangladeshi politics. Political parties
have almost always used ‘informal networks’ to get their work done. They organize factions and
clients along the lines of ethnicity, religion, castes or ideologies and provide them with the
bargaining power. But this has only made the power pyramid steeper, with the big political
parties and leaders taking up the top position in the pyramid. Most of the cases of misuse of
power for personal gains can be attributed to the client-patron relationship that has become a
practice that has dominated the political scene. Imtiaz Ahmed, in State, Society and Democratic
Futures blames the political parties being leader centric and bereft of intra party democratization,
giving rise to intra party violence between leaders and activists, and among factions of the same
party for supremacy in their respective areas and for power.
Fig IV: Violence due to Intra Party Clashes
Source: Odhikar.org/statistics
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Part III: RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC CONFLICTS
Fig. IV: The ethnic and religious composition of Bangladesh
Ethnic Composition
Bengali
Tribal
Other
97.7%
1.9
0.4
Religious Composition
Muslim
Hindu
Buddhist
Christian/Other
88.4%
10.4
0.7
0.5
Source: Brittanica Encyclopedia, 2016
Even though Bangladesh enjoys a relative homogeneity in terms of religion and language
than other countries in South Asia, it has not been able to take bring the comparative advantage
into its benefit. There have been numerous cases of conflicts and violence on the basis of religion
and ethnicity. The Chittagong Hill Tribe (CHT) Conflict can be taken as an example. A few
challenges that Bangladesh faces in terms of religion and ethnicity are as follows:
•
The rise of militant Islamism
Mujibur Rahman’s government’s vision of a secular nation is one of the ideals the big
parties do not agree upon. While Mujibur’s leadership laid strict rules of not using religion as
the basis of forming political parties, the leadership of Zia and General Ershad saw a rising
number of Islamist parties in Bangladesh. Both Zia and Ershad reached out to Islamic forces
to help secure their legitimacy (Milam, 2009).
Sheikh Hasina’s government in power has been cracking the whip on liberation war
crimes, controversially convicting leaders from Islamic political groups from 2010. In 2011,
Abdul Quader Mullah was convicted for war crimes and was sentenced a life-imprisonment.
This led to protests against the sentence led by online bloggers demanding for a death
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sentence and the banning of the Islamic stronghold party Jamaat e Islam. The protests took
the form of a social movement called the ‘Shahbag Movement’. More fundamentalist Islamic
groups and home grown militant groups were formed and started cracking down on ‘liberal’
and ‘atheist’ bloggers. In 2013, a secular blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider was killed, starting a
string of murders of secular-minded writers and bloggers and LGBTI activists by
fundamentalist groups.
Fig. V: Fatalities- Islamist Terrorism 2005-2016
Year
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Total
Civilians
26
6
1
1
0
3
0
1
228
29
23
43
361
SF’s
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
18
9
2
4
33
Terrorists
9
6
7
0
0
3
0
2
133
22
31
71
284
Total
35
12
8
1
0
6
0
3
379
60
56
118
678
Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal (Data till November 20, 2016)
The number of terrorist attacks has also increased in the past years. Country Report
on Terrorism states that terrorist attacks in Bangladesh have gone up from 123 to 459 in 2015.
In July 2016, Dhaka saw one of the worse terrorist attacks on an upscale café that involved
the killing of 20 hostages and 6 terrorists. The terrorists were said to be students from top
universities. Even though ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the Sheikh Hasina
government refuses to admit that ISIS was behind the attacks and blames the opposition party
to have mobilized its home grown radical student wing for the act.
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Picture: The Shahbag Movement of 2013
Source: BBC News
•
Alienation of and violence against minority population
Most countries in South Asia have politics intermingled with religion and ethnicity.
Identity and religious politics is one of the striking characteristics of South Asian politics.
While the majority of the population is Muslim, there is a significant number of Hindus in
the minority. The Hindi-Muslim has been present before the partition of Bengal in 1905, and
Mohsin (2004) argues that the Hindu-Muslim divide has been constructed and is being
played upon and exploited by the political elite of the country for their own benefits.
While the two big political parties have long battled over ideologies of Bengali
nationalism vs Bangladeshi nationalism, the fact that both ideologies marginalize and
alienate the minority population is rarely brought to light. The Bengali nationalism would
exclude the tribal population whereas the Bangladeshi nationalism would exclude the tribal
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population and the Hindu population. The new state has within its own construction the quest
for homogenization, which propels towards the majority community (Mohsin, 2004).
Religious minorities, especially the Hindus and Buddhists have suffered increased
violence and discrimination in Bangladesh. There have been several discriminatory land laws
that have been passed in Bangladesh, that have disadvantaged the minority Hindu population,
for ex. The East Bengal Evacuees Act 1951 and the Bangladesh Vesting of Property order
1972. The Hindu community in Bangladesh feels unsecure both politically and economically,
especially post Babari Masjid incident in India, which incited attacks against Hindus in
various parts of Bangladesh (Mohsin, 2006). In one of the most recent attacks on Hindus
followed by an outrage over a social media post that was seen as anti-Islam, angry mobs set
fire to houses and vandalized a Hindu temple in Eastern Bangladesh.
The political scenario is also a reflection of the underrepresentation and
marginalization of minorities. The number of minority MP’s in the Jatiya Sangsad
diminished from 14 in 1996 to 4 in 2001 (Datta, 2009). Furthermore, Mohsina argues that
even though minorities are included in politics, the representation is limited to numbers,
dehumanizing them to vote banks.
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Part IV: RECOMMENDATIONS
•
Democratization of Party Politics:
As mentioned above, the major parties have an animosity against each other that
goes beyond ideologies and leans more towards personal vendetta of leaders
against each other. The political scenario in Bangladesh needs a change in leaders
and reduce the familial inheritance of power, allowing space for new politicians
with new ideas to lead the party, instead of engaging in irreconcilable political and
personal deadlocks with the opposition parties. Despite the fact that SAARC does
not engage in contentious issues of the state, the deadlock between the ‘Battling
Begums’ is a situation that needs third party intervention in. It is high time that
SAARC stepped up as the neutral regional organization in the region, and
facilitate the resolving of stalemates like these, that have hindered the progress of
the country.
•
Address the issues of the minority
When a majority language or religion creates hegemony, the minority population
is automatically marginalized in terms of resources, opportunities and also
belongingness to the state. The government should address the pleas of the
minorities and provide the required protection against religion or ethnicity
induced violence. Stringent laws should be put into place to protect them from the
discrimination and violence they are susceptible too. The government should have
a mechanism to check and monitor its implementation.
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Secularism should not remain only in papers to building a just and equitable
society. Bangladesh politics needs more than just quotas for minority groups just
to reduce them into numbers and vote banks. Initiatives like scholarships and
leadership programs for the minority population can be introduced through
SAARC, executed through people of the minority groups.
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Bibliography
Blog: Amir, Tariq. Pakistan Geotagging
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Dubey, Muchkund. Hussain, Akmal (2014). Democracy, Sustainable Development and Peace:
New Perspectives on South Asia. Oxford University Press
Hammer, Joshua (2015). The Imperiled Bloggers of Bangladesh
Khan, Mushtaq H. Khan (2010). Bangladesh: Partitions, Nationalisms and Legacies for StateBuilding
Lewis, David. (2011). Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society. New York. Cambridge
University Press.
Md., Moniruzzaman (2009). Party Politics and Political Violence in Bangladesh: Issues,
Manifestation and Consequences
Milam, William B. (2009). Bangladesh and Pakistan: Flirting with Failure in South Asia.
NewYork: Columbia University Press
Mohsin, Amena A. Religion, Politics and Security: The Case of Bangladesh: New Perspectives
on South Asia. Oxford University Press
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Nov 18, 2016
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Web. Nov 18, 2016
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Crowds. Nov.2, 2016. Web. Nov 18, 2016
Peiris, Gerald (1998). Political Conflict in Bangladesh
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Riaz, Ali (2003). “God Willing”: The Politics and Ideology of Islamism in Bangladesh
South Asia Terrorism Portal, Major incidents of terrorist violence since 1996
Sultan Nazmul (2016). Terror and Politics in Bangladesh
Suykens, Bert. Islam, Aynul (2015). The Distribution of Political Violence in Bangladesh (20022013)
Terrorism: Annex of Statistical Information. 2015. Web Nov 18, 2016
US Department of State, National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to
Weiss, Anita. Gunaratne, Arjun (2014). Pathways to Power. Rowman & Littlefield