OFlate. it appears, an up surge of extremist movement. zealotry and fanaticism has almost shaken the foundation of the fledgling democracy. Gwernment faces a dilemma on all fronts — hindering progress and deve lopment The hard part that the government faces is go verning a volatile country burdened by poverty, land lessness. foreign debt, and now religious antagonism Three out of four Bangladeshis are illiterate, unemployment Is endemic. The economy is headed towards a (haptic situation half-way between market economy and state controlled business and the situation Is aggravated by 2 17% population growth rate Added to this the country is still entangled in the Rohingya refugee problem which, it appears, is not going to be eased out in the Immediate future, and there is the lingering stranded Pakistanis headache. The government, as it appears, has not been able to make much of a dent In 'all these pressing problems. Over and above this, the opposition is feuding with the ruling party on the issue of Caretaker Government and the battle that is going on unabated may stonewall some of ruling party's plans to ease out the process of hastening democratic reforms.

Notwithstanding everything that counters the surge of development activities, the ruling party has to find ways to meet the expectations of the poor and the downtrodden. In the raucous streets of Dhaka, their hopes were ballooning beyond reality. They have ben denied everything ever ■since Bangladesh came into being by the surge of patriotic efforts and relentless struggle of the people who made tremendous sacrifices. The government has to come forward In creating Jobs and shelters for these people. ,

The most crucial and basic requirement of a government, is to know the mind of the people through different exercises. Sir Winston Churchill whose name and fame are recorded in history had more information about the progress of World War-ll from the staff members of the Govt, departments he had formerly run: The war office, the admiralty, the RAF. Visitors from these organizations reported to Churchill on Hitler's progress abroad and Britain's woeful

failure to respond Most Im portantly. when the war began with the German invasion of Poland. Churchill heard of it before the government did Thia Is what one has to do with wry insight In running a gov eminent in managing the state of affairs with stead fast zeal and picking the right things without vengeance and retribu tlon from garbages of informa tion

A Different World

Zealotry, fanaticism and fundamentalism have no place in a progressive society des titled to carve out an independent and dignified place in the contemporary world. The world in which we live to-day Is radically different from what It was at the beginning or in the middle of this century. To day preservation of any kind of closed system is not only unacceptable but untenable too. The world economy is becoming a single organism and no state, whatever may be Its social system or economic status, can make any headway outside It. The basic question and thinking that have always been uppermost in human mind is how to make man's life happy. Just and safe. The Idea of development "at the expense of others has ceased to be a dictum in the state-craft. In the light of existing realities, no genuine progress Is possible at the expense of the rights and freedoms of individuals or natiohs The use or threat of force no longer can. or must, be an instrument of governance. All of us and specially the stronger and conscientious of us must exercise self-restraint. At this hour of grave crisis striking'the nation. it should be brought home to all of us that freedom of choice, freedom of expression. to the extent it does not hurt the sentiments of others, is mandatory. Its non-recogni-tion at any stage is fraught with grave consequences for regional. national or world peace.

The world-order is full of diversity. Looking back to nature we see that the trees, plants, the leaves, flowers et?. are of different colours and smells. And so is the case in the animal kingdom and of human races. So what we can talk about is unity in diversity and that is what our Creator wanted us to assert. None should coerce us to abandon our convictions, our philosophy or traditions, nor do we urge anyone to abandon theirs. If we speak of the true spirit of

Islam and Its values, we at once find it. in the essence of the great Quranic Surah, "La Ekraha Fiddin'' and La Kum Deeno Kum Alya Deen" meaning that there is no compulsion or coercion In religion. Your religion Is yours, and my religion Is mine.

Surely we would not be treading a path that results in Intellectual impoverishment with the rejection of powerful source.of development*— the exchange of everything original that each of us in the society has Independently created. If wisdom and pragmatism guide us In any way. then surer it Is that we are still far from attaining the ultimate truth

The country today faces a grim situation Disparate activities bereft of sensibility are causing destabilisation in the society. Fatwas Issued by the fundamentalists, zealots, even so-called Islamic scholars virtually opposing the literacy drive, poverty alleviation programme. health care, development and environmental programmes, as some of the NGOs have embarked upon In some districts of Bangladesh, have stalled progress and development. New Industries ate not also coming up. Many of the existing ones are either derelict or have ceased operation. In recent times, fanaticism and uttra-rellglops passions have unleashed powerful political and social cross-wind and conflicts. Buffeted by the currents, th* ruling party is struggling to preserve a precarious balance between secular moderates and religious conservatives. At stake is the economy and growth of industries in the country.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, before 1988 general election, after Zia's death, a group of 40 Islamic scholars issued a fatwa saying that a country that entrusted its affairs to a woman would not prosper. But in a vigorous rejection of the politicians of the erstwhile military government. Pakistanis handed Benazir Bhutto's People's Party a clear election victory, installing her as the Prime Minister. No wonder, the country still goes on prospering and has not fallen into the pit of western cultural degeneration. .There is no denying the fact that Muslim fundamentalism is sweeping over Iran. Egypt. Malaysia. Libya.

Sudan etc. Pyramids and other Egyptian monuments, have long since, attracted visitors from the outside world. But the attack on foreign tourists by radical gunmen has caused severe damage to Egypt's tourist Industry, the country's largest single source of foreign exchange (earning $.3 billion a year) The attack on foreign tourists has signalled a major escalation of guerilla warfare that Muslim extremists have been waging against President Hosni Mubaraks moderate government. The radical Islamic group has specially targeted tourist industry with full knowledge of the fact that it is very much vital to the cash-strapped government In Cairo. If these attacks continue. it is feared, government-effort to rejuvenate the economy might fall through and the consequences eventually follow: unless the economy Improves. unrest among Egypt's Impoverished masses Is bound to rise, playing directly into the hands of the radical group.

Speaking for ourselves, we daresay, despite monumental efforts, the government has achieved with scant success any substantial offer of foreign investment, mostly because of the absence of investment climate in the country. This Is a very serious issue that all concerned from the Individual to the party level politicians have to reckon in the face of the grim fact that already there are one crore 20 lakh educated unemployed people in the country. The situation will evaporate to a bursting point and any party that comes to power will find it difficult to contain.

Iran

In Iran, the fundamentalist Islamic Republic that Ayatollah Ruhullah Khomeini created has shown signs of splits after his death. Significant-changes had begun to take root in Iran in the months Just before Ayatollah Kfipmeinl died, and the country is now engaged in a quiet struggle for the soul' of the Iranian revolution. There are now increasing number of Iranians who want greater personal freedoms.' Social and economic reforms, such as encouraging private enterprise have accelerated in Iran, since Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pragmatist, was elected president. Strict Sharia laws' restricting women's freedom

have been gradually diminish Ing in effect Iranian women have begun to test perhaps the limits of what Khomeini sue censors are willing to tolerate. Brightly coloured head scarves have begun to replace black ones Teenage girls sport a hair-do called "Kakol that al lows them to display a shock of hair at the front without totally abandoning their obligatory head scarves Once for bidden high-heels and pat terned stockings have come back to use Rafsanjani has tried with limited success to curb excesses committed by the vigilante groups called "Komitchs" that were put in for enforcing Sharia laws during Khomeini s time.

Iran has also begun a modest campaign to boost tourism The government has printed glossy brochures inviting for eign tourists to view some of Islam's most beautiful shrines. Reports have It that many Japanese and Italian tourists have taken up the invitation.

Our democratic government Installed three years back has begun to experience the excruciating pain all around. Extremism and fanaticism, often at the cost of freedom of speech and action, are bubbling toward a boil. Hostilities among different groups of the people belonging to the same religion have reached a crisis proportion. The situation, if anything, is worse.

In the backdrop of such a worsening scenario that Is likely to bedevil all reform policies, we may recall the great historical lesson of moderation and tolerance that prompted Prophet Muhammad (SM) to sign the great treaty of Hudalbia. The significant part of the treaty that exhilarates and Impresses all regardless of religious ties is our Prophet's great magnanimity, tolerance and self-restraint In the face of highest of provocations.

The Prophet's (SM) Example

After six years of stay In Medina. Prophet Muhammad (SM) came to Mecca for per forming Umrah with an unarmed band of 1500 followers. Article (3) of the treaty over whelms us with awe and adrrti ration for the Holly Prophet (JJM). It reads "if a Quralsh from Mecca, under guardianship. should join the Prophet without the guardian's permission. he/she should be sent back to the guardian, but in the contrary case, they should

not be sent back and Ml that the Prophet (SM) and Ms party were not to enter Mecca that year, but that they could enter unarmed the following year Prophet Muhammad (SM) went back td Medina that year Other remarkable feature of the draft of the negotiation was that the draft started with Bismtllahir Rahman ir-Ra' him' meaning "In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful The Quraish tribe insisted on excising that sentence and it was so done at the instance of Prophet Muhammad (SMI The article of negotiation contained another word "Raaul-Allah" meaning "Prophet of Allah". The Quraish people Mtpressed their dissent to accept this word in the article of negotia tion on the ptea that they do not adhere to the faith (Islam) preached by , Prophet Muhampiad ISM). On that point also the magnanimous Prophet instructed Hazrat Ali to excise that word But Hazrat Ali out of his profound respect and reverence for Prophet Muhammad (SM) Could not oblige Mm. Then the Prophet (SM) himself with the assistance of Hazrat Ah made the excision. One wonders as to why all these great and singular example of self-restraint and superb sense of tolerance demonstrated by Prophet Muhammad (SM) even in that dark age are being lost sight of. Overwhelmed with the magnanimity of Prophet Muhammad (SM) the people of Quraish tribe In larger numbers embraced Islam.

Moderation instead of craze for vengeance should be the clarion call of the day. This sort of wariness can't save the country tn any case. The extremist movement and hate campaign that are spreading across the country are the resorts of people who have been left without any better hope. 'To move the county forward again, to build up a sound foundation for democracy, the present ruling party leadership will have to make a great leap forward of courage and persuade the people to do likewise. The present crisis that has enveloped the country from all directions is the worst of its kind. Political leaders belonging to all shades of opinion must seize this opportunity and begin building for all instead of tearing one another down. Let us not forget the dictum. "Discretion is the better part of valour."