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"NSC must be civilian dominated and help strengthen democracy’

Staff Correspondent
The proposed national security council (NSC) must be dominated by civilians and should work as a helping hand for strengthening democracy by advising the cabinet on various national security issues, said Bangladesh Heritage Foundation Chairman Wali-ur Rahman yesterday.
The former ambassador made the comment at a discussion organised by the foundation on the occasion of publication of a book titled 'National Security and Development Council’ edited by him. The book is a compilation of observations on NSC by academics, former bureaucrats and journalists.
Speakers at the discussion suggested formation of an NSC comprised of appropriate repre-
sentations from politicians, experts from the civil society, and the military.
Involvement of military in an NSC is a matter of civilian-military cooperation for strengthening democracy and ensuring national security, which is more of a matter of fending off internal threats nowadays instead of traditional external threats, they said.
At the ceremony held in Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (Bilia) auditorium in the capital, the speakers said successive governments failed to establish social justice and to institutionalise democracy because of a lack of proper planning.
“Appropriate civilian-military relationship is very important for a country's development," said Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain, speaking as the chief guest.
Lauding the initiative of Bangladesh Heritage Foundation in starting a debate on the composition and role of the proposed NSC, the foreign secretary said it was a healthy democratic approach. He also said he believes through consultations among experts a consensus on the matter will emerge.
The cabinet is the ultimate authority to take the final decision, he said adding, food security, climate change, foreign relations, and internal security are matters of crucial importance that should be dealt with seriously in the future.
"The incident of 1/11 would not even be necessary if there was something like an NSC in place,” he said.
The core value of Bangladesh's military is the spirit of the independence war, he said adding that their participation in the decision making process will surely help the country.
Barrister Harun-ur Rashid, who is also a columnist, said the role of army has changed in the present world. Armies were for defeating enemies before, but nowadays it is not a matter of defeating someone, but of rehabilitating their misguided fellow compatriots.
"You have to fight with dialogues and reasons to help extremists return to the mainstream," he said adding, the Soviet Union collapsed not because of external factors, but for internal problems.
Issues of personal security, human rights, and global warming should be dealt with very seriously, Harun-ur Rashid said adding that the proposed NSC might help in doing so. The composition of tiie council however should be very well thought out, he stressed.
South East University Vice-chancellor Dr Shamsher Ali said an NSC cannot substitute for political parties, while it is also true that militaries of developed countries often played very important roles in scientific researches that led to major inventions.
Lamenting that Bangladesh has no such initiative and patronisation for scientific research, he said, "Bangladesh could have been a manufacturing country, instead it has become a place for trading."
"Unless we make ourselves capable of manufacturing the technologies we need, and lessen our dependence on imports, we won't be able to move forward," he said.