& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Thoughtful reflections on a misused polity

Shahid Alam comes across some compelling arguments on politics
WITHIN the first three pages of Democracy in Crisis, one comes across the following truism chat is equally applicable to the practice of liberal pluralist democracy in general, and the below par performance of the polity in Bangladesh: "Democracy can be sustained only if the political and the state institutions perform their roles faithfully. While the political leaders have been blamed and face trial, the deviant officers of Govamment and the Republic go scot-free." The second part is obviously a commentary on some of the actions taken by. or not taken by. the recently departed extended caretaker government. Masihur Rahman, a retired senior bureaucrat and currently an advisor to the Sheikh Hasina government, deals with this and other issues in a series of articles making up the book under review. Ln the author's own words, the collection deals with four broad themes: “(i) secular and the economic origin of the independence of Bangladesh and subsequent departures from the ideology; (ii) meaning and constitutional standard of operation of Caretaker Government; (iii) political crisis that unfolded during 2002-07 and the slide towards a failed state; and (iv) the next general election and the Election Commission.”
Rahman wrote these articles (a total of eleven are presented as separate chapters of the book) during 2002-07, which were published in Die Independent, Dhaka Courier and Die Daily Star (al-though it is likely that the first chapter, "Overview of Crisis”, and the last. "Conclusion: Postscripton Concept" have been included to introduce and apply a closure to the book). He devotes more time and space to the subject of non-party caretaker government, specifically
two chapters, the first dealing with the issue of civic interpretation and expectations, and the second with the system's constitutionality, legitimacy and accountability. It is an unusual system, to say the least, necessitated as a constitutional feature because of the systematically deteriorating state of the country’s political culture that was dominated by mutual suspicion and distrust of the two largest political parties and the accompanying dysfunctional phenomena like political intolerance. The
author is quick to point out that the caretaker system is a normally occurring phenomenon in parliamentary democracy, where the outgoing government acts as a nonpartisan body before a new government takes office. However, we are talking about responsible democracies that have adopted as their polity its most challenging
form: the Westminster model.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, however, sanctified a system osten sibly introduced to skirl around the vicious mutual distrust of the two major parties, but it might have created greater problems than it was designed to solve. At the very least, it has become a convenient scapegoat for disgruntled losing parties. And, as has happened, it can outlive its welcome while becoming, with much justification, the butt of the general citizenry's frustration and outrage. It is an aberration to the functioning of the spirit of parliamentary democracy, and should be abandoned at the earliest opportunity if, the most critical ingredient of die polity, a mindset for liberal pluralist democ -racy, is to become a permanent fixture in the average citizen's persona. There will be pitfalls to be sure, but only through trial and error of the real thing, an interregnum of the immediate past government becoming a nonpartisan caretaker, will the objective of a mature, responsible democracy be reached. Rahman concluded that tire extended period of stay of the last caretaker administration before scheduling elections has caused an irreparable damage to democracy and constitutional government. He actually prognosticates that his article "may be a dirge for Caretaker Government." Amen to that!
In view of what had gone on, one that had attracted much public scrutiny, during the immediate past caretaker regime, one would have expected much more than what has been given in “How Not to Reform Political Party”. There are reasonably lengthy discussions on political parties in Great Britain and the US, as well as the major parties in Bangladesh, Awami League and
BNR but not really on the implications of the strange phenomenon called "minus-two", and the permutation with a whole bunch of disparate and similar people to come up with alternative parties as a ploy to "cleanse" politics.
The thoughtful chapter, "Confiscate Political Rights, But not Unconstitutionally or Arbitrarily" pleads for retired civil servants to be permitted to join active politics: "At a time when there are attempts to cleanse politics of corruption and irresponsible politicians, people with experience of managing government and good reputation can fill up the vacuum and should be welcome to join the political system." This might sound self-serving to people aware of corrupt civil servants who are used to abusing power while in office, but strictly from the point of view of human rights, there is merit to his contention that, “Restriction on participation in politics or seeking election to Parliament after retirement...is ineffective, discriminatory and against the Constitution."
One of tire more fascinating chapters is the one titled “Constitutionalism, Secularism and Legitimacy". The author's discussion of the theories of the great international law scholar Hans Keisen, particularly in the context of a judgment by Justice Munir of Pakistan that considered martial law as legal on grounds of efficacious enforcement, is enlightening. However, a contradiction creeps into Rahman's reasoning. After asserting that the "French Revolution, tire Russian Revolution and tire American Revolution are the types of change that Hans Keisen had in mind" (the American Revolution certainly did not lead to totalitarianism), he declares that, "Hans Keisen's theory supported totalitarianism and was not a valid
method for judicial Interpretation of statute."
Rahman has argued powerfully in several places on the pernicious effects of Islamist political parties like the Jamaat-i-lslam on the country's body politic. His observation that these parties use the norms of liberal pluralist democracy to come to state power, and then impose draconian sharia rule in an Islamic state is both valid and a cause for alarm. His discussion on Jamaat-i-lslam's ideological guru in "Syyid Mawdudi: His Political Thought and Its Consequences" is probably the most compelling essay in the volume. Mawdudi, Rahman concludes, "preaches a view of Islam which is unhistorical and therefore unreal."
Democracy in Crisis is a serious work that die casual reader might not totally comprehend. Masihur Rahman has compelling arguments at his disposal that, given the nature of politics, its study, and application, a number of people would probably disagree with, but, nonetheless, would find it hard to dismiss perfunctorily. Not many, however, would treat these two observations lightly: “There is...a growing presumption an orchestrated campaign most probably --- tiiat the politicians are irresponsible and that the intelligentsia-bureaucracy under military hegemony can govern better." And, referring to the extended caretaker administration then in operation, "There is an uncanny overlap between Jamaat-i-Islam's political strategy and the current drive against corruption led by the power and civil society elite."
Professor Shahid Alam Is Head, Media and Communication Department, Independent University, Bangladesh.