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Democracy not at cost of liberty

Says Amartya Sen, praises Bangladesh's successes in women development

Staff Correspondent
Nobel laureate Prof Amartya Sen has said liberty does not need to be curtailed for upholding democracy.
" I don't believe that liberty has to be cut down for the sake of democracy," Sen told a jam-packed auditorium yesterday at a public lecture organised jointly by the Bangla daily Prothom Alo and Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at Krishibid Institute in the capital.
Prof Sen said democracy has many aspects and it cannot be perfect in any country. He also said there must be discussions on social and democratic failures to devise out ways to fix them.
Prof Sen, 82, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998, entered the 1,050-seat auditorium at 3:30pm, which was overflowing with so many people that the organisers had to arrange for an out-door screening of his lecture for a large number of people who were waiting outside.
He began his lecture with a reference to his latest book
titled An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions, co-authored by Belgium-born Indian economist Jean Dreze. The programme was arranged on the occasion of the launching of the book's Bangla translation titled Bharat: Unnayan O Banchana.
Referring to Bangladesh's success in women's economic and social development, Sen said this is an indicator of Bangladesh's better performance than India's despite the latter's faster economic growth.
Per capita GDP of India was 50 percent higher than Bangladesh in 1990, whereas it is 100 percent higher now. Yet, social indicators in Bangladesh such as gender equity, women's empowerment, mortality rate, life expectancy, vaccination etc. are remarkably better here than in India, said Sen who teaches economics and philosophy at Harvard University.
"India can learn from Bangladesh on its success in gender equity," he said.
"In 1990, life expectancy was three years higher in India than Bangladesh. Now it is just reversed," he said.
In his lecture, he argued that Indian rulers have never been properly accountable to the needs of the vast majority. With economic growth, large public interventions have taken place in developed countries such as China and Brazil, aiming to raise health, education and other standards so that social gains can be accelerated.
"India is an exception here and its social problems serve to drag down its economic growth prospect," said Sen.
He said economy in the Indian subcontinent had grown almost at zero percent between 1776 and 1947. The average economic growth rate was only 0.01 percent during the years of 1900-1947. After independence, growth rate increased to three percent and remained there for many years before it shot up to eight percent. Per capita income in India however has increased seven times since 1947.
He questioned why India could not achieve progress in social indicators
despite its visible success in per capita income.
He said many adults, especially women, are undernourished in India. Despite gains, extreme poverty is still a reality there and death in childbirth is all too common. Deaths caused by social prejudice are also rife in the country: as many as 6, 00,000 fetuses are aborted each year because those are female.
Sen said compared with its poorer neighbours, Bangladesh and Nepal, India's social record is unusually grim.
The economist said private sector has played a big role in India's economic development, but that cannot ensure education and health services to the poor.
"There is no country in the world that has developed its education and health system without the help of the government," said Sen.
The renowned scholar, who has authored many books on social injustice and its interrelation with economy, said Bangladesh has shown how it is possible to educate and empower women.
"It was not in Bangladesh before 1971, it is absolutely Bangladesh's success," he said.
After his lecture, Prof Sen took questions from the audience and spent around one hour to answer them.
Prof Rehman Sobhan, chairman of CPD and long-time friend of Prof Sen, chaired the programme also addressed by Matiur Rahman, editor and publisher of Prothom Alo, and CPD Executive Director Prof Mustafizur Rahman.
Terming Sen a "true renaissance mind", Prof Sobhan declined to say anything after what he said was such a "rich lecture".
The book launching programme began with eminent singer Rezwana Chowdhury Bonya singing three Tagore songs.
Ananda Publishers, India published the Bangla translation of the book while Prothoma Prokashoni, Prothom Alo's books wing, is the sole distributor of the book in Bangladesh.