Civil
Society And Bangladesh
-M.
Serajul Islam
THE civil society in
The civil society in Bangladesh has also made glorious contributions to the
country's emergence as an independent state. The Language Movement was
initiated and led by the students and the intelligentsia of the country before
the politicians took up the cause and used it to liberate the country. After
liberation, the civil society has been active in nurturing the emergence of
democracy in the country, particularly during its long tryst with military
dictatorships. Even under the elected governments, the civil society played a
crucial role in keeping those who are conscious of their responsibilities in
power and assisting them in carrying out these responsibilities. These facts
notwithstanding, there are also concerns about some of the roles of the civil
society in Bangladesh. These concerns arise from the nature of Bangladesh's
turbulent politics and the fact that the activities of the civil society often
extend beyond the country due to globalization and other factors. Such factors
make it imperative that the civil society must fully understand its role so
that it complements the efforts of the government instead of creating problems.
The recent fiasco that occurred over the exhibition at the Drik Gallery is a
case in point. A group called "Students for a Free Tibet" along with
Drik gallery organized a photo exhibition “Into Exile: Tibet 1949-2009”. The
exhibition according to the organizers was on “the Tibetan people, their
sufferings caused by the Chinese government.” According to what appeared in the
press, the Chinese Embassy contacted the Drik gallery and requested them to
stop the exhibition. There were also calls to the Gallery from the government
in support of the request of the Chinese Embassy. The Gallery, nevertheless,
decided to go ahead with the exhibition. However, before it could be opened the
police intervened and closed it.
A spokesman of Drik gallery was furious and said “the sudden intervention of
the police is surprising while foreign country's dictation as to what should be
on display is humiliating”. Former TI, Bangladesh Chairman Dr. Muzzaffar Ahmed
who is a leading member of the civil society said to an impromptu gathering
outside the Drik Gallery that “we have the right to know of the neighbouring
countries. I could not find any reason for stopping this freedom.” Both the
gentlemen, while being right in expressing their emotions, however, showed
their lack of sensitivity and knowledge about diplomatic practices and nuances.
They have also shown lesser knowledge of Bangladesh's international obligations
and duties. As for diplomatic norms, what the Chinese Embassy did by asking the
Government to stop the exhibition is part of the Embassy's responsibility
because the exhibition's objective was to tarnish the image of China and the
Embassy's duty is to protect it. If a similar situation occurs abroad where
Bangladesh was at the receiving end, its Embassy would be required to do
exactly what the Chinese Embassy did. The failure to stop such an exhibition
designed to tarnish Bangladesh's image would land the Embassy in all sorts of
trouble, even the recall of the Ambassador.
With China Bangladesh has strategic relations that are extremely important in
the context of its foreign policy. It is committed not to interfere in China's
internal affairs. Going ahead with the exhibition would have been both an
unfriendly act and interference in China's internal affairs. As for the
Professor's freedom to know what is happening in the neighbouring countries, he
is perhaps unaware that the foreign policy stakes are too high and it would have
been incomprehensible and foolhardy if the government had not acted the way it
did after the Chinese protest. Whatever may have been the intention of the
organisers it would hardly have been worth the damages that holding such an
exhibition would have caused to Bangladesh-China relations.
There is also a point to be made about the sponsors of the exhibition. A visit
to the website of the Students for a Free Tibet will show the visitor that
there are eight countries where SFT has a national network. There is one in
India that is understandable. Bangladesh is the only other developing country
where SFT has a national network. The interest of the Bangladesh network to
hold an exhibition that they certainly knew would embarrass China is food for
thought. The Foreign Ministry would need to focus on this point because it
knows better than anyone the value of China's friendship that has been built
over the years.
During the last two elected governments, particularly during the last BNP
regime, an organization representing the civil society, driven by their zeal to
bring transparency into the actions of the government, highlighted the extent
of corruption in the government body. It was to a large extent due to their
efforts that Bangladesh was placed on top of a list of corrupt countries for
four years in a row. It is very true that the efforts of this civil society
group brought into public consciousness that corruption is spreading into the
body politic like cancer. However, lacking the means of coercion, their efforts
merely earned Bangladesh the dubious title of being the most corrupt nation on
earth while in no way assisting reduction of corruption itself. It gave
Bangladesh a negative image that it did not need.
For a country like Bangladesh that depends on a favourable external environment
for its efforts to develop, it is essential that the civil society be aware of
its limits so that it does not put the country's foreign policy goals in
jeopardy. The government may not have the necessary legal leverage to stop the
civil society from exposing corruption in the government to a foreign
organization, but the civil society should consider the pros and cons of such
exposure. It should realize that such exposure has virtually no impact on
reducing corruption that is largely related to the level of social-economic
development in the country. The civil society must realize that the bad image
that its activities give Bangladesh in turn has direct adverse impact on
enhancing trade and attracting foreign direct investment that are priority
foreign policy goals of the country. The civil society should work with the
government's watchdogs like the Anti- Corruption Commission, the parliament,
and the media for tackling corruption instead of embarrassing the government
and creating obstacles to its foreign policy goals.
No government anywhere allows the civil society the freedom to exhibit what it
wants, particularly where materials exhibited embarrass a friendly country. In
Bangladesh, the regulations require an organization interested to hold such an
event to get prior permission of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. Like many regulations that have gone by the wayside due to
lack of use, this one also seems to have become dormant. The fiasco at Drik
Gallery should wake the Foreign and the Home Ministry from their slumber to
activate this regulation urgently.
The Author is the Director, Centre for Foreign Affairs Studies and
Former Ambassador to Japan.