Eminent figures from various sectors, including the ruling Awami League, representatives from opposition parties, scholars, and civil society activists, gathered for a thought-provoking seminar organized by the leading English daily Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday.
Styled “Setting the agenda: What will the next 5 years bring?”, the event, held at Crowne Plaza in Gulshan, served as a platform for diverse perspectives on the future trajectory of Bangladesh.
Former state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam MP; Shama Obaid, organizing secretary of the opposition BNP; Prof Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of international relations at Dhaka University; Prof Nuzhat Choudhury, daughter of Dr Abdul Alim Chaudhury, one of the martyred intellectuals during the 1971 Liberation War; and Dr Manisha Chakraborty, central committee member of the left-leaning political party Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BaSaD), were on the panel. The discussion was moderated by Zafar Sobhan, Editor, Dhaka Tribune.
This was the fifth such seminar and the first after the general elections held on January 7, organized by Dhaka Tribune with the support of the embassy of Norway.
Shahriar Alam presented an optimistic outlook, highlighting potential achievements and positive developments expected in the coming years.
Conversely, BNP leader Shama Obaid offered a stark contrast, painting a more sombre picture of the challenges ahead.
Their contrasting viewpoints provided attendees with a comprehensive understanding of the complex issues facing the nation and diverse opinions on how to address them.
The BaSad leader rejected the current parliament as the “funeral of democracy” since the major opposition party BNP did not participate in the polling.
Nuzhat Choudhury presented the historical background of Bangladesh and said: “I have to look back to look to the future,” as anti-liberation war forces are still active in Bangladesh.
Prof Imtiaz Ahmed provided a different view of Bangladesh and suggested addressing “fear,” which he said is not fact-based, to prevent the exodus of young people to foreign countries.
Espen Rikter-Svendsen,Ambassador of Norway in Bangladesh, appreciated Dhaka Tribune for being “a capable and staunch partner” for the embassy and said the purpose of the seminar was to bring people from different camps together “to help us gain a better understanding of complex issues.”
“Bringing people together is part of the Norwegian brand. It is what we do all around the world. We're great believers in dialogue,” he said.
‘Election gives renewed enthusiasm’
Shahriar Alam highlighted the developments in the country and said the continuity of the government has changed Bangladesh for the better.
The former state minister said Bangladesh is still one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. The forecast for this year, which will conclude at the end of June, aims to achieve a 6% growth or a little over that.
The Rajshahi-6 MP said Bangladesh is better placed compared to many other similar countries or densely populated countries often threatened by climate change activities and events.
“Now of course, we do have issues in terms of the balance of payment and we have engaged the IMF well in advance and in no time. We have gained trust, and we have established a mechanism in place, and the second round of disbursement has taken place, as you know, and all the parties are reasonably happy,” he said.
He said achieving self-sufficiency in more items of essential commodities and developing skills of the migrant workers would be the priorities of the government.
He said the election gives the ruling Awami League renewed enthusiasm, a fresh mandate, and “this time around we have to utilize it as we did in the past in 2018 and 2014 and vote for presenting in Smart Bangladesh by creating job opportunities and creating employment.”
One of the biggest challenges in the next five years would be to deal with misinformation and disinformation, he said.
Not a Smart Bangladesh, but a Smart Election
Shama Obaid was critical of the ruling party and said the BNP would continue to fight for democracy for as long as it took.
“We don't have a smart Bangladesh. But the Awami League has established a smart form of election where every time they win,” she said, as the ruling party came to power for the fourth consecutive term with the slogan of ‘Smart Bangladesh’ amidst the BNP’s boycott of the vote.
She pointed to banking sector anomalies, corruption, lack of governance, lack of transparency, money laundering, and price hikes.
She said “it is sort of hard to detach politics from the economy or any other sector that affects a country or the people of Bangladesh.”
Funeral of democracy
Dr Manisha Chakraborty termed the current parliament as the funeral of democracy and said people did not have any expectations from this government.
“We have expectations from the people. We want the people to be vocal. We want the people to be voicing their demands for their empowerment,” she said.
“It is a lifeless democracy we are watching, and this democracy is not what we will get some accountability from. There is no accountability, there is no commitment,” she said, adding: “There is no reason to think the government will be liable to listen to the people because they are not elected by people, and people don't want answers from them.
“And we are seeing some symptoms already like it's not been a month,” she said, adding that the prices of essentials could not be controlled despite Awami League’s pre-election pledges.
On the contrary, she said the government had declared that electricity prices would be raised and soon there would be no subsidies in this sector.
Dr Manisha Chakraborty said subsidy came from public money, and public money needed to be spent for serving the public.
“So, we think that the main agenda that we want to see in the next five years is people standing up for their empowerment, people raising voices for their empowerment,” she said.
Fear without facts
Dr Imtiaz Ahmed was of the view that spreading fear without facts appeared as a major problem in Bangladesh. He suggested containing fear with evidence-based information; otherwise, young people were not going to stay in the country.
“The fear is the first thing I will say you need to address. Dhaka is much safer than New York and Chicago. I can give you figures; believe it or not, you know the death figure of the United States every day, you know. I have the figures of last year, every day 123 people were killed. Just imagine. But nobody knows that,” he said.
He stressed the need to fight corruption, stop money laundering, and engage the diaspora in the development of Bangladesh.
He also suggested building high-speed connectivity with six high-speed trains connecting the eight divisional headquarters.
He also proposed electoral reforms and doubling the number of seats in parliament to 600 from 300 to ensure proper representation of the people as Bangladesh is a highly populated country.
But he was against any compromise with the elements who were against the 1971 liberation war.
Looking back to look forward
Prof Nuzhat Choudhury also said that she would not forget the basic essence of Bangladesh's birth while looking forward.
“I have to look back to look forward,” she said, as the basic essence of the Liberation War was to have a “democratic society, free and fair society, also a secular society”.
“Our very fabric of secularism is being eroded every second. It is like a fire that is burning underneath your building and you don't know,” she said. “The rise of fundamentalism has reached such a level that I fear for my country, for my country's future.”
She agreed with the points relating to raising the health budget and solving the problem of corruption raised by other speakers. She also spoke against money laundering and the way the money is being siphoned out of the country by the elite class.
She also spoke about the persistent interference in politics by foreign powers, and as a civil society member, she said “that really makes us angry.”
Corruption: Dead weight against development
Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan, while summarising the discussion, noted that he found “very little consensus, very little common ground” among the speakers.
Taking care of the environment and fighting corruption are some of the areas of common interest, he said.
This provided the basis for people to really move forward as a nation, he said.
“I think that there is a need for political reform because the current political situation we have in place is not really delivering for us as a nation."
“What form that political reform will take, how it will come about, where we will end up at the end of it . . . these are all questions we don't have an answer for. But these are questions which I think we all need to ask,” he said.
“Corruption in Bangladesh is really something that we need to take hold of because ultimately it is a cost which is being paid by all the Bangladeshi people. We don't know the numbers exactly, but we do know very well that what we have achieved in the past few years, as great as that may have been, it could certainly have been far greater. And what we want to accomplish in the next five years, the next 10 years, the next 20 years, corruption is always going to be a dead weight against that,” the Dhaka Tribune editor added.
“The more we are able to manage that one problem, the greater we will grow. So, I think on these issues, there's a great deal of commonality, there's a great deal of consensus. And I also believe that all of us here, whether in the government, whether in the opposition, whether in civil society, we all have a role to play. It's not going to be easy because there is a lot of distrust, there's a lot of division,” he further said.
“Nevertheless, I think what all of us have in common is we all believe in Bangladesh, we all believe in the future of Bangladesh. We are all committed to building a better future for validation we have had in the past,” he concluded.