Bangladeshis Riot against Military Government

The military took over in Bangladesh back in January because the civilian political scene was headed towards chaos. The elections scheduled for the 22nd of that month were cancelled because they were seen to be (and might well have been) rigged in favor of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The army has run the show since then and done little to aid the average citizen. Students have led movements that brought down two previous military regimes there, and they have started up again. The authorities have taken them so seriously that a curfew has been slapped on Dhaka and other major cities. The soldiers should understand at strategic retreat to barracks is in order.

The army said back in January that it will hold elections when corruption is rooted out of the country. The army may as well have said it would allow elections when every Bangladeshi learns to play the bagpipes and do the Lindy Hop. In a nation of 141 million, mostly poor, corruption is how many people live, the military included.

That is not to say the civilian leaders are worthy. As the BBC notes, “Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina and BNP leader Khaleda Zia - both former prime ministers - face criminal charges. Sheikh Hasina [accused of murder] is currently under arrest while restrictions have been imposed on Khaleda Zia’s [accused of tax evasion] freedom of movement. Both women face rumblings of discontent against their leadership from within their respective parties.”

However, if elections are to be held, there must be some kind of campaign, which means political parties must be allowed to operate openly and freely. The military, thus far, has prevented that from happening. Until that changes, announcing a date for the elections is rather pointless.

What set the students off was the placement of military forces on campus. The students actually forced some of them to leave (soldiers running from students), and the authorities withdrew the troops. The genie had been let out of the bottle, though, and the protests continued until the curfew was imposed. Given the state of play and the history of the country, though, rioting will resume when the curfew ends. The Bangladeshi military needs to accept that it can’t do the politicians’ jobs for them, the people will have to vote for the less unpleasant candidate, and somehow, democracy needs to return no matter how muddled. After all, the overwhelming majority of Bangladeshis are decent, humane Muslims, and it would be a shame to lose that sensible anchor in that part of the world to the likes of Usama bin Laden because the military failed to restore even an imperfect democracy.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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