by Shamsher M Chowdhury
New Age May 26, 2009
AMBASSADOR William B Milam, or Bill Milam as he is popularly called, takes us on a journey in his book through the political evolution in
In the words of the author, the book is interspersed with several motifs. Religion is one, and understandably so since it was religion that was the basis for partitioning
In the case of
In the `Introduction' chapter, Milam blames the `poisonous, zero-sum' political culture of the major political forces in
In writing for the Pakistani English daily `Daily Times' on January 24, 2007, Ambassador Milam wondered whether the intervention in Bangladesh on January 11, 2007 would lead the country back from the brink or plunge it in the drink.
As we now see with hindsight, the solution, especially the introduction of a state of emergency and its gross misuse, only served to destroy the very political fabric of the country. Most commentators give the interim government a mixed scorecard. All agree it was powerless. The infamous, and abortive, `minus-two' formula and the highly politicised anti-corruption drive were its two most stark failures, not to mention the gross use of physical and mental torture on people under custody in violation of international conventions to which Bangladesh is signatory. They even made `reform' sound like a dirty word, almost synonymous with collaborating with the enemy. In an attempt to `cleanse' the society of corrupt government and political officials, this government launched the much touted `Truth and Accountability Commission' (referred to in the book). As events subsequently prove, this was not just a cruel joke; it was a corrupt concept that ran counter to the very fundamental of the country's constitution that all citizens are equal in the eyes of the law. Worse, it was an exercise in deception.
In the epilogue, Ambassador Milam characterises the publishing of a voter list with photos and the issuances of a national identity card as a remarkable achievement of the interim government. On the election day in December 2008, there appeared, inexplicably, a second voter's list, without photos whose authenticity is yet to be measured. As regards the national identity cards, fake and counterfeit ones are now increasingly available in the market!
Milam talks at length, and presents his assessments, of personalities whose very names define the political landscape of
In the opening narration of chapter 2, Milam describes Sheikh Mujib and Bhutto as `flawed leaders' with limited intellect or ability to `
anticipate possible future events'
and they failed to `build upon promising democratic beginnings.' He says that they both assumed leadership in a `burst of expectation and optimism but were unable to cash in on the strong mandate they had to nurture and establish viable democracies.' He calls both of them `historical failures because there own flaws were important contributing factors to the demise of democracy on their watch' in their respective countries.
Talking about the beginning of
Ambassador Milam characterises Sheikh Mujib's period of governance as one from `Euphoria to Neuralgia'. Mujib is described as the undisputed leader of a new
In page 34, the author writes about Mujib sinking into `a bog of corruption and ineptitude'. He describes Mujib as a good example of charismatic leaders of independent movements who do not always possess the organisational skills or intellectual flexibility to lead successfully the country their charisma had brought about. The subsequent paragraphs goes into details how this charismatic leader seemed to be `woefully short' of the essential mental agility needed to mould the new country into a viable nation. Milam is particularly critical of the socialistic economic policy pursued by the Awami League government under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Large-scale nationalisation of both the manufacturing sector, especially the jute industry, and the service sector, banks and insurance was severely damaging.
The author calls the parliamentary elections of March 1973 as the `beginning of the end' for Mujib. Till then Sheikh Mujib and his party still enjoyed relative popularity but the accumulating problems had reduced its appeal. Hence the Awami League leaders `couldn't resist padding the result by blatantly and unnecessarily rigging the polls.' In the words of the author, this exacerbated what had already become `widespread and growing popular discontent with Mujib and the League.' Things indeed got worse by the reign of terror launched by the much-despised Jatiya Rakhi Bahini.
In the following paragraphs Milam writes how this sense of discontentment continued to grow into widening disillusionment. With the introduction of the one-party governance system (BAKSAL) by amending the constitution to a presidential one and thereby giving Sheikh Mujib more personal power, `as if lack of power were at the root of his problems, rather than bad policies combined with overt corruption and incompetence (page 37)
Milam completes his narrative on this charismatic leader by briefly describing the events of his violent and brutal death, and that of most of his family members, in the early morning of August 15, 1975. He says `popular esteem for Mujib had fallen so low by then that few lamented this brutal act, but its legacy continues to haunt Bangladeshi politics.'
Chapter 3 of the book is exclusively about Ziaur Rahman and his governance from 1975 to his `untimely' death in 1981; he calls this period `A short lived but fecund era' and he calls Zia's politics as one of `hope and transition'. The word fecund has been used here to mean `very productive, or creative intellectually'.
Talking of how Ziaur Rahman was thrust into the leadership in Bangladesh following the chaotic period caused by military attempts to govern following Sheikh Mujib's assassination in 1975, Milam states one of Zia's early acts after he became chief martial law administrator was to rescind Mujib's one-party system. As Zia slowly but surely consolidated his power and `enhanced his already widespread popularity', he set about travelling all over the country mingling with the common people in a `new and unprecedented form of politicking' spreading `offer of hope for a better future.'
Like other military rulers in South Asia, and elsewhere, before and after him, Zia `developed political ambitions and much of
Milam talks at some length on `Zia's fledging democracy' and says President Zia's economic and social programmes `laid the basis of a far-reaching social revolution' which continued to build momentum, and no government, no matter how autocratic, `could have halted this revolution
.' The economy was progressing and social development was approaching `take off'.
In page 61, Bill Milam talks of Zia's killing and says the `hope for democracy dies with him.' However, Milam is critical of Zia's inability as president to strengthen institutions that underpin a democratic system and he set in motion some trends that undermine it like `acquiescence to corruption as a way to buy off potential enemies
' and he had not `set up a mechanism for the automatic and peaceful transfer of power.'
In the closing parts of his narratives on this `extraordinarily popular' man, Ambassador Milam tries to fathom the `Enigma of Ziaur Rahman'. On the one hand he was a military leader, a national hero (he was the first to announce the formation of provisional government of Bangladesh from a radio station in Chittagong in March 1971, page 35), and yet one `who returned his country to civilian rule and to civilian dominated two-party electoral democracy' and `whether that was by design or default shall never be known.' One thing seemed clear to the author that Zia was `a pragmatic nationalist' and that was his main maybe his only principle. He used democratic processes to wield political power but doubts he believed in them. He used corruption to ensure loyalty but was incorruptible himself. He also discarded some of the important principles for which he had fought a bloody war of separation from
Milam describes Zia's political legacy as a mixed one. Among his most positive bequests to the nation was the reintroduction of the multiparty political system that had `withered under Mujib
. And Zia restored stability to
A telling tribute to Ziaur Rahman comes in page 69 of the book: `It's hard to imagine what would have happened to
Chapter 6 lists the destructive and destabilising nature of confrontational politics practiced by the two major political parties when they alternated in government and in opposition between 1991 and 2006. Governance worsened with each successive government and corruption and sycophancy gripped almost every organ of the state. They both failed to live up to the people's expectations.
But
In the context of Bangladeshi political leaders, Bill Milam in his book has implied that power, or more power, does not always help one to succeed in governing: people give you that power anyway when they repose their trust and faith in you. It's how you reward that trust with conviction and through your efforts to reach out to them, to touch them and respond to their ethos that makes the difference between success and failure.
Politicians and political leaders, present and of the future, of all hue and political observers would be well advised to read, and more importantly study, Ambassador Bill Milam's book. It's instructive and yet not prescriptive. Importantly, it is candid.
http://www.newagebd.com/2009/may/26/oped.html
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