| East Pakistan Since 1971 al-Waaqi' ( an outside source) |
| Now Bangladesh, former East Pakistan is 29 years into it's 'independence', which was achieved with the help of India. In 29 years of independence, Bangladesh has been plagued by wars, violent coups and military dictatorships. To understand the present situation of Bangladesh one needs a background history of the subcontinent. WW2 left Britain weak, and it had to relinquish India. The days of direct colonisation were over, and hence Britain resorted certain politicians to further their plans for this region - the age of neo-colonialism. Britain trained and supported these agents to extend her rule over these regions. |
| In 1974 famine struck Bangladesh - millions died. Discontent spread in the country, the failure of Mr Mujib's "Secularism, Socialism, Democracy, and Nationalism" was apparent, and soon Mr Mujib himself was assassinated. Surprisingly, there was little public anger at his eliminatio, especially so, considering that the hero of the 'liberation' war was killed so soon after the formation of Bangladesh. Removal of Mujib did not mean an end to the suffering of Bangladesh. General Ziaur Rahman came to power, the oppression and injustice continued. Like Mujib, Zia also faced a violent death again in the hands of army officers. The death of Mujib or Zia did not mean an end to the ideas they held, both left behind political parties Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), respectively. To this very day, these two are the most powerful political parties in Bangladesh. The Muslims of Bangladesh were faced with a group of political parties who all agreed that it is secularism, capitalism and democracy that can provide solutions. These parties also agreed that Islam should be kept out of politics. |
| The decline in the level of intellectual discussion amongst the government and so-called intellectuals is clearly evident from the nature of debates that appear in the media. It is clear that these regimes have not provided any real alternatives to the people in Bangladesh. In 1971 unity was easy because the culprit was the Pakistani government, and hence people united on the basis of Nationalism. Nationalism is no ideology, it does not provide practical solutions for the real problems in society. It does not feed the nation, nor does it unify the people, rather it divides people and creates misery. Far from becoming independent and liberated, Bangladesh has become more and more dependent on foreign countries, both economically and politically. It has been a failure in every sense, people suffer from economic depravity, they don't have confidence in their own system, bribery and corruption is a way life, crime is also on the increase, penetration of Western culture is now more then ever before. |
| Bangladesh is not short of resources that is necessary for establishing a wealthy nation. It is rich in both human and natural resources. The prevalent attitude of most people is the desire to emigrate to Europe, USA, Middle East and even places like Pakistan and India. Increasingly you find that most of the academics, professionals, and the likes are emigrating to the west, the brain drain is having a severe impact on the countries economy. Consequently, the failure of Bangladesh can be attributed to its successive leaders and their ideology. |