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21st February, a Call for Restoration of Democracy
There is no denying the fact that the movement of 21st February was a call for restoration of democracy for which the non-co-operation movements with the then rulers have been promulgated day by day to achieve independence as an ultimate target. Due to the fact, it was not only their sole desire to make Urdu as a state language but also there were many reasons behind it which may be reflected as Political and educational aggression, to pollute Socio-economic condition, to pollute cultural and traditional affairs, to occupy monopolies over trade and commerce, to handicap people under obligation towards submission, to surpass the people under tyrannous depletion etc and hence in regard to economical aspects in common life, the goods which were produced by our active people from our land and factories were taken to the West Pakistan and priced cheaply in that land but it was costly to us to consume. There was a great ambiguity in between the measuring of values made between the two countries and not only that in case of import and export of our commodities, such ambiguity was largely compacted. It is a significant fact that they led their efforts to suppress us every time in the field of economics ingrained in common life. It is evident from the past history that they used to exploit us in different ways for which they formulated the policies to disgrace us in tyrannical attitudes with which our people declared movement on 21st February and being agitated, they protested them against their attitudes and feelings for aggression and misruling. The movement of 21st February was only an agitation against the exploitation of resources in this country which was their object to occupy some how. They wanted to make Urdu as their state language in the sense that they liked to extend their hands for exploitation in respect of economics, commerce, language, education and traditional aspects involved in social and cultural life. Like British Empire, they wanted to torture in respect of mental, physical, political and social aspects ingrained in our common people irrespective of caste and creed. Bangladesh came into being as an independent state in 1971 from the emergent of the movement of 21st February. The movement spread as nation wide agitation and there is no doubt that our economic profile has been flourishing day by day and we can say that the 21st February is a milestone of our economic prosperity and political affiliation in the dimension of Bangladesh in the world map.
By our active movement, it is documented as International Mother language Day on 21st February in every year through out the whole world and it is consecrated by swaging flowers and holding the memories in the highest regard to those language martyrs who had laid down their lives for the cause of launching the dignity of our survival as a nation uprising our heads like other nations virtually. The 21st February is a red-letter day in the history of our mother tongue. It is a very significant day in view of good verdict that we have been able to pioneer our mother tongue as our state language. It is our glory and inspiration that we have accomplished freedom from the movement of this day. We think that we could not achieve our freedom if 21st February was not emergent in 1952. Due to the movement of this day, we have shown our agitation against the rulers of the then Pakistan. To speak the truth, the 21st February, as a symbol of blaze illumination is our rectitude for which our survival as Bengali nation has been reproduced through out the whole world. As compared to socio-economic condition of the erstwhile Pakistan, the recent economic profile so far data have been collected in due course has been enumerated as follows:
A monetary profile of Bangladesh
• The Country : The People’s Republic of Bangladesh
• Brief history : Documentation history is traceable to the fourth century B.C. with clear facts of prosperous society, consisting of cities, palaces, temples, forts, seats of learning and monasteries: 1200 A.D. – introduction of the Muslims; 17th century – a time of fiscal well beings; 1757 – beginning of British colonial rule; 1947-departure of British from Indian Subcontinent and Bangladesh becomes East Bengal/East Pakistan as part of Pakistan; 1971-emergence of the sovereign state of Bangladesh through a bloody and devastating armed struggle against the Pakistani force.
• Geographical location South Asia; between 20 degree 34 and 26 degree 38 north latitude and between 88 degree 01 and 92 degree 41 east longitude; consists of flat fertile alluvial land.
• Boundaries North – India (West Bengal and Meghalaya)
West – India (West Bengal)
East – India (Tripura and Assam) and Myanmar(Burma)
South – The Bay of Bengal
• Area : 1,47,570 sq. km. (Territorial water – 12 nautical miles)
• Administrative divisions : The country is divided into 6 divisions (Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chittagong, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet), 64 Districts and 460 Thanas (Sub-districts).
• Capital City : Dhaka
• Standard time : GMT +6 hours
• Climate : Sub-tropical monsoon
• Climate variation : Winter (December – February) temperature: average maximum 29oC, average minimum 11oC.
Summer (April-June) temperature: Average maximum 32oC, average minimum 21oC.
Unfortunately, Bangladesh has to face, quite frequently, natural disasters of great magnitude. Being located at the mouth of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra delta, Bangladesh often gets submerged by abnormal floods during July-September and severe tropical cyclones accompanied by tidal waves during October to mid-December and during the April-May period causing very heavy loss of human lives, physical infrastructure and production, both in agricultural and industrial sectors.
• Rainfall : 1194 mm to 3454 mm (average during monsoon, June – August).
• Humidity : Highest: 99 per cent (July)
Lowest : 36 per cent (December & January)
• Vegetation : Grassland, mixed evergreen and evergreen
• Population : Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country and one of the most densely populated countries in the world. According to the results of the 1991 census, the total population of Bangladesh was 111.4 million (March 1991) and the population growth rate was 2.17 per cent. In January 2000, the total population stood at 130.2 million and the population growth rate was 1.5 per cent. The percentage of population living in rural areas is about 80 per cent (2000).
• Adult literacy rate (15 years+), (2000) : 60 per cent (compulsory and free primary education)
• Birth rate (per 1000 persons), (1999) : 23.60
• Death rate (per 1000 persons), (1999) : 8.00
• Infant mortality rate (deaths per 1000 live births before one year), (1999) : 66.00
• Total fertility rate per woman (1997) : 3.30
• Contraceptive use rate (1998) : 51.50 per cent
• Life expectancy (1999) : Male – 60.80 years
Female – 59.60 years
• Average age of women at first marriage (1998) : 20.2 years
• Population per hospital bed (1999) : 4251
• Population per doctor (1999) : 4599
• Percentage of family using safe drinking water (1998) : 96.2 per cent
• Ethnic groups : Predominantly mixed group of Proto Austroloids/Dravidians, Mongoloids and Aryans
• Language : 95 per cent Bangla (State language) and 5 per cent other dialects
English is widely spoken.
• Religion : Muslim (88.3%), Hindu (10.5%), Buddhist (0.6%), Christian (0.3%) and Animists and believers in tribal faiths (0.3%).
• Food : Rice, wheat, potato, sweet potato, vegetables, pulses, fish and meat.
• Principal crops : Rice, wheat, potato, spices, pulses, jute, tea, tobacco and sugarcane
• Principal rivers : Padma, Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Meghan, Karnaphuli, Teesta, etc. Total 230 rivers including tributaries.
• Mineral resources : Natural gas, limestone, hard rock, coal, lignite, silica sand, white clay, radioactive sand, etc. (There is a strong possibility of oil deposit).
• Human resources : Bangladesh boasts of a substantial manpower reserve _ trained, skilled, engineers, technicians, physicians, lawyers, economists, accountants, administrative and managerial personnel. There is abundance of low cost, easily trainable and adaptable and hard working intelligent labour force.
• Employment and labour force (as per Labour Force Survey, 1995/96) : Civilian labour force: 56.0 million; Male – 35.0 million and female – 21.0 million. Percentage of labour force: Agriculture – 63.2, Industry (manufacturing, electricity and gas) – 7.7, Others – 29.1.
• Form of government : The country has a parliamentary form of government headed by the Prime Minister. The President is the constitutional head of the state. The number of seats in the National Parliament is 300.
• Principal industries : Garments, textile, jute, tea, paper and newsprint, fertilizer, leather and leather goods, sugar, cement, ceramic, fish processing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering and ship building, iron and steel, oil refinery, paints, colors and varnishes, cigarettes, electric and wires and electrical goods and accessories.
• Traditional export items : Raw jute, jute manufactures (hessian sacking, carpet backing, carpets), jute products, tea, leather and leather products, etc.
• Non-traditional export items : Garments, frozen shrimps, other fish products, newsprint, paper, naphtha, furnace oil, urea, etc.
• Principal imports : Petroleum products, food grains, oil seeds, crude petroleum, raw cotton, edible oil, fertilizer, cement, staple fibers, yarn, iron and steel, machinery and capital goods, medicines, motor cars, etc.
• Principal partners of foreign trade : USA, EU, Japan, India, Pakistan, Canada, China, South Korea, Russia, etc.
• Bangladesh in international forum : Bangladesh is a member of many international and regional organisations including United Nations, Commonwealth, SAARC, OIC, World Bank, IMF, IFC, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNHCR, FAO, WHO, ILO, ADB, IDB, SAPTA, WTO (formerly GATT) and so on.
• Tourism : With growing international interest in traveling through Asia, tourism is taking roots in Bangladesh. Bangladesh offers a variety of historically significant and culturally unique sites for tourists. Sylhet’s tea gardens, Cox’s Bazar sea-beach, the Royal Bengal Tiger, deer and the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world with unique bio-diversity offer tourist attractions. Ancient mosques, Buddhist monasteries, Hindu temples, monuments and other landmarks dot the countryside.
• Currency : Taka (TK)
1 US Dollar = TK 49.37 (as on September 22, 1999).
• Central Bank : Bangladesh Bank
• Bank rate : 8 per cent
The Economy:
• GDP at current price, 1999-2000 (provisional) : TK 2412.78 billion
US $48.56 billion (approximately)
• Annual per capital GDP, 1999-2000 : TK 18528
US $373 (approximately)
• GDP growth rate at constant price, 1999-2000 : 5 per cent
• Inflation rate (consumer price index), 1999-2000 : 6 per cent
• Gross domestic investment/GDP, 1999-2000 : 22.41 per cent
Public – 6.73 per cent and
Private – 15.68 per cent
• Gross national savings/GDP, 1999-2000 : 21. 8 per cent
• Exports, 1998-99 : US $ 5324 million
• Imports, 1998-99 : US $ 8018 million
• Foreign remittances, 1998-99 : US $ 1706 million
• Government revenue income/GDP, 1999-2000 : 10.01 per cent
• Government revenue expenditure/GDP, 1999-2000 : 14.99 per cent
• Deficit/GDP, 1999-2000 : 4.98 per cent
• Foreign exchange reserves (as on 4 May, 2000) : US $ 1622 million
• Annual Development Programme, 1999-2000 : TK. 155 billion
• Debt service/exports : 12.1 per cent
• Sect oral contribution to GDP, 1999-2000 (provisional) :
- Agriculture : 31.9 per cent
- Industry : 11.1 per cent
- Construction : 6.4 per cent
- Electricity, Gas, Water and Sanitary : 1.7 per cent
- Transport and Communication : 12.4 per cent
- Trade and other services : 10.2 per cent
- Housing : 6.8 per cent
- Public Administration : 5.7 per cent
- Bank and Insurance : 1.7 per cent
- Profession and miscellaneous services : 12.1 per cent
• Foreign aid : Total foreign aid received (from 1971-72 to 1998-99): US $ 34753 million
Balance of repayable debt (at the end of 1998-99): US $ 14840 million
• Food grains production (1999 2000) : 20.16 million MT (net)
• Total demand for food grains (1999-2000) : 21.36 million MT
• Forest : Forestry accounts for 2.3 per cent of GDP (1999-2000). Total forest land covers an area of 2.5 million hectares (about 17 per cent of the total land area). Out of this only 45 per cent area is covered with trees and plants. Principal forest products are timber, firewood, golpata, bamboo, sungrass, honey, wax, and cane and rattan. The Sundarbans is the national forest. The famous Royal Bengal Tiger is found here.
From the above view point, it is clear that after the emergence of Bangladesh such profile of economy either Micro or Macro has been achieved due to active intervention of our people in different sectors of development. This identity whatever we posses were not possible if 21st February was not created to retaliate the tyrannical boom of the then rulers of Pakistan. And as such, in this day some young persons of our country have declared indomitable movement to create confrontation against the conspiracy of our mother tongue. They have intensified the movement by degrees and being polemical, the then rulers have invaded them and ultimately they had shot them dead. This is such a movement where our heroes have laid down their lives for the cause of dignity of our mother tongue. In the whole world, such unparalleled movement has never been taken place. Like each year, this year has carried out this day with due somber mood and prominence and as such we celebrate this day with honour according to the heritage of the country. This day is mixed with our Independence Day as if it is mixed with our blood. The heroes who have laid down their lives for the cause of our equality, liberty and national prestige of our country shall remain ever memorable to us.
But the achievement of 21st February is being hampered to uphold with the heinous touchwood of terrorism and there is no denying the fact that being poverty based country; we are passing through a great threadbare against terror campaign, bribing, and dishonesty and embracing a cause of policies of disingenuous the people. The creator has sent people to the land with all crucial things fundamentally imperative for their endurance. God has also imparted upon them some rules for leading our lives controlled and cleanly and as such God has accordingly conferred upon some rules and directives so that human beings can show the way his life by following these instructions like complete code of every well beings of eternity virtually and ideally. If they go out of these rules, they become nonplussed what to do. Corruption may exist in rendering services in the field of private, public sectors and in leading normal flow of life. When a man degenerates himself, he stigmatizes himself by entering into the world of dimness as well as fallacious from where he can never get rid of. He commits crime, such as smuggling, robbing, murdering, snatching and dilapidation etc. Failure waits for him everywhere and even if, he is attracted by innumerable but deadly forbidden things. Being educated, he becomes addicted to evil works in society. He knows that it is the transient and allusion of worldly affairs, which has no eternal value in the real sense. In many times, it is observed that he becomes ambitious and many harmful activities are performed in social life. He knows that being corrupt and heinous work, the society cannot consider him as an evil person; never the less; every body is in the way to run after such forbidden things. In many times the terror leaders welcome him and encourage him to do the forbidden things. Thus a person becomes the leader of the country and occupies a very influential position in the society by doing all the forbidden things like bribing, mal practicing and thieving. Hence forth, it is seen that from every branches of the Government corruption is a common phenomenon for which the nation would like to lead a healthy life. Bangladesh is a highly populated country and as such the double entendre among her resources and needs are prevailing every time to a great extent. Due to shortage of wealth, here one-fourth people cannot satisfy their daily needs for which no one is satisfied with his family life. It is a very difficult thing for someone to get a job, as there are fewer vacancies in offices, industries and so on. When people cannot find any occupation or job for earning their livelihood, they do not get any alternative measures except committing crimes. So unemployment is a reason for being a criminal and the opportunist apply this sense in evil manner and influence him to do the job of mischievous and heinous deeds for which he remains depleted through out his whole life. In this world everyone needs a companion to live with society, friendship and love. That is why; people make friendship in the hope to have good fortune to deal future life. But every friend might not stand beside another friend in weal and woe. He sometimes pushes him towards danger and inspires him for doing anti-social activities, which is called ‘crime’. Therefore, being a criminal, he may be infected with the misleading people. Suffice it to say that due to frustrated socio-economic conditions prevailing in our country, our society of youths is leading very miserable life. They are creating hindrance and preventing the people from dealing normal life as they are sometimes no longer lost to play a role of terrorists as well as miscreants. Due to the fact that poverty is the indispensable reason for doing criminal assault on the part of the youths. Any person belonging to a poor family has to pass his days through hard struggle. He surely wants to develop his condition. On the other hand, for being poor, he does not get opportunity to be educated properly. Consequently, he cannot have any respectable occupation. At last, finding no other alternatives, he commits crime as his profession. If we are able to reach our goal as expected, it is universal that glory of success must wait for us in future. But we must have to work arduously for that golden opportunity. Otherwise our all hopes and aspirations will be nipped in the bud. No one cannot get salvation of ideal love and peace from God by following the path vices and misfortune. Dr. Faustus was an uncommon genius but by committing seven deadly sins with the exchange of his soul into the hell by taking 24 years kingdom in the eternal world had been thrown to the hell. Lucifer, the owner of the hail grew jealous of him for his talent and geniuses and made a deed by way of Mephistopheles with Faustus. Later, Faustus became lamented but due to his colossal crime, he was thrown to the hell for his misdeeds for long 24 years. That is to say, if a man is addicted to bad habits during childhood, he cannot get rid of from such criminal assault for which he has to repent on through out his whole life. Youth is the best season of good harvest and as such it is likes mild mud and henceforth, he needs to precede his life very carefully. Fundamentally, for these three reasons, we are loosing many brightly illuminated resource personnel to place them on the basis of ‘Right man for the right place’ of our country. We need to end all these frolicsome activities. We must come across some way to get rid of mischievous debris and save the bewildered people of our country. The Government also should take actions against such awful activities. First of all, the people here should be aware of the explosion of population and they must not possess more than two children. Secondly, we need to be careful about making friendship, so that we don’t have any bad company. And at last, we must have to recognize the importance of education and the teachings of 21st February. No matter how poor we are, we have to try our level best to gain knowledge. In this context, Socrates said,” Knowledge is virtue, from knowledge, virtue and goodness flourish; from ignorance, he said, all that is evil.”
We want all the ends of such mischievous activity from the social life. We should memorize the great sacrifice of the martyrs who had hoarded our mother tongue by dedicating their lives. Consequent upon this, we achieved the 21st February as an ‘International Mother Tongue Day’ in 1999. This is a great achievement in the world to show our best regards to our Bengali Language. It is a rare example in the history of mankind. Furthermore, the dignity of our mother tongue is worthy of achieving the highest honour as the poet in this language has been awarded ‘Nobel Prize’ and even in many European and American countries such language is taught and a certain part of the people in the world this language of their own accord. Many great men have been born in this beautiful land which is the best contribution of the world. There is a great history in the background of our mother language and this is highlighted through struggle in the history and for this reason our mother tongue has been mixed as if in our heart and soul through thick and thin.
In fine, it is evident that the 21st February was undoubtedly a call for restoration of democracy which is promulgated by the people, for the people and of the people. The Pakistani hoarders tried to loot our economy and freedom of survival; if we would like to preserve the prestige of Bengali nation, we need to pay great eulogy praise to the martyrs. They had laid down their lives for the restoration of democracy and freedom of economics. Their activities are undoubtedly of heroic deeds. If we dedicate ourselves for the cause of equality and liberty of our country, their departed souls will be peaceful and effulgence. In every year, we celebrate this day by showing homage to them and shower the flowers to the ‘Shaheed Minar’ in order to solemnize their memory and achievements contributed to the dignity of our mother tongue.
The author is presently serving as a Counter Part Officer under Financial Management Reform Programme under Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh. a large number of articles have been published in Daily newspapers of Bangladesh. He was born in the district of Kushtia at Meherpur.
Hillary Clinton On Democracy
Fox News criticized Hillary for telling European foreign ministers that the US was the first country in the world to establish democracy, while the Europeans claim that democracy begun in ancient Greece.
According to surviving historical records, the idea of democracy (Greek: dimokratia = people rule) was established in Greece around 2,500 BP (before present). The problem with this idea is that the ancient Greek democracy excluded women and slaves and was limited to Greek male nationals. Women of that time and region were no more than reproductive house slaves and the numbers of working slaves was often higher than the number of Greek citizens.
Before the Greeks, egalitarian tribes of the late Paleolithic and the Neolithic (50,000-5,000 BP) were the first to develop democratic systems. But as the world population grew, these tribes became male-ruled chiefdoms turned states and empires from 5,000 BP and on, eventually culminating in the Second World War which involved tens of millions of soldiers and most nations. The war was ended by the United States and its European and Russian allies, thereby freeing the West of the German national socialist regime, and paving the way to democracy.
The question is whether the West can talk about democracy as a done deal before actual gender, race and class equality is established.
The domestic violence statistics brought back into the spotlight by Chris Brown’s brutal assault of Rihanna and the view and treatment of such violent crimes by law enforcement, remind us that we have a long way to go.
Katarina Nolte, author and publisher of the ‘Mystery Revealed: Female Sexuality Redefined for the 21st Century’ eBook series available at www.katarinanolte.com, www.amazon.com and www.mobipocket.com.
Democracy in Myanmar
Democracy In Myanmar- an Oxymoron
The concept is no more than a contradiction, in a country where the daughter of a national hero, still lies under house arrest.
The ruling Burmese military junta has kept democracy under lock and key since Beatlemania. When General Ne Win first put an independent Burma under lockdown, Fidel Castro was just getting settled in Havana. That the Southeast Asian nation, under the thumb of despot Senior General Than Shwe, is set to hold democratic elections next year, is of little consolation to those inside and outside the country who have tried in vain to affect change behind the lines of the cabalists for the last decades.
A recent visit by the UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, for what UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon envisioned as “a view to further promoting national dialogue and reconciliation,” had Gambari left out in the cold by the Senior General, who was apparently attending to more urgent activities. So insular are the Generals, they built from scratch a new city for themselves from which to rule. They say they will hold democratic elections in 2010.
The generals have shown they are contemptuous in the extreme to outside interference, evidenced by their self-sabotage in the wake of Cyclone Nargis last year, where most international aid workers ready to help were stranded in Bangkok waiting for visas that never came (they waited for business or tourist visas—Myanmar does not offer a visa for aid workers).
“Let them eat worms,” said one general after the disaster that left thousands of Burmese homeless. The Saffron Revolution less than two years ago was quashed with brutality. At the time, photos in Thai newspapers of the army shooting down pods of protesting monks in Yangon and Mandalay, were as crass as they were cruel.
Democracy in Burma: The concept is no more than an oxymoron in a country where the woman who won a landslide victory in the country’s last democratic election in 1990 etches the 14th consecutive year of house arrest into the walls of her Yangon residence. The legal leader of Myanmar is guarded around the clock by military guards.
Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of a national hero in Myanmar before the 1962 coup d’état, has been absent at various ceremonies around the world that would bestow awards, as prestigious as the Nobel Peace Prize, on her. 2008 was the year the junta was set to review her sentence, but it found the 63 year-old detainee too fierce a threat to let roam freely.
A free and democratic election would likely give Suu Kyi and her party their day in the sun, as according to various reports on the ground, she still enjoys much public support. The junta’s public willingness to go through with the electoral process is perplexing, but according to recent articles published in Asia Times Online, the junta is operating in complete accordance with its character.
On a recent visit to Burma, reporter Jacob Baynham met a man who, after sidling up to him, said in hushed tones, “All people like Aung San Suu Kyi, but talking, danger.” Baynham reported 1 in 4 people in the former capital, Yangon, are government informants.
Journalist Norman Robespierre (a pseudonym) reported at least eight ministers, including the mayor of Yangon, would be stepping down before the 2010 elections. He says, “Several of the outgoing ministers have served especially long tenures for Myanmar’s cut-and-thrust politics and are expected to run for office at the upcoming polls under a military-supported political party.”
Perhaps they’ve been taking notes from the political turmoil in neighboring Thailand, where ousted and exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has managed, in absentia, to keep his pawns in play at Bangkok’s Government House. Also mimicking Thaksin’s tactics in Thailand, the ministers stepping down are using the upcoming elections to add to their personal purses.
“There are several allegations of top government officials using their positions to ramp up personal business activities before the 2010 transition towards democracy,” wrote Robespierre about the country that rates amongst the world’s worst in graft ratings, “…if the reported ministerial changes come to fruition, the departure of some of the junta’s longest-serving members will open up to a new generation of soldiers and regime loyalists some of the most lucrative ministerial positions in government.”
In a country squeezed for years by international sanctions where most of the population lives on US$1 per day, what could be so lucrative for the ruling class?
Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization, F. William Engdahl, said in a recent article that, after Afghanistan, Myanmar is the largest source for the world’s heroin, as well as being “Southeast Asia’s largest producer of methamphetamines.”
But aside from the drug trade, Myanmar is a source of what will always draw first-world powers—oil and gas; something that governments, in the quest for supplies, are willing to overlook things like human rights and fascism to secure. And In Myanmar, you go through the generals.
In 2002, said Engdahl, pressure from the British government forced two western firms, Texaco and Premier Oil, to withdraw from a drilling project in Yetagun, a pull-out Malaysia’s Petronas was glad to slurp up. For less scrupulous governments, or government not answerable to their populous—read: democratic—Myanmar is a geopolitical golden goose. Thailand’s pipeline to Burma is worth US$1 billion a year, according to Engdahl, and a democratic post-junta government in Burma may not be so eager to let China suck its oil fields dry through the foam of an unaccountable oligarchy.
Democracy in Burma? With the Generals pawning their country off like a game of Monopoly at the inhumane expense of their people, energy hungry neighbors eager to exploit resources would rather skip the democratic process. According to Canadian attorney and financial activist Robert Amsterdam, the UN is where beneficiary countries like China stall the international condemnation against the junta, by their “authoritarian veto” power.
And with the US and China still lead astray by the southeast Asian peninsula from the view of military positioning that hasn’t changed much since the Vietnam War, the answer, for now, would have to be No.
Caroline Andrade
Age: 21
Bangalore, India
Collective Effort of Asean and Major Regional Power (india and China) Can Restore Democracy in Myanmar
Collective effort of ASEAN and Major regional Power (India and China) can restore democracy in Myanmar
By Vikash Anand ( scholar of International Politics, Delhi, India)
Some days ago, ASEAN has expressed “deep disappointment” over Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi`s detention in a meet of bloc`s 10 foreign ministers. The statement issued by ASEAN is one of its strongest statements yet on the issue. Only verbal swipe will not bring change in the attitude of junta and can make Burmese people free from world’s most closed and repressive military government.
Multiparty election in 1990 gave the NLD a decisive victory, but the military junta refused to relinquish power to democratically elected party NLD (National league for democracy) and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi`s. Aung San Suu Kyi`s has remained in government custody since May 2003. Since 1990 Myanmar is being pressurized for bring democracy and release of Aung Suu Kyi and other political leaders.
The people of Myanmar desperately want to get rid of authoritarian regime of military junta. Because their condition is becoming worse and worse. Myanmar is inviting China and other countries for quenching their thirst of oil and gas. But irony is that Burmese people receive only two hours of electricity in town from military government. Paraffin and wood are major sources of light and heat. In September 2007 a largest protest was launched by Monks against unreasonable fuel hikes by military junta. This protest was violently crushed by military government. Above 3000 people were killed by government forces and 2100 were detained. Whatever government, whether military or civilian, is in reign , they(Governments) use the power. Without power, a government would be useless as a car without a engine. The main thing is that how to use the power and for which purpose power is being used. American sociologist Talcott Parsons (1967) has mentioned ‘power to’ approach. It emphasizes on power to rather than power over-on the capacity to achieve goals, rather than to exercise control over other countries or people. He interpreted power as the capacity of a government to draw on the obligation of its citizen so as to achieve collective purposes such as law and order ,protection of the rights of citizen and environment. Generally power to approach is perceived as common phenomena in Democratic government. Burmese military government is applying Power over approach to run the country. Military government in Myanmar is using power to exercise control over their people not for achieving collective purposes (requirement of citizen). In Myanmar only return of democratic leader in power can change deteriorating condition of its citizens.
Without pressure and cooperation of ASEAN member and regional power China and India, it doesn’t seems possible to bring changes in attitudes of military junta and accelerating the country towards democracy. ASEAN is getting fail on the issue of security in this region. ASEAN appears unable to achieve its goal of conflict management. Right from the beginning ASEAN was a mechanism of confidence building and conflict management, a mechanism of regional security. ASEAN`s Security community strongly emphasizes on democracy, development, human rights and fundamental freedom. But they should take hard step(in lieu of verbal criticism) against Military government for human rights violation and violation of fundamental freedom of Burmese people.
Civil society is emerging as major might to remove or change undemocratic forces all over the world. . But in Myanmar when military junta took the power since then it clamped down and suppressed the civil society . September protest by monks was one of the brutal way of suppressing civil society. Rarely any free media institution exist in Myanmar now and days. ASEAN member with the help of United Nations can cooperate in promotion of civil societies in the country.
America has imposed sanction on Myanmar. Sanction can only boosting moral of Burmese people. In fact, economic sanction is making weak to Burmese people to fight against authoritarian reign of military junta. They (Burmese) have to do struggle for a square meal, in this situation how is it possible for them fighting to restore democracy.
If we look into Chinese engagement with Myanmar, it seems that China is not much interested in restoration of democracy in Myanmar. The resolution brought by US in UNSC against military government of Myanmar was opposed by China and Russia. It (China) seems reluctant toward saving Burmese people `s fundamental right, and restoration of democracy. Actually China`s involvement with military government is only exploiting oil and gas of Myanmar and selling arms to military government.
That is why one women of Myanmar stated “China is good friend of Burmese government, not its people. They are like brother and brother in law.” It shows that China backing Myanmar only it’s economic benefiting.
India is also regional power like china. So India, too, is important for change in Myanmar.
India enjoyed good relation with Myanmar during 1948 to 1962 . But after taking over power of Myanmar by undemocratic military government in 1962 , relation with India became sour . This sort of relation, more and less , remained continue till Rajiv Gandhi regime. But during Narshimaha Rao`s tenure India have to be soft towards Myanmar’s military government due to three important reason- first, containing china, second controlling insurgency in India’s nearth – east region and third, India’s look east policy because Myanmar is center player of ASEAN .
But Pranab Mukherjee`s visit was not good indication for democratization of Myanmar and its people. It means to give morally support to military junta.
India and China are major regional power of this region. If both power do work to gether, with the full support of ASEAN, Surely, at one point of time , Burmese people will breath in democratic environment.
VIKASH ANANd (Journalist and Scholar of Internatinal politics),Delhi, India
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Consolidating Democracy in Sierra Leone
A Return to Prosperity?
In September 2007, Sierra Leone had the opportunity to define her democracy for the first time after 41 years of many miscarriages in her democratic process. The September 8, 2007 run-off elections were by all means a defining moment in Sierra Leone’s democratic development. But the outcome of the elections, which confirmed the APC front-runner Ernest Bai Koroma as President, would become more meaningful when the political changes the country has experienced take hold if Koroma’s administration could position itself to consolidate the democratic gains made in the 2007 elections. The 2007 parliamentary and presidential elections were Sierra Leone’s first truly democratic national contest in 4 decades and the victory of Ernest Bai Koroma—a former Insurance executive who ran on the platform of “zero-tolerance on corruption”—should put an end to 41 years of bad leadership.
In contrast to the dubious nature of electoral processes of the previous four decades, and much to the credit of the strong leadership of Dr. Christiana Thorpe (the National Electoral Commission (N.E.C.) chairman); the run-off elections were transparently conducted, and their outcome was incontestable. Koroma’s victory in 2007 has triggered hopes for profound change, and the caliber of the people President Koroma has chosen for his cabinet is testament to the direction he wants to take the country—that of development that is progressive and sustainable.
But it was not the first time Sierra Leone had experienced such optimism. In 1996, former head of state Ahmad Tejan Kabbah found himself at a similar turning point. He had become president after being helped by a N.E.C. led by Dr. James Jonah which was blamed to have manipulated the elections in favor of Tejan Kabbah against the veteran politician Dr. Karefa Smart after two rounds. Dr. James Jonah was consequently rewarded by Kabbah by appointing him Minister of Finance. President Kabbah was immediately consumed by a host of problems: a profoundly alienated country, a hostile and offensive press, the ill feeling of the U.S. for his friendship with Iran and Libya, and the rancor within a military establishment angered by the fact that the militia Kamajors were more trusted and favored by a defense department whose day to day activities were administered by a “Kamajor chief” (Hinga Norman) as Deputy Defense Minister. Despite being dignified in many ways, President Kabbah was also impossibly careless and irresponsibly negligent. And thus, instead of marking the start of a stable Sierra Leonean democracy, Tejan Kabbah’s ten-year government ended with nothing to be proud about. Again, it is worthy of note that in April 1997, President Kabbah was ousted from office in a coup d’état by Lt. Col. Johnny Paul Koroma — setting off a period of ten months interregnum and plunging the country into sadistic chaos. The governance vacuum created by the A.F.R.C. junta rule did not end until February 1998, when President Kabbah ordered a bloody military intervention using ECOMOG forces led by the Nigerian General Maxwell Kobe to force the junta out of power. President Kabbah was restored as head of state. He was again expected to guide a return to peace in the country and guiding the prosperity of Sierra Leone by laying the foundation for a stable and progressing nation. But again, President Kabbah could not assure that peace in the country. Instead Sierra Leone’s manipulated democracy faced risks that ultimately led to the veiled negligence of President Tejan Kabbah. Can 2007 now mark the return of prosperity in Sierra Leone?
Only fundamental consensus on the major objectives of the state can provide a society with a secure basis for democracy, and the new Sierra Leone seems to have such an agreement between its principal political actors. The outcome of the August 11 presidential and legislative elections held with the backing, notably, of the European Union (E.U.) and the United Nations (U.N.) with Ernest Koroma’s party winning 59 seats; the incumbent party of Solomon Berewa winning 43 seats; and the newly formed P.M.D.C. party of Charles Margai winning 10 seats brought about a convergence of will between Koroma’s A.P.C. and Margai’s P.M.D.C. from a common determination to end S.L.P.P. misrule in Sierra Leone in the wake of the second round of presidential elections held September 8, 2007. Therefore, the winning parties of the 2007 elections are the APC and the PMDC parties. These parties are both abundantly gifted with resources, authority, and persuasive skill, and can possibly establish a basic consensus with one another to guide the country through prosperity. The unity between the two parties and their understanding to support that unity has kept contemporary Sierra Leone in a state of governmental optimism.
Governmental optimism is already being demonstrated following the selection of cabinet ministers which included some of the gifted resources of the PMDC party (Dr. Soccoh Kabbia as Minister of Health; Mr. Benjamin Davies as Minister of Lands, Country Planning and Environment; and Mr. John Saab, as Minister of Housing and Infrastructural Development) to ensure that the P.M.D.C. is involved in nation building and making Sierra Leone governable from a broad platform of political ideologies. Another demonstration of governmental optimism is the appointment of the human rights activist and chief civil affairs officer to the U.N. Mission in Liberia, Mrs. Zainab Bangura as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Lango Deen, an insightful contributor to the Leonenet Forum administered from the University of Maryland in the United States summed up Zainab Bangura’s appointment in this brilliant assessment, stating: “When President Bush nominated Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State he said, “In Dr. Rice, the world will see the strength, the grace and the decency of our country.” I am no President Koroma, but I’d like to say the same of Zainab Bangura. She is at ease with herself and no stranger to the global stage. By nominating her for this high profile job, President Koroma has included all Sierra Leonean women as equal partners in the national endeavor. It is clear the president is aiming for a full engagement of Sierra Leonean women.”
In a country where conditions are so bad and a country that has experienced all sorts of chaos, any combination of party ideologies to inspire genuine social change is a giant step in the right direction. From such cooperation there will be a basic consensus on how to establish a firm rule of law. Organized crimes of corruption which have turned many Sierra Leoneans into innocent victims deprived of what their nation has to offer (which all members of the previous S.L.P.P. government failed to even recognize, for selfish reasons of their own). A cooperation of this nature again makes it easy for other aspects of the national agenda to be driven by general consensus to determine, for instance, the right ways to create wealth, economic growth, or employment; on how to modernize the energy sector; on how to combat poverty and inequality. In the last ten years, Sierra Leone’s political leaders have even failed to consider the value or the viability of the public institutions and the huge financial liabilities (such as those created by the relentless corruption of unscrupulous cabinet ministers and senior public servants and specific party privileges) being a continuation of the old.
All this obvious and underlying cooperation will inspire the furthering of democracy in Sierra Leone. The 2007 elections have demonstrated that the people of Sierra Leone who have been beaten too long by successive regimes have learned to appreciate the essence of democracy. Voting Koroma as President is a safeguard of the democratic process with Sierra Leoneans voting in a manner that transcends their immediate tribal interests. President Koroma must now behave as a head of state for all Sierra Leoneans, not just a representative of his party or his ethnic group. Then of course, civil society can contribute in many ways to help promote stability in the country. The media (local and international) has to be objective and impartial in their presentation and analysis of issues. However, going the right direction with the opportunity of becoming the number one man in Sierra Leone is the major responsibility of President Koroma’s APC government. It is up to him and his party whether Sierra Leonean democracy advances or is muzzled again, whether corruption is firmly dealt with or not dealt with at all. The humble but firm persona of Ernest Koroma gives some indication that he will rise above his short-term interests to consolidate Sierra Leone’s progress toward democratic stability.
The Promise of a Successful Presidency
The All People’s Congress (APC) has existed for 40 years. From its beginnings as a minor opposition party in a new independent country it had defended the rights of workers. The A.P.C. under Siaka Stevens showed an impressive tenacity in resisting and surviving the assaults of the S.L.P.P. machine. But this has also meant that with Siaka Stevens gone, the A.P.C. became more focused on limiting power than on exercising it — a quality that hurt the party when Joseph Momoh took over the presidency.
Like in 1967, the A.P.C. had another historic moment in 2007, and it had in Ernest Koroma a leader who, as the head of a veteran pro-democracy movement, “mesmerized Sierra Leoneans” — just as Siaka Stevens had done in his initial presidential campaign against Albert Margai, in 1967. (That campaign was truncated by Siaka Stevens’ exile to Guinea following the Brigadier Lansana coup d’état, but the unrest that ensued catapulted him to the presidency nonetheless.) For this impact, Koroma deserves much credit. Still, Koroma’s A.P.C. party carries some of the blame for the hard times and the degeneration of political life in the country. The performance of the A.P.C. during its 24 years of misrule (1968 – 1992) sowed the seeds of Sierra Leone’s chronic stagnation and stark deterioration of political life. And it could be a possibility for the sins of the A.P.C. under Siaka Stevens and Joseph Momoh’s leaderships to come to undermine Koroma’s status as “the champion of democracy” if he fails to use his initiative and be his own man to bring sanity in governance in Sierra Leone by any means necessary.
As president, Koroma has the opportunity to do enough real good. He has the right composition in Parliament—an A.P.C. majority plus the 10 seats of the P.M.D.C party under his belt. With good use of the emergency powers leverage he has to get Parliament to quickly act on various essential projects, the S.L.P.P. members in Parliament do not have the numbers to block Koroma’s projects. Koroma simply has to stave off any internal rivalries within his party to avoid possible stalemate from his own party ranks that would work against his cogent and logical catalog of obligatory reforms. Koroma himself cannot make his party see any significant limitations in his persona. His personality cannot be unpredictable and be disposed to impulsive decisions, bizarre statements, and a lack of leadership and direction at critical moments.
Koroma can also learn how to keep his wife from intruding into the process of government and not make statements in public that may come to hurt his presidency. It is clear that his cabinet choices so far will help him. By selecting the best possible people for his cabinet and the initiative he has taken to reach beyond the party for the best will help his presidency to succeed. Koroma can maintain a long-lasting public affection because his lingering popularity largely stems from the fact that he is a new kid in public life with no baggage. Many Sierra Leoneans view him as a “good man.” Moreover he deserves credit for some real accomplishments of his own as head of an insurance company he competently managed as Managing Director for over a decade. With his insurance background, Koroma can therefore use that experience to succeed in preserving macroeconomic stability and work to reduce unemployment or significantly improve growth. He has to respect the division of powers, the independence of the judiciary, and the principles of good governance.
By introducing and implementing a law requiring open financial accounting in government that again will certainly reduce corruption. By also introducing various democratic reforms on labor and management issues, will continue to expand democracy in the country. With the media guru and erstwhile President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (Ibrahim Ben-Kargbo) now at the helm of the information ministry, Sierra Leone will now enjoy true freedom of expression, and will be an important achievement for Koroma’s government.
The people of Sierra Leone cannot afford to be disappointed this time. Koroma has presented himself to be a great and colorless leader during his campaigns in 2002 when he lost to former President Tejan Kabbah and in 2007. He thus has to fulfill his promises to fight crime and insecurity and to generate tangible social change and progress—his apparent commitment to which won him much support among poor Sierra Leoneans in 2007. Koroma is likely to occupy a place in history very much like that of Sir Milton Margai: immortalized as a considerate and respected figure who made tangible social progress during the short time he was Prime Minister of Sierra Leone.
The ousted S.L.P.P. thought the people of Sierra Leone had placed a final judgment on the A.P.C. because of its dismal record of 24 years of misrule and blatant brutality (from 1968 to 1992) that would affect the fortunes of the A.P.C. candidate in 2007. Evidently, the A.P.C. got a second chance because of its contributions to Sierra Leone’s democracy over the past ten years as the leading opposition party in Parliament. The party found an excellent candidate in Ernest Bai Koroma. The son of a veteran Electoral Commissioner (Sylvanus Koroma), he is honest, intelligent, hardworking, and, at 55, relatively matured for the job. Ernest Koroma and the A.P.C. have managed to win the presidency, and the prognosis for a creative government would now depend in part on his political competence and strength as a leader, but even more on his capacity to establish alliances with disaffected members of the defeated parties — something easier said than done. The good thing is that the P.M.D.C. “positive change” ideologues have allied themselves with the A.P.C. in Parliament giving the A.P.C. an overwhelming majority. Koroma’s victory is therefore a sweet one, because he would not encounter any kind of parliamentary resistance to get his job done. Thus, Sierra Leone clearly has the opportunity now to start truly deliberating and undertaking necessary reforms.
With the outcome of the 2007 elections in favor Ernest Koroma and his party, it is clear that the S.L.P.P. was instead punished because of the widely held perception that Kabbah and Berewa had not governed effectively. With that being the case, the S.L.P.P. has a chance to draw lessons from its ten years experience with power, to promote the rise of new and charismatic leaders, to rekindle its image and its now- obsolete platform of demonizing the A.P.C., to distance itself from its tribalistic traditions (still strong within the party), and to prepare itself for the elections of 2012. As a strong party of opposition, the S.L.P.P. could perform responsibly in Parliament; help to simplify issues for the public; and continue to toil in general for democracy and political harmony. And it can persuasively press on for improved economic programs that support the legitimate creation of wealth, foreign investment, and standard fiscal and monetary policies.
Misused Opportunities, Five Years in “Political Purgatory”
After losing the presidency in 2007, the S.L.P.P. can now start thinking of regrouping more successfully. In fact, the defeat may be to the S.L.P.P.’s long-term benefit, because it gives the party a chance to clean up its image.
The S.L.P.P. can better position itself as an ideological powerhouse: the party can push for more refined economic and development measures or it can push for openness and a message of one nation, one people — whichever suits the moment. But the party has to work very hard to push well-refined economic and development ideas this time because the moral burden of its past is considerable. Under S.L.P.P. rule, Sierra Leone was tormented by violent confrontations because of opportunities mismanaged by a power that had the democratic legitimacy but became a corrupt oligarchy.
When Tejan Kabbah became president in 1996 — after the “self-made Brigadier General” Maada Bio was forced to end his junta rule that year opening the gates to electoral democracy — he had the full support of the international community. His government received millions of dollars in aid money. Many Sierra Leoneans were not happy that Kabbah’s government mismanaged monies donated by the international community to help with post-war reconstruction. The party’s defeat in the 2007 elections is partly because of aid money and in kind donations (Gaddafi’s rice donation) that did not benefit the people. The S.L.P.P. leadership had filed an injunction against the credibility of the presidential run-off results, but the party’s leaders eventually recognized their defeat — in part because they understood that by peacefully accepting their descent from power, they could begin to purify their long record of tyranny and corruption. In typical fashion, the A.P.C. reoriented itself and, treading very carefully, set about reviving its political fortunes.
A presidential victory for the A.P.C. was within the bounds of possibility. Voters came to fear that an S.L.P.P. government would continue to plunder the country and to divide the country by obvious tribalism and nepotism; and a P.M.D.C. government too inexperienced because it is a new party; as such the A.P.C. became a compelling lesser evil. With the A.P.C. winning, in addition to the presidency, enough seats in Parliament, it was grateful to offer some positions in government to the P.M.D.C. Together, the A.P.C. and the P.M.D.C. could now secure a workable parliamentary majority, one that would be able to enact needed structural reforms. Some analysts are suggesting that to stave off the dangers of distracting dissension and even violence, the A.P.C. can extend the same offer of “cohabitation” to the S.L.P.P., although that does not sound like a good idea because the S.L.P.P. had misused opportunities during its ten years of rule, therefore, in the next five years it is reasonable for it to be in “political purgatory” to reflect on and repent its gross miscalculations.
The A.P.C. has proven to be synonymous with “the Sierra Leonean political system,” even though its previous 24 years of misrule continue to weigh heavily on its reputation and possible future. Today, however, its ranks include many experienced political professionals and technocrats, a number of them honest men and women, and the party seem to have a great deal of prestige or credibility among younger Sierra Leoneans. It has put forward some strong, qualified candidates for ministerial positions.
The A.P.C. was wise to choose a presidential candidate with a fresh face and a reputation for honesty — someone like Koroma, who has a moderate, pragmatic left-wing ideology that proved very attractive to Sierra Leonean voters. Koroma is not linked to the A.P.C’s dark past of manipulation, corruption, and disinformation. His choice as front-runner of the party did help to end the years the A.P.C. has been in “political purgatory.”
Consolidate Democracy Now or Die Trying
In many ways, the victory for a modern left-wing popular front — much like those that govern Botswana in south-central Africa through “a relatively uncorrupt bureaucracy accountable to government and with the economic underpinning of increasing resources distributed through government” (Neil Parsons) — is the best possible result for Sierra Leone in 2007. Fortunately, the reformed A.P.C. has the attributes of such a party. The A.P.C. seems to favor retaining complete state dominance of the minerals and agricultural industries and is in no way skeptical of free markets and foreign investments, labor reforms, and the worldwide integration of humanity (globalization) — a body of proclivities the A.P.C. leadership has shown a propensity to steadily adhere to as a reborn and modern party of the left that has long adjusted its ideological schema to reality.
Meanwhile, President Koroma has to prove that he is a strong and assertive president. But he also has to show that he is not going to manipulate power through messianic demagoguery. Preferably, he has to be fully committed to the autonomy of the judiciary and the demarcation of powers, to a free press, and to complete fiscal transparency and accountability in government; a respect for autonomous institutions such as the central bank; and coordinating a violence-free government strategy, especially when reforms can be accomplished peacefully with composure. These are all necessary tenets in an open democratic society, and some of Koroma’s past conduct (showing a propensity toward humility to accept defeat in 2002 and a spirit of reaching out to his opponents within his party who repeatedly challenged his leadership) suggests that he may respect them. A choice not to respect these tenets at the national level could put the consolidation of democracy itself at risk.
With the A.P.C. victory by such a large margin, Koroma must waive any inclination to revive the one-party state in Sierra Leone like his predecessor (Siaka Stevens) did. As president, Koroma would have to contend with a plethora of challenges. If he honors the fundamentals of an open democratic society, of the rule of law and the inalienable rights of individuals, he will have every clout to implement his social and economic projects, so long as he conducts himself in the ambit of reality rather than conceptual ideology. But if Koroma rebuffs these fundamentals, then Sierra Leone is going to lose yet another opportunity to consolidate its democracy and his government like the S.L.P.P. government under Tejan Kabbah and Solomon Berewa will (by 2012) die trying.
Kenday S. Kamara is a native of Sierra Leone, where he attended Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, 1982-1986. Kenday is an international development consultant in administration, policy development and capacity building. Kenday has consulted for VVMZ (a consulting firm based in Slovakia) as Administrator Expert for the 2007/2008 ACP-EU BizClim Microfinance Demand Survey (a project implemented for the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA). Kenday is also consultant for Global Integrity – www.globalintegrity.org (an independent, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., tracking governance and corruption trends around the world) and Konesens Research, Inc. – www.konesens.com (a US-based global research and development consulting firm). Kenday is a Ph.D. scholar-practitioner in applied management and decision sciences at WaldenUniversity, specializing in leadership and organizational change. Kenday can be reached at kenday.kamara@waldenu.edu or via Skype at: medcallconsultants