Bangladesh
BNP-Jamaat | Awami League BNP-Jamaat wants to stall Bangladesh’s growth wheel for political gains
Dhaka, November 15: It's official. The principal opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the dreaded Islamist forces headed by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (formerly Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh) are out to destabilise the Bangladeshi economy which had a remarkable run under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the ruling Awami League, for last 15 years.
Hasina came to power in December 2008. Since 2009, Bangladesh reported sustained year-on-year growth in exports, except for the covid year of 2020. This is a rare feat in the world economy. Exports of China and the neighbouring India suffered ups and downs during the period.
BNP and Jamaat want to disturb the tempo. There were repeated incidents of loot, arson and violence against the minority Hindus, considered loyal supporters of the secular Awami League, for the last year when the world economy was passing through one of its most difficult phases in history. The frequency of violence has increased this year as Bangladesh is headed for an election in December or January. With only two months to go before Hasina would seek re-election for the fourth term, Dhaka has now become a virtual battleground.
The Bangladeshi capital city was rocked by a week-long violence between the end of October and early November 2023. From killing security personnel, and damaging public property to blocking goods transport – the disruption and destruction were all pervasive. The last time the Bangladeshi capital city saw anything of this sort was in 2013, just ahead of the election in early 2014. That was also the year, Jamaat was banned from participating in elections by the country’s Supreme Court.
Resorting to violence in the name of democracy is a crooked idea. But the BNP-Jamaat combine has an established track record of working against the economic prosperity of the nation and resorting to terror. Check Bangladesh’s political history since 1990, when the army ruler H M Ershad stepped down, the duo has a distinct playbook. BNP was created by former army ruler Ziaur Rahman (1977-1981).
It is now run by his widow (Khaleda Zia) and son (Tarique Rahman) both are found guilty of multiple crimes by the court. Jamaat opposed Bangladesh’s independence and is backed by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan. Ziaur Rahman helped them grow exponentially to suppress secular, democratic voices.
Rahman had set a trend. Military-ruler Ershad used Islamists for the same purpose and so did BNP. Jamaat held important portfolios in the 1991 Khaleda Zia government. And, that completed creation of a monster that does not get more than 5-6% votes but enjoys massive clout, including economic clout. Jamaat became the nerve centre of many terror networks - starting from HuJI-B, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) etc – once operated from Bangladesh.
HuJI-B was founded in the late 1980s. Jamaat used them for a grenade attack on Sheikh Hasina in 2004 and bombing during Bengali New Year celebrations in April 2001. JMB was born in 1998. They were responsible for a series of bombings in August 2005 and targeted attacks on select government officials, judges, and academicians, who were defending democracy. Parallelly Jamaat exported terror to India.
As part of the government, during 1991-1996 and 2001-2006, Jamaat gave shelter to ultras from India’s Northeast and provided them with arms. An international alert, helped confiscate 10 truckloads of arms headed from Bangladesh to Northeast India in 2004.
As two-time Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia of BNP gave direct support to Jamaat to run its terror business and killed the growth prospects of the economy. In 2004, a top Indian conglomerate proposed to set up a multi-billion dollar steel plant in Bangladesh. To date, it is the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) offered to Bangladesh. Zia sat on the proposal for two years before rejecting it. Unofficial sources say her son Tarique, who used to run the show on behalf of the PM, sought a mammoth cut. The demand was too high to accommodate.
Hasina inherited this economy and made it five times bigger in 15 years. Bangladesh is today the second largest economy, in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), after India. According to ITC Trade Map mirror data, exports increased by nearly four times from $17.66 billion in 2009 to $67.49 billion in 2022. The global trade suffered a slowdown during July 2022 and June 2022. Bangladesh managed nearly 7% growth in exports during the period. From a little over $10 billion in 2008, foreign exchange reserves peaked at $48 billion in 2021, before settling down at $27 billion in September 2023 in the face of global uncertainties.
This is no fluke. The country has undergone a major infrastructure revamp over the last decade, epitomised by Padma Bridge. From roads, and railways to civil aviation, every segment of infrastructure is renewed creating huge growth opportunities for the future. BNP-Jamaat wants to spoil the story. They are trying to spread the violence to make overseas buyers of Bangladesh’s famed readymade garments industry and stall the inflow of dollars, thereby pushing the economy to disaster. This is a sinister plan to dislodge Hasina. It would be the job of Hasina to prevent any damage to the economy, she had nurtured so carefully.
(The opinion expressed in the article is of the writer)
