Democracy in Bangladesh and Its Future
Bangladesh came into being as the ‘People’s Republic of Bangladesh’ with the fundamental principles, as prescribed in the constitution, being nationalism, democracy, socialism, and secularity. Democratic Government and democratic society are most wanted in almost all the countries of the modem world. Democracy offered the political anchor and secularism gave a theological basis. But to build a democratic society, the democratic system in politics should go uninterrupted through trial and error. To achieve that goal, the political leaders of a country must have a democratic spirit and possess democratic values. But firstly, we should clearly understand what democracy is. “Democracy is the system of government of the people, by the people and for the people” as told by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America.
In Bangladesh democracy exists. It is not merely the free government of the people. All the rights of the people elect the government. The government should be elected by the people to work for their welfare. The developed countries have been successful to establish a democratic society as well as a democratic country in the trust term. Their leaders are highly imbued with democratic norms, values, and spirit. But in the developing or least developed countries like Bangladesh, it is still like a nightmare. The people of Bangladesh have been fighting for democracy since its birth. They always hanker after democracy. Our political leaders always tell them about democracy, democratic system of govt and democracy for their welfare and development. But when they support the leaders and vote them in favor of democracy, they start autocratic rule and behavior. They behave like fascists. These political leaders do not follow the norms and ideals of democracy because practically they lack democratic spirit and values. They talk about democracy only to go in power by hook or by crook without thinking for the welfare of the people. They only misuse power to earn a lot of money and give a share to their party men and workers. The politicians come into power through the election. So the government is liable for every action.
The opposition parties try to foil their attempts to make them unpopular. The party in power tries to stay in power and the opposition parties try to remove them from power. The political leaders of Bangladesh believe that movement to go in power is called politics and struggle to grip power is a democracy. Our political leaders patronize hooliganism and terrorism to go in power but these two things are great obstacles to establish democracy. Our political leaders have no tolerance, patience, love for people, and love for the country. They rather love only themselves and always think of their own interest. They have no respect for the mandate of the people. They only want to divert the support of people in their favor by using force, taking recourse of threat and oppression. They do not try to satisfy and convince the people through their services and activities. Thus the people of Bangladesh are being deprived of true democracy repeatedly. They are being repeatedly deceived by these political leaders. So people do not trust these leaders and they have lost their interest in democracy and democratic society.
Democracy is the form of government and education is the process of formal learning. For true democracy, proper education is essential because uneducated people cannot choose what is right and what is wrong. So people should be educated properly. True democracy and proper education are closely related. One is meaningless without other. As a result of such an undemocratic attitude and behavior of our politicians, the future of democracy in Bangladesh often becomes uncertain, hazy, and bleak even. In a democratic country, people are free. Now our dream is to establish true democracy through proper education in our country.
