Fifty Years of Bangladesh, 1971-2021


Book Description

This book, the first historical sociology of its kind concerning Bangladesh, examines the country's what-went-wrong-syndrome during the first fifty years of its existence, 1971-2021. The work is an exception to the traditional studies on modern and contemporary Bangladesh. The study is also a post-history of united Pakistan. Busting several myths, it sheds light on many known and unknown facts about the history, politics, society, and culture of the country. Besides being a twice-born country – liberated twice, from the British in 1947 and from West Pakistanis in 1971 – it is also an artificial entity suffering from acute crises of culture, development, governance, and identity. Hashmi attributes the culture and identity crises to the demographic byproducts of bad governance. In addition to being overpopulated, Bangladesh is also resource-poor and has one of the most unskilled populations, largely lumpen elements and peasants. According to Marx, these people represent “the unchanging remnants of the past”. The second round of independence empowered these lumpen classes, who suffer from an identity crisis and never learn the art of governance. The proliferation of pseudo-history about liberation has further divided the polity between the two warring tribes who only glorify their respective idols, Mujib and Zia. Pre-political and pre-capitalist peasants’ / lumpen elements’ lack of mutual trust and respect have further plagued Bangladesh, turning it into one of the least governable, corrupt, and inefficient countries. It is essential to replace the pre-capitalist order of the country run by multiple lumpen classes with capitalist and inclusive institutions.




Fifty Years of Bangladesh, 1971-2021


Book Description

This book, the first historical sociology of its kind concerning Bangladesh, examines the country's what-went-wrong-syndrome during the first fifty years of its existence, 1971-2021. The work is an exception to the traditional studies on modern and contemporary Bangladesh. The study is also a post-history of united Pakistan. Busting several myths, it sheds light on many known and unknown facts about the history, politics, society, and culture of the country. Besides being a twice-born country – liberated twice, from the British in 1947 and from West Pakistanis in 1971 – it is also an artificial entity suffering from acute crises of culture, development, governance, and identity. Hashmi attributes the culture and identity crises to the demographic byproducts of bad governance. In addition to being overpopulated, Bangladesh is also resource-poor and has one of the most unskilled populations, largely lumpen elements and peasants. According to Marx, these people represent “the unchanging remnants of the past”. The second round of independence empowered these lumpen classes, who suffer from an identity crisis and never learn the art of governance. The proliferation of pseudo-history about liberation has further divided the polity between the two warring tribes who only glorify their respective idols, Mujib and Zia. Pre-political and pre-capitalist peasants’ / lumpen elements’ lack of mutual trust and respect have further plagued Bangladesh, turning it into one of the least governable, corrupt, and inefficient countries. It is essential to replace the pre-capitalist order of the country run by multiple lumpen classes with capitalist and inclusive institutions.




Understanding Fifty Years of Bangladesh Politics


Book Description

This book studies the first 50 years of Bangladesh politics since independence. It looks at Bangladesh politics as a unique case for study to analyze and understand the role of institutions, political parties, the election commission, election-time government, judiciary, the media, etc. The volume cross-examines the 1971 War of Liberation and the brutal killing of the republic’s founding father in 1975 as the two great divides that crystallized in the political arena between the Awami League on the one side and the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami on the other. Through deep dives on major historical events and key political developments that have since shaped Bangladesh’s entire society and politics, it then delves into topics including the parliament, electoral integrity, civil society, and politics as they take on a confrontational course. An incisive study on major struggles, achievements, and challenges faced by Bangladesh in the 20th century, this volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers in political science, democracy, modern history, and South Asia studies.







Bangladesh Under Awami Tyranny


Book Description

Bangladesh under the Hasina-led traumatically tyrannical and transgressive Awami regime is a story of disaster and damnation. The fraud and fascist regime, a lackey of Indian hegemonism and Hindutvaism, recklessly pursues a policy of death and destruction, at least since 2009. The country used to be ruled with the same policy of elimination and annihilation during the time of her father Sheikh Mujib in 1972-1975 as well. The miserable condition led to his unlamented death and dismissal, to the joy and relief of the people of all walks of life, including his own Awami party and the armed forces. Now the situation under his daughter Sheikh Hasina is much worse. She is at the top of an Indian puppet regime that is corrupt and criminal to the core making the great majority suffer in the ongoing choking and suffocating circumstances of state terrorism. People live an utterly insecure and frightened life in a highly polarized police and prison state of chains and shackles, boots and bullets. torture and torment, bestial appetites, pervert human intellect and endless malice against the political opposition. The regime’s brutalities know no bounds; its persecution and prosecution of dissent are unlimited; its foot soldiers are deadlier than anything. They and their partisan police and RAB are brazenly emblazoned figures of the seven deadly sins, just as their Hindutva cult following leader Hasina, dubbed by critics as ‘Mother of Mafias,’ is an illiberal embodiment of all mischiefs and misdeeds. A fascist dictator, she is a tigress in human form, hungry for humongous accumulation of autocratic and authoritarian power and control at the expense of freedom, independence, sovereignty, and human rights. A viciously vindictive tyrant, again, backed by the fanatical and fundamentalist Hindu nationalist India, Hasina enjoys innocent adversaries liquidated; massacres committed; innocent people gunned down; politicians, intellectuals and journalists arrested, remanded, tortured, thrown behind bars, and even hanged; opposition members detained or disappeared; houses and neighborhoods set on fire; religious festivities violently tainted; desecration of holy books exploited and flames of communal fires fanned for gaining political mileage; women and children raped; banks and billions looted; and the poor committing suicide or dying of hunger. In the name of development, mostly fake and fictitious, and dented and demented, floodgates to corruption are opened, mega millions stolen, democracy killed, opposition suppressed, elections rigged, drugs made available in plenty, institutions left to collapse, education to fail, professionalism in professions going down the drains, transparency and accountability going to the dogs, and thus Pandora’s box of ills and evils continuing to be released with no stop in sight. This book is an attempt to capture only a portion of the dark tunnel of all swallowing Awami tyranny and all its abysmal tentacles spreading across Bangladesh for years and years with no end in sight.




Towards a Sustainable Economy


Book Description

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were introduced by the United Nations (UN) for all member nations with a total of 17 goals and 169 targets to be achieved between 2016 and 2030. The recent pandemic has presented more challenges to achieving the UN’s SDGs. This book examines Bangladesh’s ascendancy in socio-economic terms and the prospects of Bangladesh overcoming the challenges to become a higher-middle-income nation by 2030. This book traces the transformation of Bangladesh from 1996 through 2020 and examines various factors contributing to its success from rural economy, external support, manufacturing, and structural transformation to energy consumption. This book also looks at the challenges and opportunities for Bangladesh as the Fourth Industrial Revolution unfolds and as climate change, to which Bangladesh is highly vulnerable, escalates. This book will be a useful reference document for those who are interested in gaining more insights into inclusive growth and sustainable development from the case study of Bangladesh.




Deciphering the Genome of Constitutionalism


Book Description

"Featuring key scholars of comparative constitutionalism, constitutional theory, and constitutional politics, this book provides a comprehensive, theoretical, comparative, normative, and empirical account of the concept of constitutional identity. It will appeal to scholars, students, jurists, and constitutional drafters alike"--




Fifty Years of Bangladesh


Book Description

Fifty Years of Bangladesh portrays the multi-faceted dimensions of Bangladesh’s development journey, its economic and social transformation and political and cultural contestations. The book presents new empirical data supplemented with critical analysis of processes, actors and actions that have been the drivers of Bangladesh’s transformation and offers new ways of understanding Bangladesh. Organized in six sections, the book provides a multi-disciplinary, holistic and interrelated narrative of the Bangladesh story covering its economic and social transformation, the political history and changing cultural landscapes. It presents new empirical data and proposes new theoretical and analytical frameworks to explain the country’s complex and paradoxical developments. Capturing the vast landscape of changes that have taken place in different sectors of Bangladesh during the last fifty years, the contributors analyse the variety of Bangladesh’s experiences, its achievements as well as the shortfalls and mistakes. They propose new models and perspectives to ground Bangladesh’s developments, identify persistent and emerging challenges and suggest ways forward. A valuable addition to scholarship on Bangladesh, this book can be used as a reference in universities, research institutions and international development agencies interested in Development Studies, South Asian Studies and studies of the Global South.




A History of the Constitution of Bangladesh


Book Description

Marking the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's Constitution, this book gauges its development from 1972 to 2022, focusing on its foundational goals, performances, and current challenges. The collection, presenting diverse but issue-specific chapters, shows how the people, political parties and leaders, and constitutional and legal institutions interact with each other in advancing, breaking, and remaking their Constitution. It examines the local context, parliamentary history, and interpretive tools adopted by the Supreme Court in understanding the Constitution as well as the future prospect of constitutional politics and practices. The work brings together legal professionals and constitutional law scholars to encapsulate the panorama of the country’s constitutional evolution. The authors look back to the history of constitution-making, to reflect critically on the present in light of the founding goals, spirits, and aspirations and with a view to offering a forward-looking and resilient vision of constitutionalism in Bangladesh. The book will be of interest to researchers, academics, and policy-makers working in the areas of comparative constitutional law and politics and South Asian Studies.




Birth of Bangladesh


Book Description

In 1971, the day after the Pakistan army surrendered to Indian army in Dhaka, four of us classmates at IIM Calcutta crossed over into Bangladesh. We travelled to Dhaka and returned after a week, traveling by train, bus, military jeep, fishing boat, bullock cart, but mainly our feet. In our interaction with people of the newly liberated Bangladesh, we experienced the full spectrum from being felicitated to being threatened. We were garlanded and served with fresh coconuts; we were also prodded in the back with bayonets in the middle of the night. Those experiences took us through a wide range of emotions – elation, grief, fear, happiness and relief. This book captures the emotional roller coaster ride that we, as youngsters, experienced at the birth of a nation. We relate our experiences as vividly as we had lived through them fifty years ago. The picture on the front cover has been taken by Mr. Manabendranath Mandal. It is being used with his permission.