Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Protestors In Dhaka Aftermath of Muslim Rioters in Bangladesh
The Corruption and Inefficiency Plaguing Bangladesh Government
The government that is in place in Bangladesh today is a Parliamentary Democracy. A Parliamentary Democracy is when a party or group of parties holds the majority in the legislature and that party’s leader becomes the Prime Minister (Britannica Online Encyclopedia). The main parties of the Bangladeshi government are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League (National Democratic Institute). Bangladeshi citizens have the right to vote for whoever they want to, just like any other democratic nation, but the problem is what the elected officials are doing in office. According to heritage.org, the spending of the government ranks at 132nd in the whole world, which is very low. The government spends about 16.2% of total domestic outputs and the government relies on tariffs on trade for a source of revenue. The government of Bangladesh struggles to provide basic public goods, and poor economic management when it comes to handling private industries and business regulations and the lack of enforcement of property rights have driven businesses out of the formal sector (heritage.org).
So it is certain that the Bangladesh government cannot provide a stable economic market for its people to thrive in, but what is the underlying cause of this besides inefficient politicians? The answer is corruption. Corruption is the main problem challenging the Bangladeshi government from thriving in the International scape, and because of the abundance of corruption, economic progress cannot be made. According to heritage.org, Islamists extremist groups threaten the democracy of Bangladesh and pluralist traditions. While the government says they are trying to fight corruption, no visible effects of hindering corruption can be noticed.
Transparency International, an organization dedicated to fighting corruption in developing countries, recently tracked how the citizens of Bangladesh feel about corruption. In the organization’s study, it found that 46% of the population believes that corruption is increasing in Bangladesh. So the government may say they are fighting corruption, but that is not the case because on top of 46% believing corruption is increasing, 66% of those surveyed said they have had to bribe a government worker for use of a public good in the last twelve months. These basic services that are supposed to be provided free for citizens include; police help, using public facilities, or even certain healthcare. According to the transparency website, Bangladesh ranks 120th on their corruption perception index, tied with countries like Kazakhstan and Ecuador. With these types of numbers, Bangladesh is indeed suffering from strong corruption in the government, and it is becoming more obvious by some of the recent decisions made by the government.
On February 5th, 2013, Bangladesh parliament decided to amend a law that gives the state the right to appeal a sentence of life in prison for a war criminal named Abdul Quader Mollah. Mollah was part of the Jamaat-e-Islami Party during the Independence War of 1971, on the Pakistan side. He did not want Bangladesh to secede, and in turn killed many innocent civilians during the war. Now the government is trying to ass a harsher sentence, upsetting many of the Muslim citizens and causing protests among the people.
This highlights corruption in the government because the Bangladeshi Nationalist Party believes the current Prime Minister, Skeihk Hasina, is using these war crime trials to divert from more important issues such as the current economic state (“Bangladesh Parliament Amends War Crime Law”). This act of corruption from the government just shows that they are not suited to handle the issues of their own country, like poverty. Because of this constitutional amendment, it caused a riot within the Muslim population of Bangladesh, and these Muslims targeted the Hindus of Bangladesh because of their Alliance to the party currently in party according Anbarasan Ethirajan of BBC news Asia. According to the author of the article, “Bangladesh: Riots Continue after War Crime Trials” The village of Aladin Nagar, which is south of the capital Dakhar, was attacked by angry mobs. These mobs burnt town the tin houses, and destroyed everything in the communities leaving the citizens to live in fear for their lives. This shows that the government cannot control its people, and may not want to because of the lack of compassion and corruption within the government. Because of the attacks, many people are fleeing for their lives, lost their homes, and family members to violence.
Poverty will not reduce with a corrupt government that allows these types of riots, and the targeted groups will never be able to escape poverty if they are too concerned about just staying alive. Citizens cannot be expected to grow financially if their own government will not protect them from riots that are caused by poor judgment on their part.Because of all of this, Bangladesh cannot handle the issue of poverty, nor does it seem they want to, so outside organizations must step in to reduce poverty.
So it is certain that the Bangladesh government cannot provide a stable economic market for its people to thrive in, but what is the underlying cause of this besides inefficient politicians? The answer is corruption. Corruption is the main problem challenging the Bangladeshi government from thriving in the International scape, and because of the abundance of corruption, economic progress cannot be made. According to heritage.org, Islamists extremist groups threaten the democracy of Bangladesh and pluralist traditions. While the government says they are trying to fight corruption, no visible effects of hindering corruption can be noticed.
Transparency International, an organization dedicated to fighting corruption in developing countries, recently tracked how the citizens of Bangladesh feel about corruption. In the organization’s study, it found that 46% of the population believes that corruption is increasing in Bangladesh. So the government may say they are fighting corruption, but that is not the case because on top of 46% believing corruption is increasing, 66% of those surveyed said they have had to bribe a government worker for use of a public good in the last twelve months. These basic services that are supposed to be provided free for citizens include; police help, using public facilities, or even certain healthcare. According to the transparency website, Bangladesh ranks 120th on their corruption perception index, tied with countries like Kazakhstan and Ecuador. With these types of numbers, Bangladesh is indeed suffering from strong corruption in the government, and it is becoming more obvious by some of the recent decisions made by the government.
On February 5th, 2013, Bangladesh parliament decided to amend a law that gives the state the right to appeal a sentence of life in prison for a war criminal named Abdul Quader Mollah. Mollah was part of the Jamaat-e-Islami Party during the Independence War of 1971, on the Pakistan side. He did not want Bangladesh to secede, and in turn killed many innocent civilians during the war. Now the government is trying to ass a harsher sentence, upsetting many of the Muslim citizens and causing protests among the people.
This highlights corruption in the government because the Bangladeshi Nationalist Party believes the current Prime Minister, Skeihk Hasina, is using these war crime trials to divert from more important issues such as the current economic state (“Bangladesh Parliament Amends War Crime Law”). This act of corruption from the government just shows that they are not suited to handle the issues of their own country, like poverty. Because of this constitutional amendment, it caused a riot within the Muslim population of Bangladesh, and these Muslims targeted the Hindus of Bangladesh because of their Alliance to the party currently in party according Anbarasan Ethirajan of BBC news Asia. According to the author of the article, “Bangladesh: Riots Continue after War Crime Trials” The village of Aladin Nagar, which is south of the capital Dakhar, was attacked by angry mobs. These mobs burnt town the tin houses, and destroyed everything in the communities leaving the citizens to live in fear for their lives. This shows that the government cannot control its people, and may not want to because of the lack of compassion and corruption within the government. Because of the attacks, many people are fleeing for their lives, lost their homes, and family members to violence.
Poverty will not reduce with a corrupt government that allows these types of riots, and the targeted groups will never be able to escape poverty if they are too concerned about just staying alive. Citizens cannot be expected to grow financially if their own government will not protect them from riots that are caused by poor judgment on their part.Because of all of this, Bangladesh cannot handle the issue of poverty, nor does it seem they want to, so outside organizations must step in to reduce poverty.