The lessons of the past

Is the country being democratised day by day? Or is it taking the shape of an increasingly undemocratic state, damaging all other institutions that contribute to a strengthening of democracy in a country?
Frustrated and annoyed by the prevailing political situation, anybody may answer: the country in no way is being democratised. Rather, an undemocratic system is taking roots in the name of parliamentary democracy.
The party in power leaves no stone unturned to ensure to ensure its win in parliamentary elections. The party in opposition on the other hand opts for waging street agitations for what it claims is ensuring the holding of free and fair parliamentary elections.
A free and fair election is valuable like anything to the opposition party as this is the only legitimate means to come by state power. The ruling party never thinks of free and fair parliamentary elections and always wants to return to power by holding polls in name only.
This mindset has given birth to all the street agitations waged by the opposition in the more than two decades which have gone by. This mindset gave birth to a non-partisan election time government following a vigorous street agitation between 1994 and 1996. And another spell of street agitation between 2006 to early 2007 contributed to the declaration of a state of emergency. And nobody knows for sure what is waiting for us after a few months?
Mustafizur Rahman Siddiqui, associate professor of Political Science at the University of Chittagong, describes the situation that prevailed in country's politics very well.
He has described briefly the movement for democratisation during the British and Pakistan periods which will help one understand how the titulary democracy introduced by the British colonial rulers increased people's consciousness and which in course of time prompted them to launch a movement for democratisation. He shows how the basic foundation of the movement for democratisation in Bangladesh was established in undivided Pakistan.
Professor Siddiqui analyses the movements for democratisation in independent Bangladesh during the rule of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, the two military rulers --- Zia and Ershad --- and also the democratically elected government led by Khaleda Zia.
It would have been better had Professor Mustafizur described in brief the history of the movements waged by the opposition parties in 2006 and early 2007 which led to the declaration of the state of emergency.
He might have plans to do so.  If so, he may also briefly discuss the lack of movements within the parties to ensure intra-party democracy, which is now a demand of the times, and until and unless the major political parties ensure democratic practices within themselves, the state cannot be democratic.
However, this book will help in understanding the nature of the movements for free and fair elections. It will also help open a new window for others to carry out further research to bring in more results.
We do not have any other alternative, but to learn the lessons from our past failures and political turmoil to decide our future course of action. And in a true democratic polity, people always do that. They neither avoid nor suppress the past. This is one of the beauties of the democracy. Unfortunately, we, particularly our politicians, forget this truth. And it has been proved that forgetting the lessons of the past will in no way allow us to go forward.

Shakhawat Liton is Senior Reporter, The Daily Star.