DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) – Shafiqul Islam was studying business at Dhaka College in 1971, when a bloody and brutal war for independence devastated Bangladesh. After undergoing guerrilla training in India, he returned to fight Pakistani soldiers.
“It was a time of total destruction,” he said. “Our bridges and roads were destroyed, our women were raped, cities were under siege. Thousands of houses and shops were set on fire. “
Nine months after it started, the war culminated in the country’s independence.
Fifty years later, Islam, 67, chairs Arrival Fashion Ltd., a new generation clothing factory covering more than 2.5 hectares and surrounded by lush rice fields on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka. The factory employs about 3,000 workers who make jeans for export to Europe and North America.
The history of Islam in many ways reflects the rise of Bangladesh, home to 160 million people.
On the eve of half a century of independence this week, Bangladesh has been hailed as a success story for a young nation born of conflict and turmoil. While it has fought against hunger, poverty, military coups and political violence, it is also celebrated for what experts say is remarkable progress in raising the lives of its young population.
Millions have lifted themselves out of poverty as the country has unexpectedly become one of Asia’s fastest growing economies, thanks to sectors like the clothing industry, which dresses millions around the world.
But some fear that his success will hide a darker turn, including concerns about his last election in 2018, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won a fourth term after winning 266 of the 300 seats in Parliament. It was a tainted election, as human rights groups condemned violence against opponents who claimed to have voted rigged and rigged.
“The most worrying thing about Bangladesh is the decimation of the electoral system,” said Ali Riaz, an expert in South Asia who teaches political science at Illinois State University.
But it was another fateful election, led by Hasina’s father, that spurred Bangladesh’s independence, whose origins lasted until 1947, when the Indian subcontinent became independent from British colonial rule. The land was divided into separate states, with the Muslim-majority regions becoming East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and West Pakistan, now simply Pakistan. But, from the beginning, a strong nationalist movement emerged as language became a point of tension; Bengali was widely spoken in the East, while the West’s Urdu-speaking elite came to power.
A turning point came in 1970 amid growing strikes and hostilities, when the Awami League of East Pakistan, led by Bengali politician Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, swept the ballot box in a national election. The government rejected the results, sparking a movement of civil disobedience. On March 26, 1971, Bangladesh declared independence, triggering the nine-month war.
Pakistan launched a military operation to prevent the move to independence, while India joined what is now Bangladesh. Pakistani forces surrendered on December 16, 1971.
Bangladesh says 3 million Bengali people have been killed. Millions have also fled to India, and historians have said that hundreds of thousands of Bengali women have been raped.
Another victim of the war was the economy – GDP was just $ 6.2 billion in 1972. That number has skyrocketed since, reaching $ 305 billion in 2019. Some predictions predict it will double in size by 2030.
Central to part of the country’s success is its clothing industry, the second largest in the world after China, which raises more than $ 35 billion a year from exports. It employs four million people and the triumph is felt mainly by women, who make up the majority of workers. A job at the Islam factory helps Nasima Akhter and her two brothers earn about $ 411 a month, which supports her and her family.
When she was a teenager, her parents struggled to provide them with three meals a day. Now 28, Akhter works eight hours a day, sewing hundreds of jeans. “We are doing well now,” she said.
Per capita income almost tripled under Hasina, who came to power for the first time in 1996 and was re-elected in 2008. Experts say the country over the years has invested heavily in the lives of women and girls. Currently, 98% of children have finished elementary school, with more girls in high school than boys. Life expectancy in Bangladesh is 72 years against 67 years in Pakistan, and it has also surpassed India, which is richer, in combating child malnutrition and reproductive health, according to data from the World Bank.
“It was a fascinating journey,” said prominent economist Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad. “It is a development model for others in the region.”
But Bangladesh is also seriously vulnerable to the growing effects of climate change, with a third of its population at risk of displacement due to rising sea levels. Experts have long warned that a densely populated country in the delta like Bangladesh, which fights severe and frequent floods, will be one of the most affected by climate change. Surprisingly, Bangladesh accounts for only 0.35% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the IMF.
More immediately, the coronavirus pandemic presents challenges in Bangladesh. The COVID-19 cases led to a blockade across the country, and large industries and small businesses were paralyzed. The country has reported more than 560,000 confirmed cases and about 8,600 deaths so far. Although experts say the total death toll may be insufficient, Bangladesh remains less affected than many other countries.
Even so, the clothing sector shows signs of recovery and other economic drivers – remittances, agriculture and the service sector – are also doing well, pointed out Ahmad, the economist.
But not all are part of the country’s booming growth, added Riaz, the professor, citing data that employment growth remains low, despite high GDP figures.
“The participation of the poor in wealth, their income and opportunities is decreasing. The country is not creating more jobs for young people, ”said Riaz.
Most worrying is that observers say the government’s focus on development may be hampering its democratic start. Human rights groups and non-profit organizations have raised an alarm about the Awami League, which is in power. Freedom House, based in the United States, said the party “consolidated political power through continued harassment of the opposition and those considered to be its allies” in its 2020 annual report on democracy..
Experts also highlight a controversial digital security law, which they say can be misused to silence freedom of expression. In February, protesters stormed an intersection in Dhaka because of the death in prison of a commentator who was charged under the law for critical statements about how the government handled the pandemic.
Bangladesh is witnessing democratic setbacks in its electoral system, attempts to stifle political opposition and threats to freedom of expression, said Riaz.
“It was founded with the promise of an inclusive system, but it may be moving away from these fundamental promises,” he added.
Meanwhile, Hasina has set ambitious goals, including raising Bangladesh to a higher middle-income country by 2031 and a developed one by 2041. In February, the United Nations Development Policy Committee recommended that Bangladesh be promoted to a developing country by the less-developed.
Islam, the director of the clothing factory that fought in the war, said he did his part – but the country has much more to achieve.
“In 1971, we jumped and never looked back because we knew that independence had to come. Otherwise, this nation will not survive, ”he said. “But that was not the end. We still have a way to go, but our hearts are always with the motherland ”.
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Pathi reported from New Delhi.