Convenors:
Dr Willem van der Geest (EIAS, Brussels), Prof Mobasser Monem (University of Dhaka, Bangladesh) and Prof Golam Hosain (Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Bangladesh).

Panel Abstract

The panel will bring together young as well as established scholars with an active research interest in political and economic developments in Bangladesh and their implications for its relations within South Asia and globally. Presentations within the broad themes of governance at the national, district and urban/rural levels as well as within specific sectors such as health, education, export industries, etc. are particularly welcome. The panel also seeks to analyse the interactions between external actors (multilateral institutions, development finance institutions, donors, foreign investors) and domestic actors (state and non-state) in terms of political and economic motivations and interests and how these determine the outcomes and impacts of these interactions.

Paper Abstracts

Mobasser Monem, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bhangladesh
E-Government in Bangladesh: Rhetoric and Realities

E-government is about transformation helps citizens and businesses to find new opportunities in the World's knowledge economy. Most countries around the globe are using e-government to rethink the role of government. It is being used as a tool to further economic development and good governance. E-government is about transformation and here technology is a tool. It is about transformation that helps citizens and businesses to find new opportunities in the World's knowledge economy. Most countries around the globe are using e-government to rethink the role of government. It is being used as a tool to further economic development and good governance. Despite all of the confusions and frustrations associated with ICT initiatives in Bangladesh, e-government is becoming a fact in the lives of the citizens of the country. Perhaps progress is slow and there is confusion about the means to achieve this, but there is no doubt about the goal of attaining e-government. A coordinated effort by political leaders, bureaucrats, and private entrepreneurs is critical to facilitate the growth of e-government. Many scholars argue that e-government in the context of Banladesh is a stratgy which will only help the elite to access the services nd resources of the government. The benfits of e-government will only accrue to those who are relatively better-off economically and who have access to computer and internet. Therefore, for common people, it will mean next to nothing. It understandable that their criticisms and concerns are based on the reality of the country's internal digital divide. However, we argue that we can not turn our back on e-government simply because only a few people will take advantage of it. There are numerous policies of the government which had had and still has ‘urban' or ‘elite' biases. In this age of globalization, e-government is a fact of life and we have to cope with it if we intend to be a part of the global village.

Golam Hossain, University of Jahangir, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Islam, Madrasa Education and Terrorism in Bangladesh

The most important issue that has governed the political discourse of Bangladesh in the recent months is the terrorist connection to Madrasa education. Madrasas have been central to educating generations of Islamic scholars as well as Islamic political activism in Bangladesh. It is no wonder to see even in the remote comer of the country is embedded with at least one mosque, and not infrequently a Madrasa attached to it. In the recent years, the successive governments, in their eagerness to placate popular sentiments, seemed to have put a premium on Islamic education. As a result the number of Madrasas established, students enrolled and teachers recruited have gone almost parallel to that of general education and added strength to the power of political Islam. Being placed in a multi‑track education system, the country suffers from a social conflict between the secularists and the Islamicists. Different interpretations of Islam by different Ulemas have also led the society to practice Islam in different perception and fashion. Political parties, government administrators, policy analysts, academics, civil society leaders, international agencies, news media and so on have expressed serious concern about the rapid growth of Madrasas and the involvement of some students and teachers of some, Madrasas in terrorist activities in Bangladesh. Such socio‑political conflict and Islamic terrorism have posed a serious threat to the emerging democracy, economic growth and stability of the country.

Most all political leaders of the Islamic groups and parties have developed radical political views in Madrasas. These political leaders are instrumentals to bring money for the Madrasas from Islamic countries and elsewhere. These funding sources are also of important considerations of international connection to domestic politics. Since Madrasa education is only having a marginal financial benefits in the labor market the 0.4 million mosques dotting the country being the major employer as Imams/muazzins and a limited number as Madrasa teachers, their impact on national economy is of inconsequential significance. Mostly coming from a poor economic background, Madrasa educationists are largely forced back into poverty again. Further, as different donors have different aims, they can easily become instrumental to their motives in exchange of a few crumbs or some other material necessities. Contribution of Madrasas at national productivity is also minimal because of their large failure to address the major issues of science based modem secular education. There are also allegations that Madrasas are the breeding ground of fanaticism, extremism and orthodoxism that are most incongruent with the mainstream of the society. The religious extremism found amongst many of them is also responsible for dissonance in the communal harmony and peaceful social

Recent terrorist attacks in Bangladesh that killed several persons including lawyers and judges have been a rude shock to people, a wake‑up call for the government to the specter of newly found militancy that has crept surreptitiously exploiting the religiosity and general poverty of the masses. The government ruthlessly suppressed the terrorist movement led by the JMB (Jamiati Mudares in Bangladesh) and finally arrested its kingpins. Will this measure bring to an end of the Islamic militancy in Bangladesh, however, remains to be seen.

Shammi Akter, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bhangladesh
Participation of Women in the Urban Local Governance in Bangladesh

The rapid population growth that has taken place throughout Bangladesh has resulted in a steady shift of population from rural to urban areas for better civic amenities, job opportunities and improved quality of life. Bangladesh has 522 urban areas among which 296 urban areas have the municipal status. Urban governance may be defined as a well thought,out and well co,coordinated management by the state (public administrative system) and the rest (private sector and civil society) of all urban issues and problems for the overall development of urban areas and urban life. It implies that there should be adequate commitment, transparency, accountability, co,ordination, efficient participation and control in running the affairs of an urban area.

For the first time, Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) elected 19 female ward commissioners (elected by male commissioners) for reserved seats. The Pourashava Ordinance and City Corporation Ordinance stipulate that whatever the number of ward commissioners, depending on the area of the Pourashava, there should be reserved seats exclusively for women equivalent to one third number of commissioners fixed by the government. The women ward commissioners will be elected directly.

The span of responsibilities for ward commissioners has been well defined in the government gazette. But there is no definite responsibilities narrated in such a Gazette for women ward commissioners. The government Gazette notification has described the nature of meetings, panel chairpersons etc. Still there prevails some confusion and misunderstandings between commissioners and women ward commissioners (reserved seats). For example, in case of Savar Pourashava, no woman commissioner was selected as the panel chairperson to work in the absence of Chairman. It was also declared through a Circular in September 2002 by the Govt. of Bangladesh that in each committee of the pourashava, one,third members should be female and one,third committees should be headed by female members. But this is not practised in Savar Pourashava.

With the assistance of ADB, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is currently undertaking a Project named Urban Governance and Infrastructure Improvement Project (UGIIP) in selected 22 pourashava since 2003.This project has three phases with two years in each phase. The primary objective of the project is to promote human development and good governance in the secondary towns of Bangladesh. During the implementation of phase I (2 years) the performance of each pourashava will be closely monitored based upon some selected criteria for entry into the second phase of the project. Some of the criteria are, Social and gender development, Community,based development planning and control, Poverty reduction and environment protection, Financial management etc. In some of the committee, the involvement of female ward commissioners is mandatory. But it is fact that all the committees are not active in its respective field. Through interview of the female ward commissioners, it was revealed that though sometimes they feel they are capable to take certain responsibilities, but because of male dominated committees their voices are neglected and undermined. Sometimes the Chairman forms the committee as per his will violating the rules. The women ward commissioners often receive fund to do their work comparatively lower than their male counterparts.
In present Bangladesh, it is inspiring that women are participating in the process of urban governance. The women ward commissioners should be well educated and well trained. The participation of women in infrastructure management, training program on capacity and awareness building and in all other probable aspects should be ensured.

Arild Engelsen Ruud, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Student Politics in Bangladesh

The paper is a preliminary investigation into the mechanisms that has transformed student politics in Bangladesh. The organisations and movement that some 15 years back were at the forefront of the pro,democracy campaign have been transformed and now constitute the bully fronts of political parties. The aim of the paper is to understand this transformation within the wider context of social and political development in Bangladesh, including the social fluidity created by the country's economic realities. One aspect that will be highlighted is the multivalent role of the leader and the social room he operates within. This social room will be tentatively understood in terms of being created by social ambitions, economic mobility and vulnerability, and then filled by political entrepreneurs. Local notions of authority, mutuality and friendship are crucial to understand the coherence and strength that is thus created within student organisation.

Joseph Devine, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
The construction of Wellbeing in Bangladesh: A Micro,Policical Analysis

The aim of the paper is to introduce the notion of wellbeing, explore its links with debates related to the study of poverty and inequality in Bangladesh, and offer an initial empirically,informed analysis of people's everyday pursuit of wellbeing. First the paper will argue that the notion of wellbeing offers an enriched analytical focus that improves our understanding of social change in contemporary Bangladesh. Second, the paper will present an initial analysis of primary data looking specifically at the dynamics of people's social agency and how this affects their wellbeing outcomes. The empirical analysis will claim that social agency remains a crucial mechanism that influences wellbeing. This is consistent with a long tradition of studies into social change in Bangladesh that highlights the need for collective and organised action. However the paper will proceed to show how the possibilities for the organisation of social agency have undergone important transformations over time. This is manifested in two important observations: a) the increasing penetration of political parties in the collective lives of rural communities, and b) the increased significance of mastans as key actors in the social and political landscape. The paper will argue that both phenomena are structurally linked and that their development reflects broader changes in the governance of state-society relations. The local significance of these developments lies in the fact that they implicate actors and organisations that either control or seek to control the same social, economic and political processes that directly affect the wellbeing outcomes of individuals, households and communities. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data, the paper will explore the dynamics and implications of these interactions for people's wellbeing, and reflect on the wider governance conclusions.