
This expanded edition of Bangladesh Politics: Problems and Issues which was first published in 1980, contains sixteen articles written over a period of three decades. The articles have been organized to chronologically present the political history of the country. This edition includes four new articles focusing on the genocide of 1971, year-end reviews of politics in 2002 and 2003, and an overview of major political changes since the independence of Bangladesh.
Small States and Regional Stability in South Asia is a study of the status and role of small states in international affairs, particularly in the region. The book highlights the constraints and potentials of small states in contributing to regional peace, security, stability, and development. It presents the perspectives of the small states on the issues of nuclearisation in South Asia, globalisation and economic security, the global war on terrorism, common solutions to common problems, and democracy as a conflict management mechanism.
The book provides penetrating Insights into the economic dimensions of the chasm between the erstwhile East and West Pakistan that eventually led to the cleavage and the conflict that marked the final parting of the ways. The focus of Hasan Zaheer's study is more on what he feels were the internal factors that, in his view, somehow inexorably widened the mental distance between East and West Pakistan with the result that by 1970 and following the military action of March 25, 1971, the situation had reached a point of no return.
Contents:
1. A Historical Survey / 2. Genesis of Alienation / 3. India Gets Involved / 4. Towards Military Conflict / 5. War and the Birth of Bangladesh / 6. 1972: Efforts at National Consolidation / 7. 1973: Beginnings of Disillusion / 8. 1974: The Fragmentation of Bangladeshi Politics / 9. 1975: Autocracy to Assassination / 10. Persona of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman / 11. Military-Democratic Cocktail / 12. An Overview / 13. Epilogue and a Prognosis
The ethnic conflict in Bosnia shocked the world. Most people were taken aback that a part of Europe could return to such a degree of hatred and calculated violence indicating that the lessons of the Second World War, in particular, the ethnic cleansing of minorities and Holocaust horrors, have been ignored and that these evils are very much in the cards even today. This book is about the way the Bosnian conflict generated, the role of Britain and France in it, and above all, its lessons for Muslims the world over.
The first decade of the 21st century has been a lost decade for Bangladesh both politically and economically. On one hand, this period provided a scope for political commentators to write about many issues in respect of development of democratic practices and of governance, yet on the other hand, this was a period of nightmare for the politicians and for the people in general. This volume is a collection of selected articles contributed by the author to Bangladesh's most popular English daily, The Daily Star.
The liberal democratic values and the constitutional system have suffered serial reversals in Bangladesh, accompanied by a trend towards authoritarian and unaccountable government. The failure of the political system and politicians is blamed conventionally. That alone cannot explain the reversals sufficiently; the deep conflict of secular nationalism and liberal democracy with communal and authoritarian political culture explain the political and constitutional regresses.
This study covers, what Leonard A. Gordon calls, the neglected history of Bengali Muslims before 1947. It provides a detailed account of the Bengal Muslim League during the period from 1906 to1947. It covers its various aspects, such as, problems of organisation, policies and mobilisation , nature of leadership, inner party conflict, bases of support and relations with the parent all-India body. A special attempt has been made to show how the formerly popular Krishak Praja Party disappeared from the political scene of Bengal, ironically, during the Chief Ministership of its architect, A.K.
The decade preceding the 1947 Indian partition was an eventful period, with profound impact on the subsequent political developments of the states thus created. Though works dealing with this period abound, most of these have an all-India focus. There is a dearth of research-based books and other works covering the Bengal situation. Bengal, then a Muslim-majority province in eastern India, was the bastion of the Muslim League/Pakistan movement.
Elections under caretaker governments are a common practice to be found in most parliamentary democracies of the world. Usually an outgoing government acts as the caretaker administration. But Bangladesh has deviated from this established democratic tradition. The Constitution now requires that a non-party caretaker government (NCG) run the routine administration of the country for a limited period of time between the dissolution of parliament and the appointment of a prime minister after the constitution of a new parliament.