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A state is many things: a history, a group of people, a set of laws. When a society does not prevent actions whose allowance yields a net loss to each of its members, the society has taken liberty to a point where it becomes counter-productive. Thus it becomes a 'libertine' society, as opposed to a liberal one. The validity of laws in any society depends on the continuation of the legal order under which those laws were made. Once that legal order is destroyed, the laws cease to have validity. If the destruction of the legal order is spontaneously caused by political disorder, criminal action, unqualified military rule with criminal motive and anarchy, then the state has failed to fulfil the basic needs of a substantial element of its population and can therefore be called a 'troubled state.' A state in trouble often casts fundamental doubt on the legitimacy of the regime in power. The disintegration of law and order also exposes the latent incapacity and failure of the government to deal with those problems. The presence of a well-functioning government does not mean that a sovereign state will have the capacity to establish an assured peaceful law and order situation over time. Still, the government is spared the indignity of the jurisprudential insult of being asked whether law exists, unless the sort of chaos prevails that leads outsiders to label the reality as an instance of a marginal state or a failed state, or a terrorist state, as we are compelled to believe by recent course of political events in Bangladesh.
   A major reason of worry about 'failed states,' 'marginal states' and 'troubled states' is due to the suffering caused internally by a lack of security as well as the instability generated externally, either in the region or in the world as a whole. A state, which is unstable internally, incites its more expansionary neighbours into action, as internal instability usually implies military weakness. However, it might also cause concern to its neighbour, being a source of refugees and a collapsing economy, which might have an effect on its neighbour's economy. The economic aspect is closely related to the political. A system of economic distribution in a stable state relies on a reasonably stable legal system whose efficacy requires an effective government. The legal and economic system then determines our entitlements under this particular legal/economic code. This is a totally different thing from entitlements as determined by equity. People get their entitlements from a whole range of positions in the society. They get them through work in the economic system; they get them through ownership; they can get them through some legal position such as being prime minister, attorney general, chairman of the public service commission, or head of the armed forces; and of course people can jump out of the legal system and acquire resources by stealing, either surreptitiously or quite openly by force. Working and owning things in particular require a functioning legal framework. This, of course, gives great power to the people in charge of the decision making process for what the legal framework is. They can ensure that they get the lion's share of what is available in the society. Thus, societies in which the elites are difficult to challenge reinforce these elites by generous allocation of resources to those elites. In the case of open and broadly democratic societies this is more restricted in that elites can be challenged. Their activities are more transparent and they have less of a monopoly grip on the levers of the state. Ironically, states with a weak and authoritarian political leadership skirted by procedural democracy of a rubber-stamp parliament can both shift resources towards the elites and leave the rest of the population in poverty. Cases from Bangladesh to Nigeria correspond to this model. In a poor country the prospect of diverting wealth to elites is particularly appealing. Consequently, there is a struggle to become a member of the elite, bringing governmental instability to many poor countries. Also in a poor country with inadequate or corrupt police, stealing becomes more attractive than producing. It is much more profitable to form an armed band and rob other people than to go to all the trouble of making and selling things. The weakness of this argument when generalised to a whole state is obvious. Nothing gets produced and the decline continues further. There is a stage in the whole process where the economy simply collapses. Well before that stage, the economy can be severely impeded by the profitability of crime as in the case of Bangladesh.
   A state is supposed to provide its citizens with physical security, against attack either internally or by foreigners. The internal attacks can come from political groups or groups of organised crime. Essentially, there are two forms of internal stability: Consensual Stability and Coercive Stability. Consensual stability exists when stability is brought about by normal policing and threats to security come from normal criminal activities at some moderately low level. This was the situation in Bangladesh in most peaceful times.
   When criminal activities are at a high level, just like the period immediately preceding the current emergency rule in Bangladesh, consensual stability is not provided even though the political system might be comparatively stable. In this scenario, what is provided is called coercive stability. Coercive stability exists when states provide physical security in the sense of comparative order internally, but at the cost of severe repression, which can legitimately be regarded as violence, and certainly impeding the liberty if not the security of the necessarily tranquil inhabitants. The entire law and order enforcement campaign of the current caretaker government with covert support of the Bangladesh Armed Forces is nothing more than a legitimate exercise by the 'troubled state' of Bangladesh to deliver that much needed coercive stability in the very best interest of its people.
   Troubled states exist only because they are recognised to exist by other governments. Sovereignty is given to them simply because they are recognised as sovereign. These states are called 'Quasi-States' of which Bangladesh is the most well known one in Asia along with many other states in Africa. Internally these states do not provide the basic services that they can be expected to provide. There is often little security and killings on the basis of political disputes are common. The basic underlying infrastructure that an economy needs (which of course includes security) is not consistently provided by these states. These states are amongst the poorest in the world despite being reasonably well endowed with natural resources like petroleum and natural gas. The very fact of recognition from outside, coupled with control of the means of violence internally, gave many elites of these 'quasi-states' the power to enrich themselves in a way any involvement in economic production would not. They can channel foreign aid in their direction, do favourable deals with multinationals for their own rather than their country's benefit, and tax their hapless compatriots on what little wealth they are able to accumulate in the dreadful political circumstances.
   The past regimes of Bangladesh characterised as political dynasties and elected dictatorships have taken Bangladesh on the highway to becoming a failed state. Under such circumstances the covert intervention of the army with covert support and intervention of the international community appears to be a blessing in disguise for Bangladesh. Which remains to be seen is whether the present coercive stability is transformed into consensual stability within a reasonable time frame.

‘Unlocking the Potential: National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction’ is the current policy document that our governments have been using as a guide for evolving the pro-poor budgets for the past couple of years. Following this policy, the government is gradually making progress in incorporating ministries — so far 14 ministries have been included — under its three-year rolling investment programme under a medium-term macroeconomic budgetary framework. The first three-year strategy 2004-2007 is now extended for one more year till June 2008 due to poor performance up to now as well as absence of proper scopes for monitoring the progress more regularly for shorter periods of time, say yearly. This strategy is in the driving seat for the 2007-08 budget of the current government. Still, it is too early to acclaim the achievements and these are very unlikely to produce the sought impact sooner.
   The policy document presents an overview of recent poverty trends: a) Bangladesh is experiencing a shift from a situation of lower growth with equity having smaller impact on poverty reduction to a situation of higher growth with inequality having a larger impact on poverty reduction observing uplift in income poverty; b) Bangladesh has also shown a remarkable improvement in human poverty. Accordingly, growth of supportive and sustaining macro-economy, focus on critical sectors for development of people in poverty, safety nets for disadvantaged groups of people that are living in ultra poverty and social development support for human resources are the adopted avenues towards accelerated poverty reduction. In addition, governance, empowered inclusion, environmental safety and expanded service delivery are the stated supporting strategies for implementation. The policy document summarises the challenges experienced over the past two decades to include: bad implementation of targeted programmes by a poor administration, management with an inadequate infrastructure; weak governance with no support for people in poverty and marginal situations; failure to achieve or implement highest strategic attention on employment; very limited access to support services of finance, security, resilience to shocks of natural or man-made types for the majority who survive the shocks.
   The policy document explains the possible nexus between economic growth and poverty reduction that entails that employment and the meso-economy of small economic activities be at the centre stage. It acknowledges that labour can be the main asset and income source of people both in crop and non-crop activities; up-gradation of appropriate skills and education, and infrastructure like electricity, all-weather roads can benefit these struggling millions as well as the wider population from diverse growth activities; and asset bases of people in poverty are insufficient.
   In this backdrop, employment or job provisions are considered the foremost strategic agenda. However, there is a gap between what are said in the document and what the governments have been implementing.
   Despite the fact that the policy document states ‘extreme poverty today no longer signify going without any meals a day for significant parts of the year’, the trends do not cater to further deepening of micro-level poverty situations. Certain groups of individuals are experiencing sharply declining inability to satisfy basic needs like those of nutrition, shelter, education. Reports from Khulna may not then appear quite anecdotal that very recently at least two laid-off workers of the Khulna newspaper mill have died from hunger. The mill has been closed but the workers’ dues have not been paid and the workers have not been offered other jobs in other capacities — it is not golden handshake. They have no jobs, they have no compensation, and they have no food. They die!
   These ‘dying’ individuals are numerous and collectively comprise as much as around one-third of the entire population, who without a safety net or alms may die or continue to live in an inhuman situation for want of alternate income opportunities or job provisions.
   This dimension of poverty that matter most to the people living in dire poverty is usually ignored in policy changes and/or subsequent administrative measures by the decision makers, as the document contemplates, ‘in a significant way the challenge of poverty today has been transformed from that of hunger per se to a larger challenge of poor diets and other basic needs’.
   
   Rickshaw: an acid test for the government
   Decisions concerning rickshaws are indicators of how far the governments have been pro-poor. Rickshaws are being withdrawn gradually from major thoroughfares in cities of Bangladesh. Without creating alternate employment provisions for this mostly illiterate labour, they are forced to quit their current profession, while they have to support their families in villages or in urban/suburban slums. A careful analysis of the case of rickshaw depicts how the government actions differ from its commitments in policies.
   Why did we require taking off rickshaws? Were the rickshaw pullers consulted, and counselled to change their professions? Who decides rickshaws are problems to our development? On what grounds? Were they offered alternatives and/or rehabilitated before they were not allowed to work?
   It was argued that rickshaws were causing traffic jams amidst speedy vehicles and thus were contributing to air pollution by letting the polluting vehicles stay longer on roads.
   On the contrary, rickshaws are environment friendly, and can be made friendlier, while abundant use of reconditioned cars, less regulatory measures by the traffic and police authority, and increased use of oil and gas in vehicles are contributing to environmental pollution of air quality, temperature, sound, and what’s not. Any persons who inhaled the fresher air on Hartal days might be able to distinguish the difference.
   During the regime of a former autocratic president, the eviction of this environment friendly vehicle started primarily at the city centre when lots of cars and rickshaws went beyond any management by the traffic police. Rickshaw eviction never became a major debated issue in favour of rickshawalas! The elite, the car owners always pointed to this profession terming it hazardous, as did people stuck up on roads in traffic jams.
   A former president, a military dictator during whose regime rickshaw withdrawal began in earnest, modelling as a bicycle-rider in a sense was forward looking as was observed in rickshaw evictions in other Asian countries where it was done through introduction of pedestrian friendly roads and traffic, and promotion of bicycles. However, the president quite like his fast accumulation of wealth led the nation along a similar path leaping from rickshaws to private cars. It was not a wider public decision; it was not a pro-poor decision, neither was it friendly to development.
   Current administrative and policy decisions around rickshaws are completely void of participation and pro-poor concerns. Apparently, it has been very easy to ban rickshaws by the decision-makers who use private cars and do not need rickshaws. When policy consultations are trying to pertain to universal guideline, administrative decisions are being made without the slightest essence of it. The decisions go directly against city environment and against national economy. It is not a pro-poor decision, rather a market economy strategy benefiting only a few pockets.
   This is now clear that rickshaws were scapegoats. We wrongly prioritised mobility over accessibility. Poor World Bank study! False blame on rickshaws! Indiscriminate and unplanned constructions of roads, markets, public and private buildings without any parking facilities in cities, which were very rampant just before this January, poor and inefficient traffic management and very scanty and in-human public transport services, in comparison to costly cab/taxi services amidst huge number of private cars channelled through promotion of reconditioned cars, fuelled more chaos in Bangladeshi roads and highways.
   If there are no private cars on the roads, even the most environment friendly transports like rickshaws will not be causing environment pollution by creating jams. Withdrawal of rickshaws should have promoted bicycle and walks, to the contrary the government made roads more difficult for bicycles and pedestrians.
   Introduction of CNG (compressed natural gas) vehicles is a pro-environment decision, but replacing pro-environment rickshaws warrants a second thought. Naturally, the rationale of a rickshaw-pullers’ rehabilitation programme to be implemented for a portion of registered pullers only in phases as announced in 2004 long after their eviction started can be questioned, while there are at least one million pullers country-wide.
   People, irrespective of age, disability, gender or certain level of incapacities, are now forced to take ill-managed underpasses or over-bridges. Cars do not slow down, nor can the traffic police manage cars that might favour pedestrians. Even in busy commercial areas where many people have jobs, the roads are blocked for crossing.
   
   A Closer Look
   The finance adviser to the interim government pointed out at the very beginning of his speech that our current inflation and/or future economic shocks were more directly linked with the global economy. He mentioned effects of rising and fluctuating global oil price on our economy and on uncontrolled prices of our daily commodities. However, he has not been very directive in suggesting any redeeming arrangements that can help us cope with such a situation. We need to decide where we need to use our imported oil. It has a direct link to poverty. We can decide to stop using imported oil for our private cars.
   We do not need to urgently support trade for importing reconditioned cars through loans from private banks. This is high time we decided temporarily, say for the next 10 years, to stop importing cars for our personal or individual uses.
   The current policy document and the annual plans also do not look much into building on the past while focusing on more on previous achievements. Past learning — expansion of corruption and exploitation through privatisation, leakages of national growth through governance failure and further deepening of resource-gap through the growth centred development pursuit, failure of reducing the resource gap despite growth were not analysed much. Foreign investments for promotion of hi-tech commodities are not taking care of minimum infrastructure for our vast resource-poor population. Where poverty is pervasive, unless greater emphasis is given to human development as opposed to just economic development, poverty reduction strategy is going fail in the end. Then despite higher growth, the gap between the haves and have-nots will increase.
   One way of reducing the gap could be repackaging of the general services like food security and employment opportunities, education and training, health and treatment, and justice for reaching wider segment of the population. These are our priority sectors as per all the policy documents so far made since the independence. Safety-net provisions have been more welcome all along in such poverty-prevailing situation than proposals for sharing resources, for instance by through cutting down on luxuries. Safety net provisions are meant to do little more than keep thousands of hungry mouths on the brink of survival and gain support of a guaranteed vote-bank.
   People living in dire poverty can benefit only from the expanded service base of basic and fundamental rights, other than the safety nets.
   We rather need a change in education across the country, serving a much more wider population with a futuristic outlook, through (a) introduction of three compulsory languages (Bangla, English and any other language); (b) extensive computer courses (c) standardisation of education of primary to higher secondary courses (religious curriculum can be assigned to religious institutes like churches, temples, mosques as supplementary education for aspiring students who wish to pursue); and (d) a major change in salary structure of teachers, particularly of those up to grade ten. Provisions for an extra language other than Bangla and English will not only empower the enrolled students, but also complement tourism, foreign wage earning opportunities, and the culture. This will widen employment. More enabling and empowering education should be the foremost priority sector.
   Rapid computerisation and high-speed internet for trade and education towards a countrywide information network, and the extensive computer education starting from secondary schools can benefit students who may not continue higher education. Hardware assembly and maintenance work, data entry can be developed by these students while we can wait for the graduates to get involved in software and basic computer science work. This is the stated part of the dream in the policy documents. In addition, any sectors that support the huge labour here, like the ready-made garments, demands careful taxing and growth policies.
   We need to make banks more responsible through policies and practices for giving out smaller loans for millions of families. We need to question why the banks fail to expand their services for the rural majority, and instead expand loan facilities only for the defaulting businesspersons.
   
   Violation of human rights is anti poor
   The fundamental change towards a pro poor change needs a pro-people orientation, needs a change in mindset — everyone’s loss is to be understood, everyone’s rights need to be understood. The growth process severely lacks a sharper pro-people orientation.
   The current reforms seem to turn out to be simply the fight over authority between elites! Because even when we needed to transfer power from an autocratic ruler who was corrupt, who was anti-people, we needed to resort to constitution, we needed to go for trials, legal and legislative procedures for proving corruption under absolute power and authority. Still those parties are negotiating state politics.
   The extrajudicial killings we have been reading or hearing about for long has roots in the class struggle between the elites and the have-nots. Therefore, in the elite ruled society, people in general are gradually made indifferent to everyday killings of poor people just by terming them as miscreants, sarboharas, anti-Islam, terrorists or muggers. These poor people can easily be put on crossfire, unlike the current-day plunderers who caused the nation to go through such inhuman situation. The plunderers can never be asked to look for their accomplices and looted goods at the dead of night, though they are put on remands for several days, they do not belong to the class deemed fit for ‘encounter’. They can demand the ‘division’ even in condemned cells, despite the fact that because of their indiscriminate looting and corruption, thousands and thousands of families have undergone severe losses.
   Extrajudicial killings can never be pro-poor. We know in conflicts, wars, state tyranny, natural disasters the loss of the people in poverty is enormous and irreparable.
   Labour laws that consider the ability of the worker to be well-fed as well as the conditions of employment and social benefits provided need to be established by the state, ensuring equity and equality both in policies and in practice. Violation of such laws by garment factory owners, markets, factories, mills spells much more damage to poverty reduction.
   We need to decide nationally whether the shift of principles from equity to growth. The current poverty reduction strategy policy based on the latter principle of growth that has been in practice from early nineties despite the fact that growth led poverty reduction strategies have slowed down poverty reduction. That change is a major shift from the rights perspective.
   
   Desired Changes and Challenges
   Pro poor plans need to be based on an understanding that people living in poverty cannot wait for the reform and assumed benefits from the growth. The vision of reforms cannot be promised to the teeming millions. They need a more concrete and tangible improvement of their lives. Policy makers need to consider every single step that affects the well-being of the low-income families.
   Sometimes, without thinking of something much bigger, remaining committed to the problems of low income families can help us plan in a more focused manner. If we plan to train the rickshaw pullers on driving motor vehicles and allow them to purchase CNG-run auto-rickshaws with long term soft loans from state banks, it would be a pro-people decision. We will then surely have to consider why these youths without completing their minimal primary education have to leave villages and how these drop-outs are becoming a liability for us living in attractive cities in order to deal with the flux. We can start working on the roots, rather than on growth possibilities.
   The changes need to consider the core concerns of villages where a majority of our population live. We need to think about supporting and promoting the rural economy first. Their interests and development deserve topmost priority in order to change their poverty situation. We need to question concerned ministries for their plans and policies.
   Increasing rural productivity with the ever-increasing resources should be an initial focus of poverty reduction efforts. Such approaches should emphasise the development of sustainable smallholder agriculture and the development of cooperatives as opposed to concentration and forcing larger export oriented farming. Investment in rural-centred and agro-based micro-enterprises can solve the problems of income poverty of the rural poor given other factors like governance is adequately strengthened.
   Modern luxury can wait. If the hordes of garment workers cannot even afford to take a bus to their shanties and rather walk home in the middle of the nights, private cars and air conditioners can wait. In a nation building spirit, we should cut down all luxuries from our life at least for the next 10 years.
   The author is a development worker and serves in an international NGO, and can be contacted at mayeen2001@yahoo.com.

Ban on hilsa export

As sorry as I will be to not have one of my favourite foods for the next six months, once again I must congratulate this government for making sensible decisions.
   Shabbir A Bashar
   USA
   

I read Sheikh Hasina’s letter in various newspapers. I congratulate all the newspapers for their brave decision to print it.
   It seems to me that in the name of tackling corruption the present government has converted the whole country into a big prison.
   Waheed Nabi
   UK

With global warming getting worse, why doesn’t the government ban aerosols and come up with electronic transport? But instead they just put up a smoking ban which, I think, is stupid when there are much serious issues going on in the world.
   There are not many who are recycling and doing their bit for the environment. If everyone was to chip in then maybe this would help the environment, because right now the future is not looking good.
   Anjum Amin
   USA

A brew of religion and politics is always lethal. Pakistan is reaping the harvest of that dangerous brew now. This nation was created in the name of religion, sustained in the name of religion, ruled by the most undemocratic rulers in the name of religion and fought wars with India in the name of religion. The successive Pakistani governments never made any serious effort to educate the people to rise above the religious temptations and deliberately played the Islamic card to perpetuate their dictatorial and undemocratic rule. Whenever there was a demand for freedom and democracy they cried foul. The religious extremists are now taking advantage of
   people’s frustration. The situation is so grim that an ordinary mullah has
   challenged the government.
   Akbar Hussain
   Canada

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