Polarisation of a Civil Society Space between Secularists and Islamists by Design: The Case of Bangladesh
Tasmia Mesbahuddin
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Bangladesh has been rich in civil society activity since its very birth but the term civil society became a mantra from the 1990s onwards when donors within the international development policy framework saw in it a potential for instilling democratic processes in otherwise volatile political structures. However, the term that has taken root in the country has been derived from a western neo-liberal frame of understanding, which has led donors to favour certain civil society actors at the expense of others, particularly those that are perceived as being 'anti-fundamentalist'. These civil society actors have largely been translated as non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The paper broadly argues about the subtle ways a civil society space in Bangladesh has been crowded out through the dominance of 'big' NGOs since the country's independence. Backed by heavy donor support and a local secular-oriented power elite, these NGOs have become a pivotal voice for society at large and have managed to falsely construct an opposition between so-called secularists and Islamists, hence, reducing the prospects of a plural civil society.
Civil society, as a concept, was introduced to Bangladesh notably through the aid industry and this has taken a particular organisational form. In the early 1990s when donors in the international aid system realised the potential non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had in pushing democracy forward, they began targeting most of their funding into these institutions. This not only created a more manageable development process but it also set the foundation for promoting a particular brand of democracy that was compatible with western values of liberalism and capitalism. This has potentially crowded out other forms of democratic systems based on more indigenous values and ideas. This paper illustrates the subtle ways in which this process has taken place. Though NGOs are not elected by the citizenry, they have over the years assumed the role of a parallel state in the country. Yet their political status has often been camouflaged through the language of development. I attempt to shatter this myth by showing how a civil society space in Bangladesh has been overtaken by western-funded NGOs and how they have moved from being 'apolitical development machines' to formidable political agents voicing 'anti-fundamentalist' slogans, alienating a large section of the society.