False narrative, fear of culture and development obsession create authoritarian ruler: Debapriya
The distinguished fellow at non-government research organisation Centre for policy Dialogue (CPD), Debapriya Bhattacharya, said authoritarian rulers are created on the basis of three mechanisms.
The first one is false narrative, second is the culture of fear and third is the obsession of development. These three are the main elements of an authoritarian ruler.
Debapriya Bhattacharya said this in one of the sessions on the last day of the three-day ‘Bay of Bengal Conversation’ conference at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Monday.
Debapriya Bhattacharya was the sole speaker of the session held in the afternoon that day. The three-day conference has been organised by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS).
Debapriya Bhattacharya, who is now working as the head of the economic white paper preparation committee formed by the interim government, added, “A few months back we saw how the students and public of Bangladesh overthrew the authoritarian ruler of the last one and a half decades.”
“Authoritarian rulers oppress communities with views different than their own. They tend to keep everything under their authority. They even incorporate media, civil society and businessmen community of the private sector in their own (authoritarian) system,” he continued.
According to Debapriya Bhattacharya, “The falsehood begins with deviation of information. For instance, inflated figures are shown for investments and employment. In continuation of that the situation is mirrored in GDP and growth as well.”
“Apart from that, an authoritarian government in order to ensure continuity of their rule creates a culture of fear where you will lose your social status, your own identity and your safety will be endangered. If you raise your voice in a situation like that, you will be taken away and your family won’t have any trace of you. We have heard of the presence of ‘Aynaghor’ (confinement cell) in Bangladesh,” he added.
Debapriya further said that the authoritarian governments are required to show some development. And, that’s the obsession of development. However, the fruits of that development do not reach people of every class. The authoritarian rulers create oligarchs though. Politicians think they have created the oligarchs but at one point it is noticed that the oligarchs are the one controlling the rulers.
The problem with economy in such situations is that the development is not inclusive. It spikes disparity. At the end of the day, adequate wealth cannot be allocated for investment. Required funds cannot be allocated for education, health and social security. That’s exactly what happened in Bangladesh, he said.
For the lack of adequate investment, a feeble education system is created that is not consistent with the market. Why did so many things happen regarding the quota system in government job? The lack of adequate private investment failed to make the economy sustainable. As a result, the private sector could not produce desired employment. On the other hand, government jobs in some cases turned into ruling party’s cadres.
Debapriya Bhattacharya stated, “There are mixed experiences of establishing democracy after the fall of an authoritarian government. We have seen the situation following the Arab spring. Then again, we have seen successful transition to democracy in South-East Asia, Latin America and in some cases sub-Saharan countries as well.”