State and Governance

At the dawn of the 21st century the specter of terror has come to haunt the minds of the citizenary and policymakers alike. Three reasons seem to be responsible for this. Firstly, the empowering status of non-state entities. Secondly, the easy availability of deadly, weaponry, including the knowledge of turning grocery items into improvised explosive devices. And thirdly, the arrival of suicide bombers priding on civilian targets, and that again, with an aggressiveness primarily grounded in faith rather than on reason.

Bangladesh has witnessed rising Islamic radicalization, extremism and militancy in various manifestations for more than 10 years. In the aftermath of 9/11, religious militancy has intensified in South Asia. The dramatic rise in terrorist activities in recent years has taken on the form of bomb explosions and suicide bombings generating fear, undermining political stability and hurting business confidence.

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.

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.