Why is the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) funding regime change operations in Bangladesh?

The Endowment risks being on the wrong side of history by propping up the far-right and far-left. It is wasting U.S. taxpayer money.

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) describes itself as “an independent, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world”. It sees itself as a warrior for democracy, by being on “the leading edge of democratic struggles everywhere”. The NED has a history of investing in pro-democracy movements. Its website points to the NED’s history of funding regime change in the former Soviet Union, Central Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Currently, the NED claims to focus its resources in “remaining communist and authoritarian countries”, including China, North Korea, Cuba, Serbia, Sudan, and Burma. Why then is the NED investing in regime change operations against Bangladesh? Is Bangladesh a communist or authoritarian regime from the Cold War era? Certainly not.

Bangladesh has a democratic constitution with its own Bill of Rights inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was drafted by the eminent jurist Dr. Kamal Hossain. Its constitution professes a form of social democracy, which is a common ideal in many South Asian constitutions, including in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Its system of government is a multi-party parliamentary democracy, with a judiciary influenced by the English common law. The United Nations sees Bangladesh as a “moderate Muslim democracy”. Even the United States, during the first government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, called Bangladesh “a moderate Muslim democracy where the U.S. enjoys high prestige and respect”. More importantly, the return of the Awami League in 2009 was hailed as a win for secular democracy, with secular Bengali nationalism seen as complementary to U.S. national interests in South Asia.

Contrary to these perceptions of Bangladesh, the threat of Islamic extremism derailing democracy has always been a potent danger. Checking religious extremism in a pivotal democracy like Bangladesh has always been important. Derailing democracy is not just about free and fair elections or the lack thereof. Democracy is more than just elections. Democracy is also about the Bill of Rights. The right to private property. The right to freedom of expression. The right to freedom of conscience. The right to freedom of speech. The right to freedom of thought. The rights to privacy, a fair trial, a home, water, food and healthcare. If the Bill of Rights is the bedrock of democracy everywhere, then a threat to any Bill of Rights is a threat to democracy everywhere!

The problem in Bangladesh is that the NED is funding groups which are inherently “anti-system”. They do not believe in the integrity of the system, including the Bill of Rights and democratic values. It never helps when one of the main political parties in any democracy becomes an “anti-system” party. Exploiting the name of the state, the main opposition party in Bangladesh calls itself a nationalist organization. In truth, the so-called Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is only “Bangladeshi nationalist” in pen and paper. BNP gets funding from Pakistan, a country which was responsible for a genocide in Bangladesh. BNP loves China, and we have every reason to wonder whether it would turn Bangladesh into a totalitarian state.

American diplomats have described the BNP leadership as extremely problematic, with a “serious adverse effect on U.S. national interests”. The party supremo Khaleda Zia is widely seen as incompetent, illiterate and corrupt, while her heir Tarique Rahman has been called a “thug” .

Given the past record of the BNP in government, which was dogged by corruption, kleptocracy, the introduction of a culture of extrajudicial killings, and the spread of pervasive torture; there is no reason to regard BNP as the real democratic alternative, which is exactly what NED-funded groups are promoting. The entire political narrative and political language of the BNP has been to overthrow the Bangladeshi state. Bangladesh doesn’t need regime change, because regime change would mean an end to democratic values enshrined in the system. One can argue that Bangladesh needs reform, but not regime change. Anti-system parties are not the answer to Bangladesh’s problems. The far-right and far-left have also deeply infiltrated into the BNP and the pro-BNP media network.

So, why then is the NED funding Netra News? This is a pro-BNP website which is promoting a cut throat campaign against the Bangladeshi state. Instead of providing a narrative which addresses human rights problems; instead of providing ideas for human rights reform; instead of promoting engagement and consensus among key political and civil society actors; instead of constructive ideas for improving the system, Netra News is busy whipping up hysteria against the Bangladeshi state. The political bias of Netra News is evident in the fact that it is completely silent on the problematic nature of the corrupt BNP leadership. Netra News silences and censors critics of Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman. Its Editor-in-Chief Tasneem Khalil is an ardent defender of Tarique by shielding the BNP acting chairman from criticism on social media. Khalil has become a BNP activist himself.

The NED claims that “funded largely by the U.S. Congress, the support NED gives to groups abroad sends an important message of solidarity to many democrats who are working for freedom and human rights, often in obscurity and isolation.” Is Tarique Rahman a democrat? Is Khaleda Zia a democrat?

Netra News is wading into extreme partisanship by promoting a cut throat pro-BNP narrative, even at times outdoing BNP leaders themselves. Khalil has controversially argued that Tarique should remain outside the purview of Bangladeshi courts. This smacks of double standards, with no understanding for how the rule of law works. It is one thing to argue in favour of a fair trial. But it is outrageous to argue that Tarique should be above the law, which is what Khalil does by suggesting that Bangladesh cannot prosecute him, despite credible allegations of corruption recorded not just by Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies, but also the FBI.

If the NED is funding Netra News to switch Bangladesh back to BNP-Jamaat rule, then the NED is simply on the wrong side of history. Backing the corrupt BNP leadership is a mockery of the values the Endowment claims to promote. It has become a waste of U.S. taxpayer money.