The Bangladesh Miracle: How female empowerment fuelled the country’s rapid economic growth while giving birth to a dictatorship

Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of economic growth in the world, with 7.4%, as reported by IMF (IMF, 2019). The country does not have any notable natural resources except a few oil and gas fields. The biggest resource the nation has is population. With a population of more than 160 million, the country is recognized as one of the densest countries on this planet which is not a city state.  It is nothing less than a miracle that a nation is sustaining such a high GDP growth rate without any natural resources. One of the key factors in this growth is gender equality and female empowerment.

The government of Bangladesh is setup based on the Westminster model. For the past thirty years, Bangladesh has not seen a male Prime Minister, or a male leader of opposition. This is a small indication of women empowerment in the country. According to the World Gender Gap report by the World Economic Forum, Bangladesh ranks 50th out of the 144 measured (World Economic Forum, 2019). To put it into perspective, the United States ranks 53th, behind Bangladesh, while China and India are not even in the top 100. Women make up about 80% of the workforce in the ready made garments industry of Bangladesh, which makes up about 85% (BGMEA, 2019) of Bangladesh’s export and 12% of the country’s GDP (Sebastio).

The influx of women in the work force has helped boost the economy, which many countries could not do. There are historical reasons why Bangladesh has been able to mend the gap between genders. The region’s people are accepting of women leadership and equality. This, along with efforts from the governments and NGO’s has increased women’s participation in every sector of the society.

However, despite having women leadership for 30 years, there are problems that the country may face. The country is ruled by an authoritarian government which is in the verge of becoming a dictatorship. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina as been ruling with an iron fist and has been crushing anyone in the opposition. As well as having the fruits of female empowerment, the country is also facing the harsh realities of having a dictator in power.

History of Bangladesh:

To understand women's empowerment in Bangladesh it is important to take a look back in history, as there are many examples of woman empowerment in the country’s and its regions history. Modern day Bangladesh was once a part of greater India. India as a whole was ruled by the British for almost 200 years. When the British left in 1947 India was split into two parts. One was named The Republic of India and the other was The Islamic Republic of Pakistan. When India was split, modern day Bangladesh became a part of Pakistan which was called East Pakistan. Although it was a province of Pakistan, the federal government was situated in West Pakistan, and East Pakistan was basically ruled by West Pakistanis (James, 1984). Then again in 1971 East Pakistan revolted against the occupation of West Pakistan. After a nine-month long war East Pakistan became independent as Bangladesh. Bangladesh had to go through two phases of independence before gaining complete sovereignty (Singh, 2010). The reason why it's important to look at both the phases of independence is because in both stages women’s role in gaining independence was crucial. The Bengali woman fought against the British as well as the Pakistanis alongside the men. This shows that historically women were always empowered and there was an acceptance of powerful woman in that region all along.

The Bengali people saw feminist female leaders as early as the 1910s and 20s. One the most notable female leaders who led the way for woman empowerment and education was Begum Rokeya. This Bengali author wrote many books and ran a school to educate woman. She believed educating women and empowering them would solve a lot of problems in the society. As well as pushing for woman empowerment she also took steps against the British rule with her writings. Till this day Bangladesh observes Rokeya day in memoriam of her efforts for women empowerment (White, 2010). She pioneered female empowerment and endorsed female education at a time when feminist movement was just starting in Europe.  

Pritilata sen was another prominent anti-British freedom fighter who was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh. She led an armed rebellion against the British, where she looted a British arms depot and used their own weaponry against them to occupy a quarter that was held by the East Indian company, on the gates of which, it was written that dogs and Indians are not allowed. In the midst of the battle she was wounded by a bullet and before getting arrested she took a cyanide and committed suicide. She is considered as on the bravest freedom fighters against the British (James, 1980).

Woman also played an instrumental role in the liberation war of Bangladesh. In 1971 when Bangladesh was at war with Pakistan for its independence, men and women both fought alongside each other in the war. The most notable Bangladeshi female freedom fighters is Sufia Kamal. She was a writer and activist who organised aids for the freedom fighters. She actively wrote in favour of Bangladesh against Pakistan. She was a known media personality during that time and when the Pakistani government ask her to sign out a paper saying there was no genocide going on in Pakistan, she refused despite being threatened with death. Another prominent figure was Jahanara Imam. She was also an activist and a writer during the liberation war. Like Sufia Kamal, she also was civil society member who used activism to promote the independence of Bangladesh. Her son and husband were both killed by the Pakistani army. There were many woman who took up arms in the fields against the Pakistani army as well. For example, a freedom fighter named Bithika Biswas charged a Pakistani gunboat with grenades In the battlefield (Begum 2018).

So, it is evident that the progress Bangladesh has made in terms of woman empowerment is not merely a coincidence. Historically there has been an acceptance of female empowerment in the region. And these are not separate incidences from woman in leadership roles. There are many more women who have been prominent in their leadership in any given situation, be it the liberation war of Bangladesh from Pakistan or from the British. What we see today in terms of female empowerment is just merely a continuation of woman in leadership roles in the last couple of 100 years.

Women empowerment in the modern day:

Even in the modern day there is a significant spike in woman empowerment. Bangladesh, as a matter of fact, higher than the US in terms of overall female empowerment. Bangladesh outranks its neighbour India in all the categories of the gender gap index. From economic participation to health, Bangladesh outshines India by huge margins. Where India is ranked 112th in the index, Bangladesh ranks 50 ( WEF, 2020). There are realistic reasons behind this success. In most government jobs there is a quota for woman. Even in the private sector women get more priority while applying for a job than a man. Many educational institutions offer discounts for woman so that more and more women are enrolled and gets educational benefits.

According to the gender gap index women and men rank almost the same in terms of literacy rate and held in Bangladesh. With 72% of the woman educated against 76% of men, Bangladesh was able to reduce a big gap in education. In terms of primary education there is, in fact, more females being enrolled than males. This is also true for secondary education as well where female participation out numbers male participation. Even the life expectancy index, females outshine males despite Bangladesh being one of the countries where child birth was a major cause of death amongst mothers (WEF, 2020).

Female empowerment can also be seen in the armed forces as well. There has been an upsurge in female participation in the army in recent times. Bangladesh has been in the top of the rankings in terms of manpower provided to the United Nations peacekeeping forces. Female soldiers have been joining the peacekeeping forces as well. Till date 413 female officers were deployed in peacekeeping missions across the world (MOFA, 2020).

The readymade garments industry:

The RMG industry of Bangladesh is the biggest revenue earner for the country. With 80% of its exports coming from the industry, it is by far the biggest exporter of the country. The industry is the 2nd largest with 30% share of the worlds RMG export right after China. Companies like Walmart, Loblaws mostly import clothes from Bangladesh. The reason why most companies import their clothes from this country is because of low wages compared to other countries. This is one of the reasons why Bangladesh is such a big producer of read made garments. With a minimum wage of barely a dollar a day, Bangladeshi labour is one of the cheapest labours in the entire world(BGMEA).

Bangladesh is a country of 160 million people. So there is no lack of workforce in the entire country. As a result of this surplus population, the labour becomes cheap and affordable. Moreover, there is a wage gap between the genders. Because of this, to keep wages low, it is easier to employ women in an industry like the RMG. More than 80% of the garments workers are woman (Akhtar,20165). This huge influx of woman in the garment industry is not a coincidence either. The factory owners exploit this wage gap to make bigger and bigger profits.

 If the migration pattern of the country is analysed, It can be seen that there was a big spike in the patterns of migration from rural to the urban areas 20 or so years ago. Most of the garments factories are situated in the urban area. When families started to migrate into the city in search of employment, there was an opportunity for the female members of the family to start working in the garment industry and contribute to their family’s earnings. This helped the boom of employment of the industry. Because the primary earner of the family was the man, woman could afford low wages from the factories. This meant that while the man of the family was away, women could go work in a garments factory at the same time. This rapidly improved the poor people’s earnings and lifestyle, and in return, the factory owners get cheap labour to keep the production costs down(Akhtar, 2016).

This low wage Labour meant that the factories could employ more and more women and increase production rapidly. This is attracted buyers from all over the world, from the US European Union and even Canada. To meet the demands from all of the planet more and more factories sprouted in and around the city and more and more women were employed in the industry. This this led to a dominance of women in the workforce and continues to this date.

Although in the beginning women did not have much power and the industry but it has been changing in the recent times. There has been a growth in the numbers of strong female union leaders who represent the workers interests in the industry. The BGMEA, which is the body that governs the readymade garments industry is now led by a female entrepreneur(BGMEA). It might not be a huge leap of progress, but with small steps development in this industry has led the way for the country economic success. This growth is projected to grow even further in the future.

The role of the government and the NGOs:

Since liberation, all the governments made efforts to empower woman in the grassroots level. Today, 38% of the population are in the workforce in various industries(WEF, 2020). This is a very significant number given that the country has a population of 160 million people. Woman today are in leadership roles from political leadership to the corporate sectors. The government spends about 30% of its annual budget in women’s development funds. The government has placed grassroots programs in rural areas where women can be trained in different skills so that they can use those in the workforce. For example, women are taught to make use of technology so that they can use it to communicate over distances, and even earn money. The government ensured woman’s participation in education by providing incentives to families so that they send their children to the schools(Khan, 2016) . There are attractive loan schemes as well for female entrepreneurs. This is done in order to encourage female entrepreneurs so that they can start their business.

The NGOs also get a big share of the credit in female empowerment in Bangladesh. BRAC for example is the biggest NGO on this planet. It was founded in Bangladesh in 1972. BRAC today has branches over in 11 countries with operations in many more. The organization was founded with a primary goal to empower women and help people rise above poverty. Till this date BRAC has played a major role in woman empowerment in the grassroots level. One of the programs they are well known for is the “Polli Shomaj Unnoyon” programme. This is a program where women in the rural areas are gathered around and engage in a meaningful discussion. The discussions are about their problems, the issues that they are facing and how they can get access to resources so that they can solve their issues and problems. The NGO has created woman leaders in the grassroots level also. These “Polli Unnoyon” groups were utilised to groom women into leadership roles. The BRAC has groomed over 9000 women to run for office in local rural government elections. Out of that 2903 women were elected in the rural areas in positions of power(BRAC). This is an astonishing achievement, given the socio-economic situation of the country. This is one of the reasons why Bangladesh ranks higher than the US in terms of women’s participation in the political scen.

Although it's not a NGO, the Grameen bank has also played a major role in female empowerment in Bangladesh. the bank which calls itself, ”the bank of the poor” was founded by Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Grameen bank is based on Dr. Yunus’s theory of micro credit. The concept is that by lending small amounts of money to the poor in the rural areas creates a money cycle which helps the loan taker establish financial sovereignty. The bank issued numerous loans to female entrepreneurs who wanted to start their business. The loans ranged from a simple sewing machine to agricultural tools. When women had access to these loans, they started earning money and became financially stable. This in turn made them more independent from the patriarchal control (Nawaz, 2019). They were able to gain more power in the families and in the society. Many female entrepreneurs went on to employ female workers which ended up making more woman independent financially. This created a cycle which has keeps on going and helps women escape poverty.

The rise of women in politics:

With a strong presence of female leadership in the region, it was inevitable that women would soon come into power in the national level after the British left. The first female Prime Minister in the world was elected in Sri Lanka in 1960. The Indian subcontinent has had many female leaders since then. India elected the first female Prime Minister in 1966. Pakistan elected their first female Prime Minister in 1988. Bangladesh followed suit and elected its first female Prime Minister in 1991, and since then till this date Bangladesh has never had a male Prime Minister or a male leader of opposition. There are arguments that that most female leaders are just there as showpieces and does not have real power. However, in the case of the Indian subcontinent as a whole, the woman who were empower were democratically elected and was the head of the governments with all executive powers in their hands. Every single woman ran the government with full power, unlike the critique’s claims. Another critique of woman in power in the Indian subcontinent is that these women were somehow related to previous heads of states or political leaders. However, once again the counter argument would be that they were all democratically elected so that means there is a general acceptance of female leadership in these countries amongst the public, at the end of the day. In contrast, even in the West, the acceptance of woman leader till today is not that high. The defeat of Hillary Clinton against someone like Donald Trump just makes the case for it.

After the fall of a military dictator in 1991 a general election was held and Khaleda Zia became the first female Prime Minister Bangladesh. Her opposition was Sheikh Hasina, who is the current Prime Minister of the country. After a five year tenure, in 1996 she lost the election to Sheikh Hasina. Zia then became the Prime Minister once again in 2001. However, in a turn of fate she lost to Sheikh Hasina once again in 2008. Since then there has been two general elections and Khaleda Zia could not win any of them(Conras, 2019).

The last line is a general statement but needs deeper analysis. When Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina got elected in 2008, she won in a landslide victory with absolute majority of the government. She was democratically elected in a fair election. However, since then she has become authoritarian day by day. Bangladesh has slipped into an authoritarian regime with complete control in the hands of Sheikh Hasina. Since 2008 there were two general elections, where both the polls were allegedly rigged by the current government. In the latest election of 2019, some of the candidates got a 99.98% vote in their constituencies! Democracy in Bangladesh is now only in the constitution but not practiced in reality(Conras, 2019).

Sheikh Hasina has been accused of murdering, torturing and abducting opposition. Since 2008 Bangladesh has slipped in freedom of speech ranking. Sheikh Hasina has been called as the dictator in chief of Bangladesh. With an absolute majority she was able to introduce controversial laws such as the Digital Act where the government could arrest anyone who supposedly is spreading misinformation. The government has been accused numerous times of arresting civilians who spoke out against the ruling party (Conras, 2019). Although Sheikh Hasina in theory is an elected Prime Minister, she displays traits that the worst of the worst dictators have. She and her party defend these activities in the name of economic growth. There is no doubt Bangladesh has grown economically in the last 20 years or so, but the question remains, is economic growth like this sustainable without a democratic society?

Conclusion:

Bangladesh has enjoyed a tremendous economic in the recent past. With an enviable GDP growth Bangladesh ranks well as one of the fastest growing countries in the world. It is projected that by 2030 Bangladesh would be a mid-income country above its neighbours India and Pakistan. The economic miracle does not come from any natural resources but the population of the country. Women empowerment in the country has boosted the economy hugely. With the garments sector making up most of the GDP, it is evident that women are the key to socio-economic development

Bangladesh is also an example where NGOs can have a tremendous impact on the society. NGOs such as BRAC and Grameen bank has helped woman get out of poverty and become independent. The government has also played a vital role in female empowerment as well. By opening up with schemes to train woman in different skills the government has made it easy for half of the population of the country to access different tools and opportunities in society.

Although it might sound like a critique of female empowerment Bangladesh is also an example where undemocratic female empowerment can lead to and authoritarian government. Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina demonstrates this with her ruthless iron fisted rule over the country. it will be interesting to see how long Bangladesh can sustain an undemocratic authoritarian rule along with this tremendous economic growth.

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