Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

Top Menu

  • About US
  • Join US
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • Comment
  • Question and Answer
  • Watch us Live

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Viewpoint
  • Islamic Culture
  • Da’wah
  • Media
  • People
    • Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani (Founder)
    • Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zallum (Successor)
    • Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta (Ameer)
    • Abdul Wahid
    • Abu Yusuf
    • Jamal Harwood
    • Taji Mustafa
  • Books
  • Youth
  • Covid-19
  • About US
  • Join US
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • Comment
  • Question and Answer
  • Watch us Live

logo

Header Banner

Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

  • Home
  • Viewpoint
    • Making Sense of Pakistan

      April 16, 2022
      0
    • How Should We View the War in Ukraine?

      March 30, 2022
      0
    • The India Hijab Issue from an Islamic Perspective

      March 24, 2022
      0
    • DEEP DIVE: The Weaponisation and Politicisation of British Citizenship Laws

      March 12, 2022
      0
    • Our Role in the Ukraine war is to Expose the Propaganda

      March 2, 2022
      0
    • Muslims Should Rejoice Over the Islamic Ruling System

      January 21, 2022
      0
    • Another Warmonger Honoured for Serving the British Elite

      January 2, 2022
      0
    • The Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh Victory Day (Bijoy Dibos): a cause for ...

      December 13, 2021
      0
    • Playing Politics with the Uygher Muslims

      December 2, 2021
      0
  • Islamic Culture
    • Reading Quran

      The story of the man who was told to “Enter Paradise” and ...

      January 24, 2022
      0
    • Significance of Rabi’ul-Awwal

      October 10, 2021
      0
    • Virtues of the Month of Muharram

      August 10, 2021
      0
    • The significance of first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah

      July 10, 2021
      0
    • The Honour of the Prophets

      April 30, 2021
      0
    • A to Z of Ramadan

      April 19, 2021
      0
    • The Dawah to Allah (swt)

      December 29, 2020
      0
    • Miracle of the Quran

      Q & A - Compilation of The Holy Quran During the Reign ...

      December 27, 2020
      0
    • Imam Bukhari: A Role Model for the ‘Ulema and Da’wah Carriers to ...

      November 17, 2020
      0
  • Da’wah
    • Public Demonstration - Independence Not Intervention

      April 22, 2022
      0
    • VIDEO : [LIVESTREAMED] Pakistan in Crisis: The Players, Politics, and People

      April 20, 2022
      0
    • Ramadan Message: The World Needs Islam - We Must Work for the ...

      April 1, 2022
      0
    • The India Hijab Issue from an Islamic Perspective

      March 24, 2022
      0
    • Ramadhan event: Kyiv to Kabul: The World Needs Islam

      March 20, 2022
      0
    • Obituary of a Dawah Carrier Dr. Youssef Haj Youssef

      December 30, 2021
      0
    • Open Letter to Imams and Muslim Leaders

      September 28, 2021
      0
    • Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain Sends Delegation to Chinese Embassy Condemning the Inhumane Treatment ...

      June 30, 2021
      0
    • Jahangir Raja: Obituary of a Da’wah Carrier

      June 28, 2021
      0
  • Media
  • People
    • Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani (Founder)
    • Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zallum (Successor)
    • Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta (Ameer)
    • Abdul Wahid
    • Abu Yusuf
    • Jamal Harwood
    • Taji Mustafa
  • Books
  • Youth
  • Covid-19
Viewpoint
Home›Viewpoint›Bangladesh: Bengal Tiger or Paper Tiger

Bangladesh: Bengal Tiger or Paper Tiger

By Editor
November 2, 2019
1998
0
Share:

On the 3rd of October 2019 on the World Economic Forum website, an article and video were published by an adviser close to Hasina[1]. It elaborated on the successes of the Bangladesh economy and the Hasina factor. The article and video spread like wildfire on social media and was shared by many. Putting aside the article which was written by someone close to the Hasina regime let’s look into the claims.

No one can deny that Bangladesh as a country has developed and progressed economically over the last ten years. The country has taken huge strides economically. Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest readymade garment (RMG) exporter, just behind China. 81% of its exports come from the RMG sector and the textile and apparel sector contributes around 20% to Bangladesh’s GDP. It employs around 20 million people in the country and is the major driving force of the country’s economy[2].

According to the Global Location Service Index, a market analysis tool offered by AT Karney, Bangladesh ranks 21st in IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing and software development. The country also has the second-largest number of freelancers worldwide, according to the Oxford Internet Institute, and more than 40,000 people work in the outsourcing industry, earning more than $300m (€267m) every year, according to the Bangladesh Association of Call Centre and Outsourcing (BACCO)[3]. A vast community of about 2.5 million Bangladeshi overseas workers further buoys the economy with remittances that jumped an annual 18% to top $15b in 2018[4]. Yet millions more of the talented youth each year leave the country and go abroad looking for jobs and opportunities creating a brain drain.

Bangladesh on the surface is doing very well, but is it the Hasina factor that is alone in driving this success? When you open up the country to private investors and organisations giving them tax breaks, and industrial zones, naturally they would want to move their factories to Bangladesh.

It seems not only is Bangladesh doing well, but key Western clothing firms on the high streets of America and Britain are doing better by paying peanuts and getting high dividends for their investors[5].

When workers strike over pay and conditions they have been killed, tortured, and sacked and made to fall in line. [6]

No-one is talking about the clear and obvious elephant in the room, foreign debt. Bangladesh’s total external debt at the end of 2018 stood at around $33.1b [7]. It owes millions to countries like China, UK, America, India, Japan and Russia and on top of the debt is the interest.

In recent times the flow of money for infrastructure projects has seen the Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Russians build rail, roads, bridges, and power infrastructure on a huge scale in Bangladesh. If Bangladesh struggles to repay this debt it may become like Sri Lanka, who lost its port as collateral. [8]

In the short term, Bangladesh will continue to do well and improve like China if it follows the capitalist model of economics, but unlike China these loans will come to bite at some point. The capitalist system focuses on economic growth instead of the distribution of wealth to the extent that growth is taken as something sacred and as a magical solution to economic problems. Bernard Shaw, the European philosopher and critic, who was bald and had a thick beard, said, “Capitalism is like this head of mine and this beard of mine: high in production and unjust in distribution.”

Under an Islamic governance, Bangladesh could excel even further economically without the heavy reliance and interference of foreign investors and countries. Under Islam, instead of serving the interests of the few capitalists it would seek to serve the interests of this noble Ummah. Currently, the government is funding these mega projects by imposing exploitative income tax and VAT and increasing the price of gas and electricity for the common person. The Khilafah Rashidah (rightly guided Caliphate), which is going to be established soon by the leave of Allah (swt), will not only abolish all sorts of exploitative capitalist apparatuses, but will also transform the debt-based production culture into a culture of equitable ownership-based participation in economic activities. Only then will the default problem be solved from the root and optimum circulation of wealth will be ensured among people. Allah (swt) says:

كَيْ لَا يَكُونَ دُولَةً بَيْنَ الْأَغْنِيَاء مِنكُمْ

“so that it will not be a perpetual distribution among the rich from among you” [Al-Hashr: 7].

Bangladesh has the manpower, it has the resources, it has the youthful and innovative population, and it has a resilient and adaptable population to become a shining beacon, not only in Bangladesh but to the world.

Countries like Bangladesh need to think outside the capitalist model as it’s not the only system of success out there.

Indeed the economic system of Islam under the Khilafah state is the only system that provides a secure and prosperous economic life, free from calamities and crises for the people. This is the system revealed and mandated by Allah (swt), who is the Creator and knows what is best for His creatures. He (swt) says:

أَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ

“Should not He Who has created know? And He is the Most Kind and Courteous” [Al-Mulk: 14].

—————————–

[1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/the-secret-to-bangladesh-s-economic-success-the-sheikh-hasina-factor/
[2] https://medium.com/@stitchdiary/what-makes-bangladesh-a-hub-of-garment-manufacturing-ce83aa37edfc
[3] https://www.dw.com/en/bangladesh-emerging-as-a-new-it-hub-in-south-asia/a-48728439
[4] https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Cover-Story/The-rise-and-rise-of-Bangladesh
[5] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/21/low-wages-garment-workers-bangladesh-analysis
[6] https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/03/05/bangladesh-investigate-dismissals-protesting-workers
[7] https://www.dw.com/en/is-bangladesh-falling-into-a-chinese-debt-trap/a-49556829
[8] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/world/asia/china-sri-lanka-port.html

TagsBangladesh
Previous Article

The US Plan for South Asia

Next Article

Imran Khan is Losing Wickets but Claims ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • Viewpoint

    Visit to Bangladesh

    January 28, 2019
    By Editor
  • Local Da'wahPress Releases

    Abrar Fahad’s Murder Exposes Hasina’s Treachery to Allow Indian Dominance of Bangladesh

    October 13, 2019
    By Yahya Nisbet
  • National Da'wah

    Event review: Bangladesh National Election 2018

    December 20, 2018
    By Editor
  • Viewpoint

    A political analysis of the recent Iraqi oil auction

    March 8, 2010
    By Editor
  • More Islam

    Western Civilisation Threatened by the Hijab

    March 17, 2017
    By Editor
  • Khilafah explainedReal Change

    Accountability without Western Democracy

    March 1, 2011
    By Editor

Liberate Al Aqsa

Join US on Telegram

Podcast

Latest Posts

Press Releases

Protest in London Says No To More Democracy, Yes to the Khilafah

Members of Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain, alongside supporters from the Muslim community, gathered on Saturday 7th May 2022 at the Pakistan High Commission in London to protest against US ...
  • Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain to Protest American Interference in Pakistan’s Politics

    By Yahya Nisbet
    May 1, 2022
  • Public Demonstration – Independence Not Intervention

    By Editor
    April 22, 2022
  • VIDEO : [LIVESTREAMED] Pakistan in Crisis: The Players, Politics, and People

    By Editor
    April 20, 2022
  • The Geopolitics of Badr

    By Editor
    April 17, 2022
  • Making Sense of Pakistan

    By Editor
    April 16, 2022
  • Muslims in Britain Should Speak Out Against the Pakistani Leadership’s Surrender of Kashmir

    By Yahya Nisbet
    April 15, 2022
  • Muslims in Britain should support the call for the Khilafah in Pakistan

    By Yahya Nisbet
    April 12, 2022
  • Press Centre