Socialism () is one of the fundamental principles of the Constitution of Bangladesh, along with nationalism, democracy and Secularism. The constitution names Bangladesh as a people's republic, and declares all powers to be vested to the people. However, in Bangladesh, as a liberal democracy, the reference of "socialism" is generally used to describe the state's goal to construct an exploitation-free society, rather than its original meaning and implementation, which is characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. The constitution allows cooperative and private ownership along with state ownership.
Socialist and democratic socialist political parties played a key role the independence movement of both British India and Bangladesh. Upon the independence in 1971, country's founding leaders shaped the economy of Bangladesh as a socialist economy as described in the constitution, however, liberal democracy wasn't scrapped. But due to economic mismanagement and political turmoil, the economic system resulted in a stagnation, with the deadly famine of 1974 further created a humanitarian crisis. In 1975, the country's political structure was reorganised in a one-party socialist republic with BAKSAL being the sole legitimate political party. After the 15 August 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état and 1982 Bangladesh coup d'état, reformist military leaders would redefine socialism with social justice in 1979 and eventually introduce market and property reforms to push to a capitalist system. In 2011, the term "socialism" and "socialist" were again redefined to make the constitution more in line with the original document, but the country remained a liberal mixed economy.
Constitution
Words "socialism" and "socialist" appear several times in the Bangladeshi constitution. In the constitution, the concept of socialism is seems to be more fiscal and social then political. Preamble briefly mentions the socialist principle and aim of the state:
Article 7 declares the people's relationship with the state:
Article 8 of the re-describes the preamble's reference to socialism as the fundamental principle:
Article 10 defines the characteristics of the socialist economy and freedom from exploitation:
Further, Article 14 of the constitution pledges to ensure the emancipation of the peasants and workers:
Likewise to the socialist states, Article 17 calls for free and compulsory education system:
Article 20 of the constitution best describes the socialist features of economy with the famous Marxist phrase "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his work", inspiring from the Soviet constitution:
History
Early history
Before the partition, region of Bengal was one of the important centers of revolutionary activities in British India. Bengali leaders played a vital role to introduce and assemble socialism as well as communism in India, such as Muzaffar Ahmad, co-founder of Communist Party of India.
After partition, communist activities were re-organized in newly established Pakistan. In 1949, Awami Muslim League, the predecessor of modern Awami League, was established aiming to establish exploitation-free society and abolishment of zamindar system. During the 1954 provincial elections in East Pakistan, Awami League-led United Front gained the exclusive mandate in East Pakistan. Earlier in 1950, Communist Party of Pakistan played a major role in labour strikes for the support of the language movement. The Communist Party, with support from the United front, formed a democratic government in East Pakistan. In 1958, the government in East Pakistan was dismissed by the central government.
Socialist era (1972–1975)
After the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, some socialistic approaches were taken by the Government of Bangladesh, increasing state participation in the productive activities to improve the economic status of the war ridden country. With a view to establishing a socialist nation under a Soviet economic model, many large and medium-sized enterprises and public utility enterprises were nationalized. On 26 March 1972, all banks, and all insurance companies excluding the branches of foreign banks were nationalized.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president and the "founding father" of the country, advocated socialism and secularism in the country. According to him, the country's wealth belongs to all the people of Bangladesh. Everybody will have share in whatever would be produced. Exploitation would be stopped. The constitution was highly dominated by socialist ideas and his party Awami League became the de facto vanguard party.