Early history which led the destruction of
Muslim League in East Pakistan, 1950s. Before the
partition,
region of Bengal was one of the important centres 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 the1
Communist Party of India. After the partition, communist activities were reorganised in newly established Pakistan. In 1949, the Awami Muslim League, the predecessor of the modern
Awami League, was established with the aim of establishing an exploitation-free society and the abolishment of the
zamindar system. During the
1954 provincial elections in
East Pakistan, the Awami League-led
United Front gained the exclusive mandate in East Pakistan. Earlier in 1950, the
Communist Party of Pakistan played a major role in labour strikes in support of the
language movement. The Communist Party, with support from the United Front, formed a democratic government in East Pakistan.
Socialist era (1972–1975) After the
Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, some socialistic approaches were taken by the
Government of Bangladesh, increasing state participation in the productive activities of the economy, with the goal of improving the
economic status of the war ridden country. With a view of establishing a socialist nation under a
Soviet economic model, many large and medium-sized enterprises and public utility enterprises were nationalised. On 26 March 1972 all banks (excluding the branches of foreign banks), and all insurance companies, were nationalised.
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 belonged 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, the
Awami League, became the
de facto vanguard party. However, these initiatives resulted a rise of
left-wing insurgency in the country, and many anti-AL organisations broke out, like the
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD) and
Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party. A paramilitary force named the
Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini (JRB) was formed to handle the insurgence, which eventually resulted in
extrajudicial killings,
enforced disappearances and atrocities. The economy also saw a backslide. The reformation process left only small and cottage industries for the
private sector. This was because the
agricultural sector was left to the private sector, which comprised about 80% of the national economy. In 1974,
a great famine broke out in the country, which emerges the mismanagement and failure of the system. On 24 February 1975, due to increasing insurgency and political and economic mismanagement, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for a socialist revolution in the country, named the
Second Revolution. Using the powers granted to him by the fourth
amendment of the constitution, he formed a new political party, the
Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BaKSAL). It would be the only party allowed in Parliament, with Bangladesh becoming a one-party state. The party advocated for
state socialism as a part of its reforms under the theory of Second Revolution. BaKSAL was the decision making council to achieve the objectives of the Second Revolution. The government also restricted civil liberties and most newspapers were banned. Growing insurgency, political and economic mismanagements and JRB atrocities formed an anti-Mujibist and anti socialist sentiment in the military. On 15 August 1975, Mujib along with his most of the family members was assassinated. Four of his closest allies and leading figures of the Revolution
were killed on 3 November in that year. With the
assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, BaKSAL was dissolved, and Second Revolution failed. It was removed from the constitution and replaced with a multi party state in April 1979.
Post-socialist era After the assassination of Mujib in 1975, new military leaders launched a de-Mujibization and liberalisation programme develop a capitalist society. During the years of military rule that followed under
Ziaur Rahman (1975-1981) and
Hussain Muhammad Ershad (1982-1990), socialist policies and rhetoric were abandoned. Zia withdrawn most of the policies of the Second revolution and reintroduced
multi-party representative system. Liberal and progressivist political parties were revived, and JaSad as well as other revolutionary
Marxist–Leninist political parties were crushed during the post-coup purges.
Relationships with United States and other
Western Bloc countries also improved by that time. The
Economy of Bangladesh saw de-socialisation as well as de-centralisation by this time. Many state-owned enterprises were privatised like banking, telecommunication, aviation, media, and jute. Trade liberalisation and exports promoted. Economic policies aimed at encouraging private enterprise and investment, privatising public industries, reinstating budgetary discipline, and liberalising the import regime were accelerated.
Contemporary Bangladesh Today, contemporary Bangladesh has among the most liberalised economies of South Asia. It is characterised as a
developing market economy. Awami League, the party which one time promoted socialism in the country, is currently encouraging free market economy and foreign investment. In 1991, Awami League president and
Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina claimed that socialism was a failed system. Bangladesh ranked 128th out of 178 countries in the 2017
Index of Economic Freedom. ==Parties==