If you were in Bandung, Indonesia in April, you wouldn’t have been able to avoid the 2015 Asian-African Commemoration Conference. The streets were decorated with colorful flags and banners depicting the now iconic leaders who��attended the same event��in 1955.

At that��time, it was one of then-President Sukarno’s proudest moments. Aimed at targeting colonialism and neocolonialism, the conference brought together countries in a bid to strengthen Afro-Asian relations.

Representatives of many countries were invited to participate in the 2015 festivals and promote their cultures and traditions. I was there representing my own country, the Netherlands.

The representatives were well-taken care of: They were put in the best hotels the city had to offer; they were led around the city by young and enthusiastic guides; and they even had their own assigned bodyguard and driver. Needless to say, we were pampered.

Guests��were taught the “Asian-African Carnival dance” by professional dancers and were invited to participate in a 20,000-strong Angklung (a traditional Sundanese musical instrument) concert, setting a new record for the Guinness Book of Records.

Alongside the carnival, a formal Asian-African Summit was held, which was attended by world leaders and representatives from dozens of countries, showing that many Asian and African nations��were��committed to keeping the Bandung Spirit of 1955 alive.

Three important documents were signed at its conclusion. The first was a renewal of the commitment to the Bandung Spirit, upon which Indonesian President Joko Widodo�� that “solidarity, friendship and cooperation are still relevant as the world is still imbalanced, far from fairness and peace.” The other two were the Declaration on Re-invigorating the New Asian African Strategic Partnership and the Declaration on Palestine.

Events like these are ever more important in a world that has seen increasing��hardship over the past decade. It’s good to see that this conference��was��so well-received by its visitors both in the cultural and��political sense. Amid the rise of religious extremism, growing inequality and the controversy surrounding the Bali executions, it is important to keep dialogue going and raise awareness of each other’s cultures and traditions.

The Indonesian tourism minister�� his desire to make the Asian-Africa Carnival an annual��event after seeing the success in April. Let’s hope this becomes a reality.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51�Թ�’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit:��Umang��Kochhar

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As a traveler exploring , the scale and pace of development in the country is hard��to miss. Wherever you��look, there is some form of construction or renovation — from old office blocks getting new paint jobs to new luxury hotels being built next to them.

Money is flowing into Myanmar at a staggering rate, and no time is being wasted in putting it to good use. At least that is how it appears on the surface. However, there is more to the country than what its enthusiastic tourists see.

With an 8.5% growth expected in 2015, ��Myanmar’s economy is doing quite well. Deregulation and financial incentives have made it easier for both national and international businesses to set up shop. Foreign investors, with at the top of the list, are flooding into the country. For the first time, services such as cellular carriers and Internet companies are gradually expanding outside main cities, connecting the rural and remote areas to the outside world, which in itself generates more business opportunities for everyone. ATMs, which were rare outside major��cities until recently, are now available throughout most of Myanmar.

Politically, too, the country has moved forward considerably. The release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, the comparative freedom of the press and the revival of political debates in parliament have impressed the world, which looks on with both enthusiasm and caution. The National League for Democracy’s (NLD) self-imposed ban on tourism has been lifted, and travelers have begun pouring in, introducing locals to foreign ways and customs, while simultaneously contributing their two cents to economic growth. Peace treaties are being negotiated in a bid to end the numerous insurgencies.

There are signs of progress all around, but that is to be expected from a country coming out of 50 years of isolation. However, can Myanmar keep this up? All positive signs aside, the answer to that question is far from certain.

Concerns for the Economy

Infrastructure-wise, there are a myriad of challenges Myanmar has to deal with. Due to prolonged isolation, the country’s��infrastructure is severely underdeveloped and is unequipped to meet logistical demands. Roads, railways, ports and airports all need expansion and modernization. Myanmar��severely lacks decent public transportation systems. The roads of Yangon, the former capital and main trading hub, are vexed by traffic jams. The city’s circular railway, unchanged for , is unequipped to deal with present-day commuter demands. There are talks of building a modern subway, but it is unclear when construction will start, if at all.

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Education is another hurdle as the country is desperately in need of an educated and skilled workforce, as well as institutions to train them. Apart from that, Myanmar suffers from corruption, illegal trade, data-insufficiency, lack of transparency and the absence of a solid legal system — all of which need reform to support a stable free-market economy.

On a positive note, Myanmar’s transformation has resulted in world powers such as China and the trying to pull it into their respective spheres of influence. Additionally, Myanmar’s membership to the (ASEAN) has pushed its focus more toward Southeast Asia, especially since it became part of the ASEAN Economic Community launched in January 2015. Benefits aside, this also leaves the country more vulnerable to the ups and downs of the global economy, which has��seen better days.

Whither Democratization?

Myanmar’s democratization process is laudable, and the country has made a lot of headway in the past five years. However, it would be unwise to assume that Myanmar’s plan to transition to democracy will be one as ambitious as in 1998. An indicator is its military, the Tatmadaw, which holds 25% of the Union Assembly and its state and regional legislators – reminiscent of Indonesia at the height of authoritarian rule, instead of its reformation period.

It is important to remember that Myanmar’s military leadership has firmly entrenched itself in the newly-built capital, Naypyitaw. This makes the new capital somewhat of a paradox: Why would the Tatmadaw go through the trouble of building a new and secure administrative center for itself, but reduce its own power by initiating democratic reforms not ten years later?

It raises further questions as to how far the Tatmadaw is willing to democratize, and whether or not it is moving toward a pseudo-democracy like or . If the latter is true, the next question would be why the Tatmadaw opted for democratization — out of choice or out of self-preservation?

Among the most pressing internal issues Myanmar faces today is the status of its people. The 2014 Rakhine State Action Plan — which only grants citizenship to those Rohingyas who register themselves as Bengali, despite been born and raised in Myanmar — has further deteriorated their position. The government has assured the community it will revise the plan in 2015, but that does not guarantee the betterment of the Rohingya situation, especially amid religious extremism and the government’s nonchalance. Democratic reforms are showing signs of slowing down as general elections inch closer.

For this��same reason, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is silent on the Rohingya issue. Since her release, she has changed from a symbol of peace and progress to that of a politician more calculative of her actions.

Identity

Considering its past, most of Myanmar can be viewed as a post-conflict society, though ethnic conflicts haven’t ended everywhere. A lion’s share of the population, however, is now in the process of defining its identity.

Technological inroads have slowly begun to play a more defining role in that process. Following years of isolation, the sudden surge in people-to-people contact with the outside world has influenced the development of Myanmar’s cultural identity. has already been identified as a trend, and it is especially visible among the youth due to the popularity of Korean cinema and K-pop. Globalization comes to the fore, particularly��in the application of thanaka paste on the face, along with cosmetics and Western clothing.

Additionally, is a noticeable trend that needs to be addressed. Myanmar is the scene of a major heroin epidemic, especially in Kachin State where the problem has grown to such proportions that used syringes litter river banks and spill out of metal garbage cans. Fueled by ethnically motivated insurgency and the proximity of Myanmar’s biggest jade mines, the use of heroin and opium have become widespread among over 65% of the poverty stricken population. Rows of people are getting their fix out in the open without fear of prosecution.

Government officials blame the ongoing insurgency, which keeps them from implementing more programs that work toward eliminating drugs in the region. Local Christian communities stepped up��to fill the gaps, but they are fighting an uphill battle, while many recovering addicts quickly relapse after rehabilitation treatment.

This makes it ever more important for a balance to be found in giving every ethnicity a place in Myanmar’s society. It is on this issue the country currently struggles with the most. Rohingyas were not the only minority excluded from Myanmar’s 2014 census. Sadly, plans for a more federalized Myanmar, including incorporating insurgent armies into a Federal Army, are progressing slowly and experiencing setbacks. On February 17, President Thein Sein handed over power to the military and a three-month period of martial law in Kokang Region, northeastern Shan State, following intense fighting between ethnic-minority rebels and the army.

Myanmar has not set itself up for an easy task, and progress remains vulnerable to setbacks. It will take time, and most likely no substantial change will occur before the new government assumes office after the December 2015 national elections.

However, the country has momentum and is spurred on by the international community to keep reforming itself. There appears to be reasonable willingness from various actors within Myanmar to reform the country by working together rather than against each other.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51�Թ�’s editorial policy.

Photo credit: ��/����/��

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When I arrived in on October 30, I had no knowledge of , save for what I had learned at university during a couple of lectures on and its aftermath in . My taxi ride to the hotel was uneventful. The roads were relatively quiet and people seemed to be going about their business as usual. I��arrived safe and sound. Everything seemed to be perfectly fine.

Then I switched on my phone and laptop and the messages flooded in. “Be careful, a plot to assassinate the prime minister has been discovered,” my friend from neighboring wrote. “There are protests going on because of the death sentence of the ’s , be safe,” was another message from a friend in New Delhi. Then the hotel staff knocked on my door and advised me not to leave the premises because there was a ��(political protest or strike) going on and it might unsafe for me as a foreigner.

I searched online for more information and discovered that Bangladeshi society is still marked by the events of the country’s 1971 liberation . The verdicts of Bangladesh’s ��on the fates of alleged war criminals spark a wide range of emotions among citizens. In the past, hartals and other protests often became violent, leading to vandalism, violence and death on multiple . There are also reports that the tribunal’s verdicts were highly politicized. The mark of — even corruption — surrounding the trials��has polarized public opinion and added to tension in Bangladesh.

Perhaps I visited the country at a bad time, I wondered. But, at the same time, I thought this was clearly an important moment��for Bangladesh as a nation, and I had a front row seat to watch it all unfold. Other questions arose in my mind: Considering its past, do the protests over the verdicts mean that Bangladesh is again in turmoil? Or is it developing a civil society that is expressing its opinion over the��government’s actions? If so, is this the next step in Bangladesh’s as a state?

Dhaka, Bangladesh © Shutterstock

Since independence, Bangladesh has struggled to establish political stability and . Over the years, controversial , political feuds and have put an enormous on the country. For any nation to achieve political stability, it is imperative that government and alike are able to settle their differences peacefully through mutual understanding and dialogue. The bloody protests and clashes of 2013 show that Bangladesh was unable to achieve that. Will Bangladeshis be able to do so now? If��hartals��proceed peacefully, can��that be seen as a sign of improving stability or just as a deviation from the trend?

Encountering the Rallies

The next day, all seemed quiet and peaceful, but I was still on guard. I stayed indoors for the remainder of the day — a chance to relax and get my bearings. There was a hartal that day, and there were hartals scheduled for November 2-3^��as well. So, I thought the next day would be safer to venture out.

That night, over dinner, other guests at��the hotel who were volunteering in the country advised me to be careful during hartals. Some volunteers were not even allowed to go far from the hotel on strike days, as instructed by their employers.

But I was curious to go out and explore. After all, I had never visited Bangladesh, and I didn’t want to spend my whole time in a hotel. From what I had seen, there were no indications that the country was in any kind of turmoil. I never felt I was in danger. On the contrary, all the Bangladeshis I met were kind and helpful.

The next day, I set out on my own. I believed that as long as I stayed away from��hartals��I would be fine. With a map in one hand and a camera in the other, I began exploring. I walked, I watched and I observed — cars going by, rickshaws ringing their bells, people on the streets. Everything seemed quite normal, quite peaceful.

The streets didn’t feel different at all the next day, despite a hartal��occurring. In fact, the streets were comparatively quieter and life seemed to go on as usual. To satisfy my curiosity, I decided to go to to see rallies in support of the recent tribunal verdicts. I believed those to be safer to attend than the hartals. When I arrived, there was no sign of a rally. The square was occupied by merchants selling food and drinks; students stood together in groups and the place had a positive atmosphere.

The rally that took place in the morning had since concluded. I went to a stand belonging to the Gonojagoron Moncho (Public Awareness Platform), a Bangladeshi group closely monitoring the proceedings of the tribunal. In the past, they have been able to rally thousands to protest against verdicts that were perceived as too lenient. I spoke with one of the activists; he was very keen to give me more information and then invited me to join them at the rally the following morning. So, naturally, I accepted the invitation and found myself standing at Shahbag Square yet again the next day.

Dhaka, Bangladesh © Shutterstock

The rally was much smaller than I expected, though this was probably because people were demonstrating��in support of the latest batch of verdicts, not against. There couldn’t have been over 150 people actively participating in the rally. There was an army of photographers and journalists scurrying about like ants, onlookers watching from a distance and, of course, the police, keeping a watchful eye over everything. There was a lot of shouting, lauding the independence of Bangladesh and about delivering justice to those who wronged it, amplified by megaphones set up throughout the square.

The activist I spoke to the previous day untangled himself from the mass of shouting people to greet me and invited me to join the march up and down the street. I politely declined. This wasn’t my country; this wasn’t my rally. I was there as a neutral observer, watching Bangladesh take another step toward reconciling itself with a troubled past.

I wondered if the people showed the same level of participation in political affairs other than those of the tribunal. A 2008 by the Asian Development Bank showed that ��(NGO) are very active in the political field, jumping into many of the legal and human rights gaps left by the government. However, this leaves the government vulnerable to becoming too dependent on NGOs. After all, it is a government’s job to ensure all legal and to its citizens. It is a telling��sign that 44 years since independence, NGOs are still needed to bridge the same gaps in Bangladesh.

The rally went on peacefully. A short while later, I left to explore other parts of the city. There was��no sign of a��hartal or disturbance elsewhere.

The following day, I took a bus to Bagerhat to see the mangrove forest Bangladesh is known for. Here, too, people warned me of hartals��but also assured that they were��mostly centered in and around Dhaka and that Bagerhat was safe. They were right: I didn’t find anything but regular people going about their everyday business. The hartals seemed far away. I did read in the newspapers that there had been with the police in Dhaka and a couple of vehicles had been burned.

This gave more weight to the warnings everyone had given me about��hartals, and it raises the question as to whether or not Jamaat-e-Islami —��an Islamist political organization that was banned by the incumbent government, and one that is an ally of the����(BNP), the main opposition —��will sit idly by while its leading members continue to be prosecuted. In addition, what will these verdicts mean for Bangladesh in the long-term, especially looking at the country’s social and political future, given the increasing of the Islamist party? The further development of this trend will prove to be another test for the stability of Bangladesh and its ability to uphold its values – especially with groups linked to trying to gain a in the country.

Reflections

Even though calls by Jamaat-e-Islami��are not always heeded, the fear of new escalations throwing the country into turmoil yet again is real. Tensions might still flare up as the war crimes tribunal��continues. A 2014����of all clashes and arrests in Bangladesh reveals that a good deal of��tension brews beneath the country’s seemingly calm surface

While the country��enjoys one of its more politically stable periods since achieving��independence from��, Bangladesh remains on edge. The main weakness in the nation’s stability and largest hindrance to its development is the ongoing feud between opposition leader Khaleda Zia and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladesh needs constructive political discourse. The BNP and the Awami League must stop pitting their supporters against one another,��so lives are not lost in the process. Just as importantly, Bangladeshis need to realize that only dialogue and mutual understanding will lead to progress and development; violence is never the answer. A society less susceptible to the squabbling of political rivalry is less prone to fall into chaos.

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The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51�Թ�’s editorial policy.

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