From the Politics of Protest to the Politics of Construction
There is a striking absence in our politics, religious discourse, economic thinking and education policy: a determination to set examples through constructive work.
We make speeches, hold religious gatherings, organise rallies, demonstrations and human chains, and sometimes announce so-called long marches.
Such activities can be legitimate forms of democratic participation. Protest has its place in any functioning democracy. But a more fundamental question needs to be asked: what concrete change do these activities ultimately produce in people’s lives?
Have they created enough jobs? Reduced the pressure of rising prices? Made food and other essentials more affordable? Eased Dhaka’s traffic congestion? Reduced the backlog of court cases? Improved law and order, education and public health? Most importantly, have we transformed our vast pool of relatively unskilled workers into a highly skilled workforce? If the answers remain unsatisfactory, we must ask whether our political culture has become too preoccupied with mobilisation and too little concerned with construction.
Protest Is a Means, Not an End
There is nothing inherently wrong with demonstrations, rallies or political protest. They can expose injustice, mobilise public opinion and compel governments to address neglected issues. But protest is a means, not an end.
The real test of politics should not be how many people a party can bring to a rally, how many speeches its leaders can deliver or how powerful its slogans are.
The more important questions are: What will it build? How many productive jobs will it create? How will it improve schools and hospitals? How will it raise agricultural productivity? How will it make cities more liveable? How will it make the courts more efficient?
Politics should ultimately be concerned with results.
Lessons from East Asia
The experiences of Japan, South Korea, China, Malaysia and Singapore deserve serious attention—not because their political systems or historical circumstances were identical to Bangladesh’s, but because they demonstrate the importance of sustained investment in human capability, productive sectors, infrastructure, technology and international trade.
South Korea provides a particularly instructive example.
A resource-poor country placed extraordinary emphasis on education and industrial upgrading. Its transformation into a major industrial and technological economy was supported by investment in human capital and productive capacity.
China’s transformation has likewise involved massive investment in infrastructure, manufacturing, human capital, technology and export capacity.
Singapore, despite limited natural resources, built an economy around human skills, infrastructure, logistics, institutions and international commerce.
Malaysia also demonstrates the importance of moving beyond primary production towards manufacturing and higher-value activities.
The common lesson is not that these countries followed one identical model. They did not. The lesson is that development requires sustained attention to productive capacity.
Bangladesh’s Unfinished Task
Bangladesh has made substantial progress. Poverty has declined significantly, access to electricity has expanded dramatically, and the country has become a major global apparel exporter. Yet serious challenges remain.
The World Bank reports that job creation has not kept pace with the expanding working-age population.
Between 2016 and 2022, 14 million young people became working-age adults, but only 8.7 million jobs were added.
Manufacturing employment actually declined during that period despite strong manufacturing growth.
The problem, therefore, is not simply unemployment. It is the shortage of productive, adequately paid and skill-intensive employment.
The World Bank has also reported that about half of Bangladesh’s youth aged 15–29 are in low-paying jobs, pointing to a significant skills mismatch.
This should make education and skills development a central political issue.
Education Must Produce Capability
Education cannot be confined to examinations and certificates.
A modern education system must develop literacy, numeracy, scientific reasoning, technical competence, communication skills and the capacity for lifelong learning.
Education and skills are foundational to productive employment, economic growth and social mobility.
Bangladesh therefore needs a much closer relationship between education and employment.
Universities should be connected with research and industry. Technical and vocational institutions should be strengthened.
Apprenticeships should become a respected route into employment. Digital and technological skills should reach young people beyond the major cities.
There are already examples of what targeted skills programmes can achieve.
A World Bank-supported programme in Bangladesh reported that more than 17,200 young people had completed apprenticeships, with almost 90 percent subsequently employed or running microenterprises.
The lesson is important: skills development should be treated as an economic investment, not merely as a social programme.
Politics Needs a New Measure of Success
Our political culture needs a fundamental change in its definition of achievement. A political leader should not be asked only: How many people attended your rally?
The questions should also be:
How many productive jobs did you create?
How many young people did you train?
How many schools became better?
How many hospitals became more effective?
How much did agricultural productivity increase?
How much did the time required to obtain justice decline?
How much did the efficiency of public administration improve? These are harder questions because they require measurable results.
Religion and Social Responsibility
The same principle can apply to religious and social activity. Religious gatherings and sermons can contribute to moral education and social solidarity.
But religious consciousness becomes more meaningful when it translates into service to humanity.
Mosques, madrasas and religious organisations can contribute more actively to literacy, technical training, poverty reduction, healthcare, rehabilitation, employment and assistance to disadvantaged people.
The social value of religious commitment should be visible not only in the number of gatherings held or speeches delivered, but also in the lives improved through service.
From Power Politics to Nation-Building
The central problem is not that we protest too much. It is that we often construct too little.
A rally can be organised in a day. Building a good school may take years. A speech can be delivered in an hour.
Training a skilled engineer may take two decades. A political slogan can spread instantly. Building a productive industry requires capital, management, technology and patience.
The question is whether our politics can make the same transition—from mobilisation to production, from slogans to solutions, and from short-term political competition to long-term nation-building.
The Politics of Construction
Politics is ultimately about the organisation of collective life. Power is important, but power should be a means of serving society, not its final objective.
The greatest achievement of a political party should therefore not be how many times it has captured power.
It should be what it has built while exercising power.
We need a politics that competes over schools, skills, jobs, hospitals, industries, technology, infrastructure, justice and human dignity.
We need a culture in which political parties compete not merely to organise the largest procession, but to present the most credible plan for creating productive employment and improving public services.
Bangladesh does not lack people, ambition or potential. What it urgently needs is a system capable of converting these assets into productivity.
The question before us is simple but fundamental: Will we continue to practise politics primarily for gaining power, or will we develop a politics whose ultimate purpose is to build a better country?
The answer will determine not merely who governs Bangladesh, but what kind of Bangladesh we leave for the next generation.
(The writer is a Columnist and Advisory Editor of The New Nation)
