Afsan Chowdhury, Journalist and Researcher: Civil society is the force outside the government. It is comprised of the people who are not directly involved in party politics. It is not that they can contribute a lot politically, but they can influence politics to some extent.
Given the wide sphere of the government now, civil society has very limited scope to play any role, as well as the political parties too. Civil society has also become politicized now. Most of the members of the civil society are now partisans in one way or other. There is no evidence to suggest that they are working independently.
Our civil society has become much weaker. The talk-show personalities are in much stronger position instead. Talk shows have now become institutionalized in the country. If the comments of the people outside of politics are in any way political, they are coming through talkshows. The civil society is more media-centric now. Also, their roles are much dependent on the freedom of the media.
Those who are involved in left-wing politics are no longer as strong as before. They too have some problems. Involving people through their activities is one of them where they are failing miserably. Since, the common people are so concerned about the bread and butter; they hardly have the time to think about the environment and its long-term impact.
The government is in a stronger position now. It can be said that no one has the ability to talk against them. Any movement of the society has now become the movement of the civil society.
Translated by Sofian Khan.
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