Unite to fight against violent ideology of terrorism, ex-PM Cameron says from Dhaka

Former British prime minister David Cameron has called upon the world to unite under a common narrative to fight off the violent ideology of terrorism it is facing now.

In his view, it is “not just a fight against violent people, it’s a fight against violent ideology”.

“We only win if we unite against this ideology and then we can succeed and grow,” he said in an address to a group of politicians, former diplomats, academics and NGO activists in Dhaka on Thursday during a short private visit.

Apart from terrorism, he identified the ‘need of high-quality democracy’ and fight against corruption as the other two challenges confronting the world.

“This is not a clash between civilisations. It is a clash within a religion,” he said on the terrorism issue, adding that the vast majority of followers of Islam does not believe in the idea of extremism.

“If we believe that (it is a clash within a civilisation), all of our policies will be wrong,” he said, apparently rejecting the popular Samuel Huntington doctrine in which the American political scientist argued that the post-Cold War era would be marked by civilisational conflict.

To Cameron, “Terrorists want us to believe it is a clash between civilisations. Their whole narrative is that ultimately we (different religions) can’t live together. Their message to young Muslims is that it is impossible..you cannot survive and thrive in a society that is not one along the line of ISIL.”

Cameron, who resigned as prime minister last year after Brexit voting, met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, visited a garment factory in Dhaka, where the  UK Department for International Development (DFID) runs a project, and attended a closed-door roundtable of the International Growth Centre during his stay lasting less than 24 hours.

The Growth Centre is based at the London School of Economics and Political Science and in partnership with the University of Oxford, it works to promote sustainable growth in developing countries, based on 'high quality research'.

Cameron is the chair of a commission which was launched in March under the Growth Centre.

The British Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised the event at a hotel where he spoke before the diverse group.

He first apologised for not being able to visit Bangladesh during his six-year stint as prime minister. But he said he made it a priority to come here afterwards.

He highly praised Bangladesh’s development successes and said he was proud of Bangladesh for many reasons including for half a million British-Bangladeshis living in the UK.

“They enrich Britain and make it a better and stronger country."

Cameron said Bangladesh is also a shining example of how aid can be used for lifting poverty and ensuring better health and education for the people.

“To those who say aid does not work I would say 'come to Bangladesh and see what this has done',” he said, giving examples of how British aid benefitted people.

But the former prime minister said the next stage of Bangladesh’s development would involve massive investment in infrastructure and huge investment in energy as business continues to grow and also investments in skills and professional education.

And for that, he said, Britain would remain as a partner of Bangladesh as always even after the Brexit, as he sought to placate concerns about uncertainties once the UK leaves the European Union.

He said they would be working “even harder” with the friends like Bangladesh.

Speaking on the global challenges, he said one of them is to recongise the need for high quality democracy while growing as a successful country.

He said there is an argument that elections can be enough for democracy giving up all the “difficult things” – accountability, and rule of law which are the building blocks of democracy.

He said some argue that “this is the way of get things done, but I think this is completely wrong”.

“It produces bad government. It's bad for businesses,” Cameron said, adding that the whole world is facing this challenge.

On corruption, he called upon politicians across the globe for standing against the scourge  no country is 'immune to'.

“The idea that a little bit of corruption is okay….is wrong. It’s a cancer that destroys the faith in politics and faith in our country."

He also criticised the West for not enough to help poor countries curb corruption.

“The western world is lecturing everyone else about corruption, but the money is stolen in poor countries and hidden in rich countries,” he said, citing measures that he had taken in London during his tenure.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, who was present at the event, in a brief closing remark thanked Cameron for the visit and hoped that Bangladesh would get the same benefit it is now getting even after the Brexit.

He said the UK is Bangladesh’s third largest destination of exports.

Cameron left for London around 7.3Opm by an Emirates flight. The foreign ministry’s Director General (Europe) Mohammad Khorshed Alam Khastagir saw him off at the airport.