A testing year
After browsing through the first Supplement of The Daily Star's 19th anniversary issue, I sighed with relief. The learned contributors have pointed out issues which are not broached by our politicians and by the MPs in national parliament. The well-off political leaders handle national issues through the party angles and give lower priority to mass issues which are not in party interest. This sham display of political rhetoric in depicting democracy continues even after four decades after the learning process started since 1972. This Supplement spotlighted views from the non-political society leaders.
But their views are sidelined by the political regimes, due to lack of variety in our politics (only two major parties dominate the field and these too are dynasty rules). Inability to resist temptation (to quick riches through the back doors) is a regular bug in the newly emerging countries which aspire to become nations. Therefore there is lack of internal discipline, and democracy exists only in the manifestoes and on papers.
Bangladesh has the potential to rise as natural bounty abounds in this deltaic region of abundant water and fertile lands, and huge natural resources. But the main actors, namely the farmers, have hardly any place in society. Power is centralised in Dhaka, ignoring the nurturing of the upazila and Union Councils (Dhaka is dying due to the overcrowding effect). The civil service has been politicised, Rajuk is overloaded, and the DCC reforms are urgently pending. The police are protecting the rulers; and the campus environment has turned volatile (the cradle of future leaders is being nipped in the bud). The ACC is hamstrung; and the steps towards the administrative impendence of the judiciary are proceeding at a slow pace. The MPs are using subsidized air-conditioned vehicles (imported), while the voters continue to patronize the cycle rickshaws, which are shooed away from the main roads in the big cities.
The political culture is not changing. The initiative will not come from the politicians, but through mass movement. Office-bearership and misuse of power and position are rampant. For this state of affairs, the top leadership is responsible (the umbrella effect sought by the sycophants).
The spirit of the Language Movement has evaporated, leaving the political playing field uncontested. This vacuum cannot continue for long.
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