Editorial
That decent act of protest
PM's derisive remark unfortunate
The presence of a sizeable segment of civic society at the Shahid Minar on Eid day protesting against deplorable conditions of the highways nettled the Prime Minister evoking a flippant riposte from her. She mocked at the demonstrators despite their choosing a peaceful novel way to highlight a serious public interest issue. We welcome the novel civil society initiative.
Whereas the PM should have been respectfully heedful of the civil society voice aired on a festive day she ridiculed them saying how could they have known the conditions of the highways sitting at Dhaka. Could we turn around her question and direct it to her: how could she herself give a clean chit to the highways since she didn't see at first hand the wretched state of the highways?
It is commonsensical to realize that the poor conditions of the roads are so self-evident that they cannot be made secret of and therefore made light of, either. The PM may be self-deluded into thinking that she has made a witty a remark but that's not how it has gone down with the public. On the contrary, the impression has gained a ground that she is being poorly informed, and what's worse, wrongly advised.
In a context, where party men, cronies and leaders compete with each other to ingratiate themselves to the supreme leader, the test of leadership lies in taking cognizance of a critical voice. Because that makes all the difference between governance and mis-governance and credibility and alienation from the people. Particularly where the opposition boycotts the parliament or refuses to play a pro-active role in the House, the civic society and the independent media practically provide the government's links to the people on critical issues.
The culture of dissent is of paramount importance to a vibrant pluralistic democracy. The civil society is from where the critical voice emanates on issues, small and large, affecting public interest. We don't say the civil
society will be hundred percent correct in it is views, yet it is a reliable reflector of a large segment politics-neutral public opinion. Rather than denigrating it, the government should be respectful to dissent in order to deliver public good.
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