Much better now!
I just came back from visiting Dhaka for two weeks in the middle of August. For the last one year, I have been following the events through your newspaper but this is the first time I had a first-hand experience of how life is in Dhaka. I am glad to say that whatever I saw was very encouraging. I was so glad to see so many positives in the daily lives of our families. To begin with, the airport experience was a breath of fresh air, everything was clean and orderly. I didn't see a single person around who had no reason to be there. I felt secured and safe when I was inside and when I got out. The streets were cleaner than last year when I last visited Dhaka. I also experienced much less traffic congestion.
I don't know whether I was lucky or it was the norm. The footpaths were not taken over by the street vendors. I could park our car in the parking lots of the malls without any problem. I went to New Market by rickshaw one day and it was not as bad as I saw it last year. Everyone I talked to said how much better their lives are in terms of security and peace. I heard complaints from the rickshaw-pullers about the one way traffic system in Dhanmondi but somehow they forgot to acknowledge that they are charging according to the extra distance they have to travel. I sensed a feeling that normal, hard working, honest people felt much better because they know they have done nothing wrong and nothing to be afraid about. Last year I had a feeling that honest people were pushed back to the end. They saw how corruption was eating up everything in the society. People gave up hope. We had a plot in Dhaka and it was taken away by people using forged papers and my dad went to court, police stations and no one could help him because the corrupt ones had everything in control. This time I could see that he was happy because the court did take the case and the police was investigating properly. So I can say first hand that this government brought a lot of good to the people.
I could also see unhappiness among the people who earned a lot of money using corruption and who started thinking corruption as a normal way of life. People who never pay taxes, who never abide by the rules are the unhappy ones. The street vendors who were selling things illegally occupying the footpaths are unhappy too. Drivers of cars who used to park anywhere they wish, were unhappy. In general I think all the rich people who earned money in a corrupt way or the people who earned money honestly but never paid taxes are the unhappy ones. The thing is they actually are still very strong and they don't want to see this government in power anymore. The corrupt BNP or AL is a much better option for them. They will do their level best to make sure that this government fails. I just hope whatever is started by this government is continued after the elections. I personally don't even want the election if it only brings back the failed leadership. That will be suicidal for our country's future.
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