Rise above petty thinking
Recently, an interesting report published in the DS caught my attention. It was regarding the Chhatra League's installation of a sculpture of Bangabandhu by removing a 31-year old sculpture made by a freedom fighter at a hall of DU. I also found it disturbing that one of the Chhatra League activists has stated that Bangabandhu's sculpture deserves to be on that spot because Bangabandhu is a great leader, whereas the deposed sculpture of a former female student merely represented the emotion of the artist. Regrettably, these people don't understand that every great leader becomes 'distinguished' in people's heart by respecting the simple emotions and sentiments of the people. We the people make great leaders out of ordinary individuals by inspiring their visions and they in turn must give us enlightening directions. Bangabandhu couldn't become a great leader without the admiration of the valiant Bengalis. As a result, great leaders and their followers should always be generous and self-sacrificing. Unlike greedy dictators, great leaders do not install gigantic sculptures of themselves throughout the country. Instead, they work for the people without any bias or self-interest. That's what makes them even greater. Great leaders respect general people's sentiments and their followers should also strive to uphold the luminous examples set by them. Lamentably, many people in our country fail to grasp these simple facts. In our country, when a political party comes to power it doesn't only politicise the entire administration but it also strives to restructure people's sentiments. In Bangladesh, the ruling political party is often keen to rename many central institutions. However, it usually does little to make them more efficient. Consequently, even though these institutions bear the name of an iconic leader, they fail to honour the greatness of the name. Similarly, the ruling party is generally more eager to hang photos of its eminent leaders in government offices than ensuring tangible changes for the general masses. The ruling party even endeavours to conquer our inner world by rewriting textbooks and by distorting the nation's history. These are certainly not the characteristics of a liberal democracy. These are rather the totalitarian traits that characterize our political parties and their activists. Our political parties must understand the fact that no one is greater in a democracy than the people themselves. Coming back to the sculpture issue, I believe that the CL activists should have been circumspect enough to respect the sentiment of the local residents and the freedom fighter artist of the deposed sculpture. People generally do not like drastic changes, especially if the changes are forcefully imposed upon them. Human heart is mysterious and often the simplest feeling can occupy a very special place in its realm. Every single emotion has its own space in human heart and it's not wise for political parties to disturb that order.
It's quite natural in our country that the activists of the ruling party will tend to view the nation as their private property. They seldom respect the 'ordinary sentiments' of 'the ordinary people', who were idiotic enough to elect them in the first place!
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