One Off
Politics or No Politics?
I have always been a born optimist despite the fact that we, as a nation, have recently been increasingly subjected to various transgressions. I have not lost hope in the goodness of people. I am a strong believer in Tagore's words, “It is a sin to lose hope in humankind”. Our society has been, for years, distraught by minor and major wrongdoings from time immemorial. So have been many societies almost everywhere in the world. All societies everywhere have their own method of dealing with such contemptible activities so that people do not have to be in constant fear. Various societies, especially the ones that are intellectually advanced and economically well off, have also tried to explain why some people are prone to committing such offenses that destabilise the society. The most important thing is to determine the external factors that motivate or encourage some people to indulge in such crimes. In our society, lately, increasing number of misdemeanours are being reported in the media that make us lose hope. They make us think that it is perhaps worthwhile to dump the societies we live in and seek refuge elsewhere. But this is not going to solve the problem in any way. The misfortune follows the coward and fortune favours the brave. In every society equally ruthless criminals are present in substantial numbers. Therefore we have to turn around and face up to the realities squarely.
As I write today's piece, I am genuinely perturbed by the increasing apathy of our youth towards politics of our country. Indeed one does not have to look far to have an exposure to this mindset of our youth. It is, in fact, written all over the walls of the various social media. Their opinion written in a variety of expressions could be summed up through one sentence, 'I hate politics'. Little do they realise that by making such a statement they are identifying themselves with politics of some kind. Hating politics means politics matters. Therefore, they verily have some kind of politics in their minds.
Madhu’s Canteen – a centrepoint of student politics. Photo: Zahedul I Khan
When I entered Dhaka University after an eventless journey through high school and college, I had very little experience in any kind of student politics. In my school and later in my college, politics was not a done thing. My father was an avid bureaucrat and politics was not a very popular subject of discourse in our home. However, on entering the university, I was stormed by political overtures. We were greeted with receptions given to the freshmen entering university by various parties that indulged in student politics. Generally speaking, most of us would be present in such functions because of the sheer entertainment that they offered. And then during the free periods when we used to congregate in Madhu Da's or Balai's canteen, various students, senior to us, involved in student politics used to come and implore us to join their parties. I tried to maintain a status quo and told them that I wasn't at all interested in such activities. But that would not deter them. In about three months from my joining the university one representative of a left leaning party convinced me to accompany him to his leader. This leader, who subsequently became very famous in politics, told me that politics was nothing but the inherent right to express an opinion. He even gave me an example. He said, if I were hungry for a few days and was denied food, what would I do? I said, “I would scream.” He said, “Precisely. This is what we call politics.” I was simply swayed away by the logic in the leader's argument. While returning from this encounter, I thought about it and decided to join in.
Thereafter, though a back-bencher, I was attached to student politics and with the party that I had joined on the third month of my entering the university. After leaving the university, however, my career got preference and I was no more involved in politics. But then I had an opinion and that opinion, formed by my association with student politics, brought me out to the streets when the right to self-determination of Bengalis became the most pronounced politics in this part of the world. Many of our friends, who on completion of their studies, had joined the then Pakistan Government also came to the streets and together we marched forward towards emancipating the colonised motherland of ours.
Therefore, today, after 42 years of our independence, through a protracted war, when I see our youth are so apathetic towards politics, it pains me. The other day one of my facebook friends, a very young person, wrote that they were uninterested in politics because of the squabbles within the parliament and the vulgarity of language that reigned supreme there. All I can say is that it is not uncommon to find in an emerging democracy such near-unparliamentary use of language. We know that the leather upholstered benches of the British Parliament are fixed to the floor because at one time the members of the British parliament used to hurl those furniture whenever they could during heated discussions. If the practice of democracy in Westminster could have travelled through such volatile phase, we are still children growing up in politics. This said, I feel that if our youth is averse to politics today, it is because of the evil practice that is stalking our political arena lately. Look at our past and the leaders who were considered examples by our ancestors in Bengali politics, people like Netaji Subhash Bose, Sher-E-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawordy and more recently Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Mawlana Bhashani, Moni Singh or Dhirendranath Dutta – each of whom had glorified our political past. Subsequently, time servers with selfish motive entered the domain of politics to systematically destroy our political fabric. The condition was further aggravated by the ambitious armed forces infiltrating into the political arena with utter selfish interest during the Pakistani occupation of our land. They destabilised politics and encouraged rampant corrupt practices.
Therefore, it only became natural that one would indulge in politics to make money. And naturally we cannot blame our youngsters if they become jittery. But all is not over yet. All cannot be over. There still are some who are passionate about politics for the well being of the society. We, particularly our youth, have to strengthen their hands. Indeed they should open a dialogue with these dedicated politicians and amongst themselves to infuse the spirit of correctness in politics. We have yet to lose faith in all our politicians. But if the good politicians cannot weed out the evil politicians, then only an abyss await us 'round the corner.
Our common people also cannot be absolved of their responsibilities. They should catch hold of the representatives that they have sent to the parliament and demand an explanation for their wrong doings. Those politicians, who, after being elected to the parliament, have forsaken their constituencies, must be brought to book. Politics is a process. Just as politicians are there on one end of this process, the common people are there at the other. There has to be a bridge between the two so that politics can work. Misunderstandings can be removed. Otherwise our politicians will be thrown into the gutter in not too distant a future. Let us hope that we or our posterity do not have to encounter such a devastating prospect.
Madhu’s Canteen – a centrepoint of student politics. Photo: Zahedul I Khan
When I entered Dhaka University after an eventless journey through high school and college, I had very little experience in any kind of student politics. In my school and later in my college, politics was not a done thing. My father was an avid bureaucrat and politics was not a very popular subject of discourse in our home. However, on entering the university, I was stormed by political overtures. We were greeted with receptions given to the freshmen entering university by various parties that indulged in student politics. Generally speaking, most of us would be present in such functions because of the sheer entertainment that they offered. And then during the free periods when we used to congregate in Madhu Da's or Balai's canteen, various students, senior to us, involved in student politics used to come and implore us to join their parties. I tried to maintain a status quo and told them that I wasn't at all interested in such activities. But that would not deter them. In about three months from my joining the university one representative of a left leaning party convinced me to accompany him to his leader. This leader, who subsequently became very famous in politics, told me that politics was nothing but the inherent right to express an opinion. He even gave me an example. He said, if I were hungry for a few days and was denied food, what would I do? I said, “I would scream.” He said, “Precisely. This is what we call politics.” I was simply swayed away by the logic in the leader's argument. While returning from this encounter, I thought about it and decided to join in.
Thereafter, though a back-bencher, I was attached to student politics and with the party that I had joined on the third month of my entering the university. After leaving the university, however, my career got preference and I was no more involved in politics. But then I had an opinion and that opinion, formed by my association with student politics, brought me out to the streets when the right to self-determination of Bengalis became the most pronounced politics in this part of the world. Many of our friends, who on completion of their studies, had joined the then Pakistan Government also came to the streets and together we marched forward towards emancipating the colonised motherland of ours.
Therefore, today, after 42 years of our independence, through a protracted war, when I see our youth are so apathetic towards politics, it pains me. The other day one of my facebook friends, a very young person, wrote that they were uninterested in politics because of the squabbles within the parliament and the vulgarity of language that reigned supreme there. All I can say is that it is not uncommon to find in an emerging democracy such near-unparliamentary use of language. We know that the leather upholstered benches of the British Parliament are fixed to the floor because at one time the members of the British parliament used to hurl those furniture whenever they could during heated discussions. If the practice of democracy in Westminster could have travelled through such volatile phase, we are still children growing up in politics. This said, I feel that if our youth is averse to politics today, it is because of the evil practice that is stalking our political arena lately. Look at our past and the leaders who were considered examples by our ancestors in Bengali politics, people like Netaji Subhash Bose, Sher-E-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawordy and more recently Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Mawlana Bhashani, Moni Singh or Dhirendranath Dutta – each of whom had glorified our political past. Subsequently, time servers with selfish motive entered the domain of politics to systematically destroy our political fabric. The condition was further aggravated by the ambitious armed forces infiltrating into the political arena with utter selfish interest during the Pakistani occupation of our land. They destabilised politics and encouraged rampant corrupt practices.
Therefore, it only became natural that one would indulge in politics to make money. And naturally we cannot blame our youngsters if they become jittery. But all is not over yet. All cannot be over. There still are some who are passionate about politics for the well being of the society. We, particularly our youth, have to strengthen their hands. Indeed they should open a dialogue with these dedicated politicians and amongst themselves to infuse the spirit of correctness in politics. We have yet to lose faith in all our politicians. But if the good politicians cannot weed out the evil politicians, then only an abyss await us 'round the corner.
Our common people also cannot be absolved of their responsibilities. They should catch hold of the representatives that they have sent to the parliament and demand an explanation for their wrong doings. Those politicians, who, after being elected to the parliament, have forsaken their constituencies, must be brought to book. Politics is a process. Just as politicians are there on one end of this process, the common people are there at the other. There has to be a bridge between the two so that politics can work. Misunderstandings can be removed. Otherwise our politicians will be thrown into the gutter in not too distant a future. Let us hope that we or our posterity do not have to encounter such a devastating prospect.
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