Are the people becoming hostage?

Poor governance and the undemocratic character of the ruling party are hurting this country and its people in more ways than one. There are glaring evidences all round. The worst of all is that the ruling party seems to be least concerned over the situation, now prevailing in the country. Our civil service is in the doldrums. It is partisan to the extreme and is highly inefficient. Nowhere there is professionalism at work. The state is being managed on an ad-hoc basis and whims of selected individuals. The ministers and the MPs continue to operate in a manner and style as they please. Their main instruments of working appear to be muscle power, intimidation and coercion. They are like the rest of them; they are more interested in self-serving and serving the cause of the party more than the people. Sadly though, more often than not such conduct of the ministers and the MPs often receive silent endorsement of the highest authority of the party. The ruling establishment is full of people who are 'jack of all trade and master of none' and that too, by default. The other day, we met an old friend, a former Secretary to the Government, an erstwhile CSP-cadre civil servant and asked him how things are? He responded by saying; there is nothing to worry; the country is now being ruled by Allah. WE did not know as to what to make of it. Was it meant to be a joke or did he really mean what he had said? We are extremely proud of being an elected Republic. But by the going of things, it looks as though we are more of an autocracy than democracy. The prevailing tradition with this regime has been that the head of the government is all "powerful and all knowing" and makes each and every decision, big or small. Result: the different ministries, organizations and agencies of the government do not function unless the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the government intervenes and issues directives. The ministers, the MPs and the bunch of advisors are there as the king's 'Tabedars', meaning courtiers. As time passes, the autocratic character of the ruling establishment is becoming more and more evident. People and their concerns continue to be undermined and ignored day after day. The members of the ruling establishment have become extremely arrogant and defiant, having no respect whatsoever for public opinion. What is of greater concern is the public perception about some of them as being engaged in numerous unlawful and anti-people activities. Added to this, what makes this regime a poor one is the fact it is full of individuals having no experience in modern-day management practices, be it democratic, dictatorial or otherwise. On the other hand, they happen to be so arrogant that they are not even willing to learn from mistakes committed. As a result, the entire nation is reeling under the burden of mismanagement and poor governance. Admittedly in a parliamentary democracy, parliament is the supreme, but the question is: is it functioning properly? The ruling establishment has virtually turned it into one of the living rooms of the party. Real issues of people's concern are hardly debated or discussed there. Members often absent themselves at will, resulting in adjournment of a session for lack of quorum. The language used by ministers and MPs alike are not only unparliamentary but also of poor taste. We are deeply shocked by some of the ruling party's decisions like enhancing of fuel prices and power tariff. We are aware of recession and rising prices but the question that keeps bothering us is the style and manner in which such vital issues are decided without involving public opinion. People are already heavily burdened due to unprecedented rise in the overall cost of their livelihood. Surely the least, we, the people, can expect, is some compassion from those running the affairs of the country. But instead, what we are confronted with is: "Put up or shut up." To this day people are in the dark about the nature and the cost-benefit scenario of the various bilateral agreements signed between Bangladesh and India, our much propagated big brother neighbour and special friend. The ruling establishment has also severely damaged the image of the country as a democratic state by interfering and intervening in the affairs of most of the state's cardinal institutions like the National Human rights Commission, the Judiciary and the Public Service Commission (especially the recruitment process in appointing people in government jobs). We all know about the rising incidences of Human Rights violations in the country and how the ruling party is standing in the way of discharge of its obligations as envisaged in the Constitution. There is an unsavoury public perception about the judiciary. Its state of affairs has been best described in a statement made in the person of one of our senior most and respected lawyers and Jurist, Rafiqul Huq. The other day he made the following remark at a seminar organized by the Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation, on the workings of our Judges and the Judiciary. I quote, "Now a days verdict is given based on the lawyer and political influence and not on the basis of the law in question", unquote. If that is so, it is alarming indeed. As one can see; the ruling establishment is miles away from democracy. If the situation is allowed to continue in the fashion it is running now, we are sure to become in time a directionless nation and a country full of conflict and turmoil for ages to come. (The writer can be reached at e-mail: caa342@yahoo.com)