Does anybody really care about how things are getting cloudier?

Shamsher Chowdhury The news that all records have disappeared from the drug office relating to the deaths of children from toxic Paracetamol was not only shocking but absurd. This disappearance of documents from the office of the Director General of Drug Administration is going to mar at least three on-going cases on the deaths (murders) of children. Since this administration came into power, the people are dying in the hands of ruthless and unscrupulous people. Side by side, there has been an increase, what to speak of, extra-judicial killings, the procession of deaths on the roads, that continue unabated. The way things are going Bangladesh will soon record its name as number 1 in the list where people die at the hands of their own people in all sorts of ways. No wonder the famous Indian born British author, N. C. Chowdhury termed Bengal and the Bengalis as, "Attaghati Jati" meaning, a suicidal nation. Right at this moment we also come to remember a remark made by one of our supervisors, an American national, while working for an international organisation who said to us, "Never kill someone who you know is on is his way to suicide". Yet on another plane, we find it absurd as to how such a thing can take place under a head of the government who was recently awarded some prestigious international award for her services to the children and women of the country. May we most humbly put it that never before our women has been subjected to such extended forms of humiliation that is leading many young girls to take their lives out of sheer guilt and humiliation. In yet another development, the continued stalemate with the stock exchange market has now reached to such a stage that it is destined to leave a permanent scar for the present establishment and to serve as a mirror of how ruthless the rich and the powerful can be in this country. What is most disconcerting is the fact that the perpetrators of the market crunch are well known to the establishment. Someone rightly said unless and until these elements are brought to justice, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the market to return to normalcy. The role played by our venerable finance minister since the completion and later, the submission of report of 2011 enquiry committee into the scam, has been, to say the least, not transparent. We now understand that the venerable minister has said that henceforth he will have nothing to do with the share market. How very convenient! In the meantime, the poor investors who, we understand, run into millions, did go for a symbolic hunger strike as a last resort to redress their grievances. We saw the other day in the media that some key members of the establishment were rather critical of leaders of a few political parties for visiting the fasting protestors including that by the one-time 'Shoirachar' (dictator) -- now a constant figure on the centre stage of our present-day politics and politicking. The establishment is angry at these politicians since, according to it, it has now become yet another issue that is likely to be an important factor in the future elections. However, the ruling party has only itself to blame for this. Be that as it may, let the politicians go on with their wily acts but we must simply devise ways and means to mitigate the suffering of the investors which they had been undergoing for the past two years or so. On a different context, we were also dismayed when, the other day, the venerable finance minister most emphatically declared that rising prices "have nothing to do with elections". In addition to what has been stated above, we must add that one does not have to be a genius to understand that this business of the transit facilities, being provided to our great friend, India, will soon turn out to be the Achilles' heel for the country. There is one particular question that is vexing our minds as to why fees on various counts are not yet decided. On the other hand, the people of the country simply must have a clear idea of the nature of goods and supplies being transited. This particular aspect is of vital importance both from the points of view of fixation of fees and other charges to be levied, including out internal security concerns. To most of us, it is also not understandable as to why a mere protocol signed some time back is good enough in this regard, instead of a detailed agreement signed and sealed. This whole business of heightened friendly relationship with India appears to be murky and shrouded in mystery. Could this be a part of the deep seated scheme hatched by the present day Indo-US axis? On another front the tussle between Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and the Grameenphone is, meanwhile, turning out to be yet another share market like scam of a different nature. It is also interesting to note that since the controversial episode between our lone Nobel Laureate Younus, the central bank and the establishment was thought to have essentially been concluded, matters related to Grameen and Younus now to seem to have brought fresh issues to surface once again. It is not understandable as to why we are so obsessed with the Nobel laureate. Enough is enough. For God's sake, let us leave him alone. The other day both our head of the government and the foreign minister during their recent official visit to the United States had to confront some embarrassing situations both at the official level and with the US media with issues centring round the Nobel Laureate and his removal from the Grameen Bank scenario more than anything else. However, the finance minister has, of late, stated that Prof. Younus was not involved in the matter of the World Bank (WB) putting on hold the disbursement of its credit for the construction of the Padma Bridge. Over the past few years, this scribe has written several articles about the continuous downhill journey of our judiciary and Human Rights violations but all that seem to have fallen on deaf years. And lately Dr. Akbar Ali Khan, a former adviser of the last caretaker government has compared our judiciary with that of a gambling den. On the other hand, the same day and from the same platform, Dr. Mizanur Rahman, Chairman of Bangladesh Human Rights Commission opined that all the anomalies were due to absence of what he calls a "law clinic". The other day while going through the life and times of Sir Winston Churchill, this writer came across an observation made by him about the judiciary. One day a number of young MPs and ministers came to see him to apprise him of some critical issues facing the country. Sir Winston gave them a patient hearing and then all too suddenly he stood up and enquired if the judiciary was functioning properly, to which all those present responded positively; thereafter, one of the greatest rulers and a political genius of all times said that in that case there was nothing to worry about and then invited them to follow him to the dining table. Will someone tell us as to why we are the way we are? We are indeed poor, materially, morally, physically and ethically. The writer can be reached at e-mail: chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com