Exemplary punishment needed

The 1996 stock market debacle also took place during the Awami League government's regime. The ruling party leadership cannot deny its responsibility as it had also played a significant role as a catalyst in inflating the market. For instance, the finance minister at that time and the prime minister herself claimed credit for the outstanding stock market performance. Their irrational exuberance and its demise in 1996 occurred at the cost of thousands of investors who came to participate in the market for the first time having little or no knowledge of the market fundamentals. No one was held responsible for the scam and justice was denied to the victims. The statement of the finance minister this week about not publishing the names of the people identified in the probe committee report on the latest stock market scam, is regretful. Like many other Bangladeshis, I am surprised by the statement of the finance minister. I cannot understand why these names would not be made public by the government. If the names are not made public, a negative perception will be created among the common people. My appeal to our government is for compensating the small investors by closing the bank accounts of the responsible persons and confiscating their wealth which was earned illegally. As an ordinary citizen and taxpayer, I urge the government to give exemplary punishment to the culprits who are responsible for the share market debacle. I should remind our finance minister an example: On December 10, 2008, Bernard Madoff's massive scheme was unravelled. The following day, the FBI arrested Madoff and charged him with one count of securities fraud. On June 29, 2009, Madoff, the man who confessed to organizing the largest securities fraud in the US history, was sentenced to 150 years in prison. Gopal Sengupta Canada E-mail : gopalsengupta@aol.com