Forty years on ....

Optimists proudly keep talking about the 'Bangladesh Paradox': that despite being one of the poorest and most densely populated countries --- with venal politics and worse governance persisting these forty years --- Sonar Bangla, since the 1990s, has been scoring fairly good marks in 'food security' and 'human and social development'. And this has been possible because ordinary people, both women and men, have been struggling on, against all odds, fending for themselves and their families at home and abroad on the strength of their own remarkable resilience. But women in particular have earned special credit in the World Bank's Gender Development series 2008, for playing a significant role in pushing the score upwards ---- thanks to the countrywide change-making microcredit programmes (curiously, considered malignant at the moment by the Prime Minister herself) and the readymade garments sector. But what role has politics and politicians in general played in the forty years of 'sovereign rule'? More a retarding role, mired as politics is in all kinds of inane, myopic activities. Governance remains just as deplorable. One wonders how many generations will drift by before a rational, consistent and intelligent path to nation building becomes an imperative for every government in Bangladesh. Good democratic practices in parliament, or outside, and within the political parties are not the norm --- not yet. A fascist-feudal attitude pervades the entire body politic. All 'fronts', including teachers, students, businessmen, journalists, labour unions or bus owners, are trapped in this anachronistic bind. It is this same dominant mindset that is so brutally expressed on the campus, such as in the bid to 'control' student halls, snatch commercial bids, terrorize non-partisan students to comply with the 'leader's' wishes. In other words, the godfathers and godmothers, whether teachers or politicians, mind not at all, when mindless thuggery masquerades as student politics at this point in time. Can a wholesome brand of student politics ever manage to take root once again to deliver this nation from the current cancer on the campus? Intellect-honing activities are not as popular as noisy politicking on one pretext or the other. Perpetrators of the most moronic 'functions' and 'programmes' seem to be gaining ground everywhere and they straddle both religious and secular domains. Gaudy, obscene displays of adulation ---- of perfectly honourable personalities in our cultural, political or religious life -are more important than following their principles. [It may be recalled that Bangabandhu was famously contemptuous of 'chatukars' but alas, that can hardly dissuade sycophants from carrying on as they do.] People endowed with a sound intellect, and a yearning for spiritual growth ---- considered indispensable attributes of 'people of understanding', in the Holy Quran --- are hard to come by these days in dear Bangladesh. They seem to have disappeared altogether, at least from the inner circles of the ruling classes ---as apparent in the current 'discourses' both inside and outside parliament. Politics therefore still remains unacceptably puerile and anti-people. But let us at least look for light and hope elsewhere. We are told that researchers have 're-discovered' the fact that Bangladesh is geologically young and, in the eternal flux, there is more accretion of land than loss going on ------ despite the endless human tragedies due to river bank erosion and the rise and disappearance of 'chars' and 'dwips' at the micro level. Land-scarce Bangladesh has been growing in size due to the mountains of silt washed downstream by the mighty force of the Padma-Meghna-Jamuna. In fact that is precisely how this land mass was formed in the first place. The coastline 500 years ago was almost at the centre of present Bangladesh! But land accretion notwithstanding, there is reason for the conscientious to be anxious. For Bangladesh is very much in the midst of an ecological crisis brought on by the same plundering mindset, the same soul-less attitude to development that is at the root of the entire planet's current sorrows. In the name of development, sweet water sources, fertile land and reserve forests have been subjected to unbalanced use, causing almost irreparable damage to the country's riverine environment and ecology. No land use policy has so far been formulated but the good news is the present government has been talking about putting one in place. Dwindling arable land is specially worrying as significant numbers of the country's 150 million or so people are small farmers. It would be terribly unwise to take more fertile land away for uses other than growing food crops alone. Global food politics should be warning enough to conserve whatever 'little' resources we have. Malnourishment is a very grave national problem that is directly linked to skewed development policies and improper use of natural resources. Gone are the days when common property capture fisheries provided bounties of protein-rich food for domestic consumption. Today exporters are allowed to chase greenbacks with all kinds of indigenous fish, taking this quality protein out of reach of most people in Bangladesh. Policymakers must rethink this problem. Should essential food item needed by the people be allowed to be exported? Do countries in the neighbourhood deprive their people as we do? The number of chronically hungry people in Bangladesh is scandalously highand most suffer from various micronutrient (minerals and vitamins) deficiencies. Interventions like food aid, supplementary feeding programmes and fortification of foods, which can all be launched quickly in dire situations, are useful to some extent but are in no way sufficient to end persistent hunger. If Bangladesh is to really reduce malnutrition, it must start eliminating the root cause ---- that is the entrenched injustices that are linked to widespread poverty. In other words, governments must choose real, pro-people development so that the distribution of resources in the near future becomes less and less inequitable. Commitment to meeting basic human needs through job creation, affordable pricing of vital foods, micro-credit, women's education, land distribution and other measures focused on benefiting the majority would be more likely to improve nutrition, reduce poverty and poverty-induced disease burdens. There is no short-cut.National leaders need to treat this nutrition crisis seriously and urgently, as a clear policy priority, not just a stop-gap venture in which much sloganeering and reports and sound bites are generated without tangible results. Access to a balanced affordable diet, guaranteed for the majority, is the most urgent requirement today, if we are to realize the full potential of Bangladesh's millions in the 21st century.