I am not amused, are you?
Saturday, 12 September 2009
Shamsher Chowdhury
Thanks to the government it has finally succeeded in confining the people of this city into their homes. Just like the phenomenal rise of prices of essentials the traffic jam has finally reached the level of no return. Although for me it may be occasionally frustrating but not that critical since I am not only leading a retired life but also remain home most of the time due to a debilitating state caused by Arthritis and Diabetes.
City's water logging has reached a critical proportion. Even moderate rainfall causes many key thoroughfares to submerge in knee deep waters. I see lofty programmes of actions are being elucidated through the media but little of that on the ground. They are talking about dredging the rivers but what about the situation created by closing of in- city lakes and water bodies through land grabbing and earth filling by influential people from all walks of life. Without doubting the efforts now underway I am not very hopeful about the final outcome in any tangible way. You see the problem with this country particularly with those belonging to the civil society, high government officials routinely go for action on a post-facto basis, and it has always been damage control rather than timely preventive actions. I am therefore not too confident of the final outcome of such exercises, particularly due to the fact that nothing has ever been done to put those influential people, who are behind such heinous acts, on the dock.
At long last the Finance and the Commerce Ministers are to be congratulated with their recent discovery that the media and the internet including a section of the dishonest business community are responsible for the unbridled rise of prices.
The venerable Education Minster says that the situation is not yet as such that the schools should be closed down. Thanks to the minister for his very wise observation. In the meantime, two of the leading schools of the city have already been closed down, namely Sunbeams and Scholastica. Apparently it is rumoured that a child of Sunbeams has fallen ill with swine flu.
In the meantime I continue to be highly concerned about children dying due to use of a particular drug manufactured by a local pharmaceutical company that has already caused the deaths of scores of children. This has been going on for weeks now as reported in the media. Whoever is responsible for this, I pray that they burn in the stakes of hell. In the meantime I am shocked as to why this particular drug has not been withdrawn from the market as yet and why the concerned company has not been closed down.
In the meantime the honourable Health Minster goes on to assure us that; despite the fact that there has been a steady rise in Swine flu cases, there is no reason for panic. After all as he says if one is attacked he or she can be moved to nearby hospitals where the antibiotics capable of treating the disease are available free of costs. True as it may be, the problem is that the trust between our Ministers and the public at large has already at its lowest rung.
Indeed a stroke of genius from one of the Advisors to the PM, he has come up with this discovery that Golem Azam's son was dismissed from his service due to security reason. This was none other than Brigadier General Azmi an officer who only the other day was a serving Brigadier General in the Bangladesh Army. Not only that he has this distinction of being the winner of the Sword of Honour and the Usmani Gold Medal from the Bangladesh Military Academy over two decades ago. It looks to me that he is no threat to security of the country until now. How absurd and how very convenient!
Despite the electronic media's photo sessions of generous donations to relief fund for the Aila victims, conditions of the unfortunate victims remain unchanged two and a half months after the devastating fury of the nature. Thousands of people are seen waiting in long queues for fresh water. Thousands still passing their days under subhuman conditions for want of various emergency relief materials. Diarrhoeal diseases are rampant in epidemic forms.
Does any one really care about the relentless miseries faced by our migrant workers? The government does nothing more than providing lip services. The do-gooder recruiting agencies, which have been found guilty of fraud, continue to escape the eyes of the law, they continue with their evil practices causing miseries to these poor and unfortunate people. We tend to ignore the fact that these very migrant workers are one of our key players in the healthy growth of our foreign currency reserves. Except for "looking busy" on occasions I do not know of any tangible and sustainable actions being taken by the concerned Ministry or the Department in mitigating their sufferings.
To be very honest I am highly confused as to the final goal of this government. What is it that this government is trying to achieve? To me it appears that it is spending too much time on one or two major issues. As much as it is the call of the time, we must also strike a balance by addressing issues of poverty and welfare of the common man. Besides, various unfolding incidences in recent times do not also give welcome signals. All concerned would at this stage only hope that the unfolding developments do not lead us to any ominous situation -- making the present administration: a government of the absolute.
Let us for a change see real democracy at work, devoid of false promises, demagoguery and pointless rhetoric.
(The writer can be reached at e-mail: chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com)
Thanks to the government it has finally succeeded in confining the people of this city into their homes. Just like the phenomenal rise of prices of essentials the traffic jam has finally reached the level of no return. Although for me it may be occasionally frustrating but not that critical since I am not only leading a retired life but also remain home most of the time due to a debilitating state caused by Arthritis and Diabetes.
City's water logging has reached a critical proportion. Even moderate rainfall causes many key thoroughfares to submerge in knee deep waters. I see lofty programmes of actions are being elucidated through the media but little of that on the ground. They are talking about dredging the rivers but what about the situation created by closing of in- city lakes and water bodies through land grabbing and earth filling by influential people from all walks of life. Without doubting the efforts now underway I am not very hopeful about the final outcome in any tangible way. You see the problem with this country particularly with those belonging to the civil society, high government officials routinely go for action on a post-facto basis, and it has always been damage control rather than timely preventive actions. I am therefore not too confident of the final outcome of such exercises, particularly due to the fact that nothing has ever been done to put those influential people, who are behind such heinous acts, on the dock.
At long last the Finance and the Commerce Ministers are to be congratulated with their recent discovery that the media and the internet including a section of the dishonest business community are responsible for the unbridled rise of prices.
The venerable Education Minster says that the situation is not yet as such that the schools should be closed down. Thanks to the minister for his very wise observation. In the meantime, two of the leading schools of the city have already been closed down, namely Sunbeams and Scholastica. Apparently it is rumoured that a child of Sunbeams has fallen ill with swine flu.
In the meantime I continue to be highly concerned about children dying due to use of a particular drug manufactured by a local pharmaceutical company that has already caused the deaths of scores of children. This has been going on for weeks now as reported in the media. Whoever is responsible for this, I pray that they burn in the stakes of hell. In the meantime I am shocked as to why this particular drug has not been withdrawn from the market as yet and why the concerned company has not been closed down.
In the meantime the honourable Health Minster goes on to assure us that; despite the fact that there has been a steady rise in Swine flu cases, there is no reason for panic. After all as he says if one is attacked he or she can be moved to nearby hospitals where the antibiotics capable of treating the disease are available free of costs. True as it may be, the problem is that the trust between our Ministers and the public at large has already at its lowest rung.
Indeed a stroke of genius from one of the Advisors to the PM, he has come up with this discovery that Golem Azam's son was dismissed from his service due to security reason. This was none other than Brigadier General Azmi an officer who only the other day was a serving Brigadier General in the Bangladesh Army. Not only that he has this distinction of being the winner of the Sword of Honour and the Usmani Gold Medal from the Bangladesh Military Academy over two decades ago. It looks to me that he is no threat to security of the country until now. How absurd and how very convenient!
Despite the electronic media's photo sessions of generous donations to relief fund for the Aila victims, conditions of the unfortunate victims remain unchanged two and a half months after the devastating fury of the nature. Thousands of people are seen waiting in long queues for fresh water. Thousands still passing their days under subhuman conditions for want of various emergency relief materials. Diarrhoeal diseases are rampant in epidemic forms.
Does any one really care about the relentless miseries faced by our migrant workers? The government does nothing more than providing lip services. The do-gooder recruiting agencies, which have been found guilty of fraud, continue to escape the eyes of the law, they continue with their evil practices causing miseries to these poor and unfortunate people. We tend to ignore the fact that these very migrant workers are one of our key players in the healthy growth of our foreign currency reserves. Except for "looking busy" on occasions I do not know of any tangible and sustainable actions being taken by the concerned Ministry or the Department in mitigating their sufferings.
To be very honest I am highly confused as to the final goal of this government. What is it that this government is trying to achieve? To me it appears that it is spending too much time on one or two major issues. As much as it is the call of the time, we must also strike a balance by addressing issues of poverty and welfare of the common man. Besides, various unfolding incidences in recent times do not also give welcome signals. All concerned would at this stage only hope that the unfolding developments do not lead us to any ominous situation -- making the present administration: a government of the absolute.
Let us for a change see real democracy at work, devoid of false promises, demagoguery and pointless rhetoric.
(The writer can be reached at e-mail: chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com)