Issues that continue to cause concern
Monday, 11 January 2010
Shamsher Chowdhury
THE other day I was talking to one of our most renowned Oncologist who is also internationally known. Obviously one thing led to the other and needless to say that we finally ended up talking about politics and the society. We discussed several issues. We had a consensus on some, on some we had a sort of agreement and disagreed on others. Some of the issues are illustrated below. Incidentally these continue to haunt me day after day. I am an ordinary man. I am no expert of anything nor am I one of those high-profiled talk show specialists. I would like to stay within my limits and limitations. But one thing I must say that I have been following with keen interest the socio-political developments in the country over the years and it is my belief that in the process I have gained some insight into it. I try to say and do things that I believe in, big or small. I am of the opinion and belief that it is the smallest of things that make the biggest of difference.
It is my impression that this government has taken major steps on some macro-issues in the areas of policy-planning, revamping and modernisation of laws concerning governance of some public private enterprises. Its moves on settlement of some long-pending high profiled cases are noteworthy. Government's efforts in undertaking long-term projects are also in place. The only apprehension I have is this, based on experience of the past decades, most of them are unlikely to see their completions within the tenure of the ruling party or even later, I am therefore of the opinion that it would have been wiser for the administration to undertake projects that are likely to see their implementation within the tenure of its office. One other problem I see facing this government is in the area of its governance.
Talking about governance it is common knowledge that the administration is marred by people who lack professionalism and due knowledge and experience of political management of a state like Bangladesh. To this day I believe the present Administration has failed to generate enough confidence amongst the common man about its management capabilities. It has been generally authoritarian, often ignoring the cardinal principles of democracy and democratic practices. Furthermore, it is a paradox that while this government randomly talks about peoples' welfare but in realty I see no reflection of that on the ground. I do not know why but I have this feeling that by default or otherwise the ruling party appears to be highly partisan in its management practices in general. Frankly I find that it has dipped its finger dipped its fingers into more pie than it can either chew or eat. Besides so much time and efforts have gone into fixing and re-fixing macro issues, numerous issues of day-to-day importance in the life of the common man have been ignored. It is sad over the years we have seen that there is more talk of democracy than the practice without exception by any party that was entrusted with governance of the country. The incumbent government, like any other one of the past, has fed the common man with hopes and aspirations that its leaders do not exactly know how to fulfill.
Thus far, let me now come to specific issues, say corruption. I am highly confused. On one hand, there is much talk of eradicating corruption including the resolve as displayed at various forums by no less than the head of the government herself; on the other hand, in reality it seems to be nurturing corruption as evidenced by its own actions. The alteration and changes in the Public Procurement Act (PPA) rules and handling of the ruling party's once accused high-profile corrupt bear testimony to the fact. Many a high-profile corrupt continues to play vital roles in the party's extended forum that includes its student cadres and leaders at field levels. If anything, corruption, in its various forms and multiple dimensions, has been continually on the rise. It has now turned out, particularly at higher levels, a tool for manoeuvring and gaining political advantages particularly at the hands of the ruling party.
Despite the rhetoric, the nexus between Rajuk and the rich developers continue unabated. The present-day rising of prices is also linked to all round corruption. Nothing has been done about it. The prices have reached such levels that people in the fixed income groups are compelled to resort to all kinds of unspecified corrupt practices to meet that extra expenditure in their cost of living.
This business of the DST has made the government a laughing stock of the people. It has been wrongly and unwisely handled right from the start. People are yet to understand to why it was done to begin with and to whose benefit. None of the professed advantages was achieved.
We have a set of cabinet ministers most of whom are not yet known to the people at large and by their interventions have proved themselves to be anything but qualified "managers" by any stretch of imagination. Surely given the will and due political wisdom, we could get hold of people who knew what to do, what to say, when to say, what not to say and what not to do. It would also have saved the venerable Prime Minister from the embarrassment of reprimanding her cabinet members for "their wrong moves and poor deliberations/statements" to the media and other forums. In the interest of her party's image and good governance of the country, the ruling party should pay more attention to bettering the situation than being "upset and worried' about what the bureaucrats or the Opposition is contemplating to do.
Trust me people are growing weary of the ruling party's cadres and leaders alike particularly in the rural areas of outer districts away from the capital. They are often seen in engaging themselves in all sorts of unlawful and criminal acts. We hear very little of legal actions being taken against such defaulting members of its student wings, in particular. So far it has been sound and fury signifying nothing.
To my mind, one of the greatest failures of this government since it took the reins of power has been its failure to address the critical state of our human rights violations. On the contrary, relevant authorities of the government have not only undermined and denied the allegations leveled by reputed international human rights organisations like the Amnesty International.
In my estimation this government so far has succeeded more in creating rosy picture of perceived well-being around than anything. I think the wisest thing for all of us would be to wait and hope. The year retrospect does not look too good to me.
(The writer can be reached at e-mail:chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com)
THE other day I was talking to one of our most renowned Oncologist who is also internationally known. Obviously one thing led to the other and needless to say that we finally ended up talking about politics and the society. We discussed several issues. We had a consensus on some, on some we had a sort of agreement and disagreed on others. Some of the issues are illustrated below. Incidentally these continue to haunt me day after day. I am an ordinary man. I am no expert of anything nor am I one of those high-profiled talk show specialists. I would like to stay within my limits and limitations. But one thing I must say that I have been following with keen interest the socio-political developments in the country over the years and it is my belief that in the process I have gained some insight into it. I try to say and do things that I believe in, big or small. I am of the opinion and belief that it is the smallest of things that make the biggest of difference.
It is my impression that this government has taken major steps on some macro-issues in the areas of policy-planning, revamping and modernisation of laws concerning governance of some public private enterprises. Its moves on settlement of some long-pending high profiled cases are noteworthy. Government's efforts in undertaking long-term projects are also in place. The only apprehension I have is this, based on experience of the past decades, most of them are unlikely to see their completions within the tenure of the ruling party or even later, I am therefore of the opinion that it would have been wiser for the administration to undertake projects that are likely to see their implementation within the tenure of its office. One other problem I see facing this government is in the area of its governance.
Talking about governance it is common knowledge that the administration is marred by people who lack professionalism and due knowledge and experience of political management of a state like Bangladesh. To this day I believe the present Administration has failed to generate enough confidence amongst the common man about its management capabilities. It has been generally authoritarian, often ignoring the cardinal principles of democracy and democratic practices. Furthermore, it is a paradox that while this government randomly talks about peoples' welfare but in realty I see no reflection of that on the ground. I do not know why but I have this feeling that by default or otherwise the ruling party appears to be highly partisan in its management practices in general. Frankly I find that it has dipped its finger dipped its fingers into more pie than it can either chew or eat. Besides so much time and efforts have gone into fixing and re-fixing macro issues, numerous issues of day-to-day importance in the life of the common man have been ignored. It is sad over the years we have seen that there is more talk of democracy than the practice without exception by any party that was entrusted with governance of the country. The incumbent government, like any other one of the past, has fed the common man with hopes and aspirations that its leaders do not exactly know how to fulfill.
Thus far, let me now come to specific issues, say corruption. I am highly confused. On one hand, there is much talk of eradicating corruption including the resolve as displayed at various forums by no less than the head of the government herself; on the other hand, in reality it seems to be nurturing corruption as evidenced by its own actions. The alteration and changes in the Public Procurement Act (PPA) rules and handling of the ruling party's once accused high-profile corrupt bear testimony to the fact. Many a high-profile corrupt continues to play vital roles in the party's extended forum that includes its student cadres and leaders at field levels. If anything, corruption, in its various forms and multiple dimensions, has been continually on the rise. It has now turned out, particularly at higher levels, a tool for manoeuvring and gaining political advantages particularly at the hands of the ruling party.
Despite the rhetoric, the nexus between Rajuk and the rich developers continue unabated. The present-day rising of prices is also linked to all round corruption. Nothing has been done about it. The prices have reached such levels that people in the fixed income groups are compelled to resort to all kinds of unspecified corrupt practices to meet that extra expenditure in their cost of living.
This business of the DST has made the government a laughing stock of the people. It has been wrongly and unwisely handled right from the start. People are yet to understand to why it was done to begin with and to whose benefit. None of the professed advantages was achieved.
We have a set of cabinet ministers most of whom are not yet known to the people at large and by their interventions have proved themselves to be anything but qualified "managers" by any stretch of imagination. Surely given the will and due political wisdom, we could get hold of people who knew what to do, what to say, when to say, what not to say and what not to do. It would also have saved the venerable Prime Minister from the embarrassment of reprimanding her cabinet members for "their wrong moves and poor deliberations/statements" to the media and other forums. In the interest of her party's image and good governance of the country, the ruling party should pay more attention to bettering the situation than being "upset and worried' about what the bureaucrats or the Opposition is contemplating to do.
Trust me people are growing weary of the ruling party's cadres and leaders alike particularly in the rural areas of outer districts away from the capital. They are often seen in engaging themselves in all sorts of unlawful and criminal acts. We hear very little of legal actions being taken against such defaulting members of its student wings, in particular. So far it has been sound and fury signifying nothing.
To my mind, one of the greatest failures of this government since it took the reins of power has been its failure to address the critical state of our human rights violations. On the contrary, relevant authorities of the government have not only undermined and denied the allegations leveled by reputed international human rights organisations like the Amnesty International.
In my estimation this government so far has succeeded more in creating rosy picture of perceived well-being around than anything. I think the wisest thing for all of us would be to wait and hope. The year retrospect does not look too good to me.
(The writer can be reached at e-mail:chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com)