Need of the hour is water and power not sermons
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Shamsher Chowdhury
EACH and every political party elected to power has, without fail, systematically undermined and ignored the interests of the common man and the electorate. Not only that, they have been self-serving and callous to the core. Without exception the lawmakers and members of other powerful entities of the government have been not only corrupt in more ways than one but also inefficient. There are many predominant elements amongst the rulers whose activities would lead you to question their patriotism. We have more such politicians than patriots. Without exception each one of them has not only exploited the people of the country but also misled them. Right from the day we gained our independence we have indulged in nothing more than hollow rhetoric and demagoguery. Government after government befooled people with false hopes, bluffing them in all conceivable ways.
Despite all that, the fact remains that, we the people had reposed our trust in Awami League more than any other party since independence. Yet, has it done any better than the others, in improving and bettering the lives of the common man? I do not know about others but I have no reason to feel anyway encouraged by the way it is currently managing the affairs of the state. I am aware of the fact that it took the reins of the country at a time when the economic recession was already raising havoc all over the world. Even then, the ruling party should have done a better job of managing the country. I have a feeling that it has been so hung up and focused on some specific aspects of its election manifesto that it has, for all practical purposes, failed to recognise a number of critical issues of public welfare and concern already on the ground. I am constrained to say that for all practical purposes, it has lost touch with the mainstream population and it has only itself to blame.
Its management practices are not only poor but also not well conceived and properly directed. Besides methods and techniques applied in some of its major interventions do largely run afoul of people's interests. At the same time it looks to me that the ruling party is administering the country in an authoritarian manner. I find this attitude to be in poor taste and like adding insult to injury. As we struggle to survive being weighed down by water crisis, power crisis and gas crisis, all that the government can come up with is issuing decrees (farmans) harsh and unkind, dictating all kinds of extreme austerity measures including saving energies through stopping air conditioners at private homes, as though "the king has spoken". Living in this country is now becoming not only stressful but also extremely painful. People of this country with an exception of the favoured few have already become weary of the way that the country is being governed for all sorts of reasons.
Just consider this when stringent measures are being "ordered" like shutting of air conditioners in private homes and other establishments, power never goes off in the residential areas where the elite of the establishment live and homes of many rich and the powerful in posh localities of the city. I would like to question the sanity and logic behind this method of operations in general. Parliament for all practical purposes has not been functioning properly, befitting a democratic polity. We, the people, stand further marginalised and have been turned into objects of use and abuse. The voices of the people have been stifled. Whatever little of opposition we had, by design and default, have been systematically made insignificant and even invisible.
Many dictatorial regimes that came to power through coups and counter-coups by the army ruled the country since independence. But things seem to have worsened now under a democratic government. This is unfortunate. I often find it amusing that of late people at street corners and makeshift tea stalls on the footpaths often talk of the times of Hossain Muhammad Ershad with nostalgia!
It is disconcerting to note that there is hardly any evidence of democracy at work now in most of the interventions by the government. Cardinal institutions like the judiciary, the Anti-corruption Commission and the Election Commission, as envisaged in our Constitution which are meant to assist the state's management machinery, making it transparent and accountable, are malfunctioning, both by design and default. If we are to make progress in any sphere of our lives, a reversal of the situation, for the better, is imperative.
Our salvation lies in building a society that is system-based and one that is pro-active and has faith in the administration both in good and bad times.
People at this stage are in a dazed condition, thanks to the government's various obsession. Once they wake up, the incumbent government may find it all the more difficult to deal with what has been neglected since it took charge. I believe (hope, I am wrong) that time shall come when the ruling party will have a hard time dealing with some of the long-pending contentious issues of high public interest.
I am aware of the mess created by previous governments. I am aware of the fact that much of the present-day problems faced by the government in a way has been inherited. I am aware of the fact that it has been only 16 months or so since this government came into being. But all this does not negate the fact that much time has been lost in dealing with many inconsequential issues, particularly in the present-day context of the people's sufferings. This government has everything going its way, yet I find it is rather myopic in its vision.
Oh Allah, give us the wisdom to understand as to what we can do and what we cannot do and, above all, what we must not do.
..............................................
The writer can be reached at e-mail:chowdhury. shamsher@yahoo.com
EACH and every political party elected to power has, without fail, systematically undermined and ignored the interests of the common man and the electorate. Not only that, they have been self-serving and callous to the core. Without exception the lawmakers and members of other powerful entities of the government have been not only corrupt in more ways than one but also inefficient. There are many predominant elements amongst the rulers whose activities would lead you to question their patriotism. We have more such politicians than patriots. Without exception each one of them has not only exploited the people of the country but also misled them. Right from the day we gained our independence we have indulged in nothing more than hollow rhetoric and demagoguery. Government after government befooled people with false hopes, bluffing them in all conceivable ways.
Despite all that, the fact remains that, we the people had reposed our trust in Awami League more than any other party since independence. Yet, has it done any better than the others, in improving and bettering the lives of the common man? I do not know about others but I have no reason to feel anyway encouraged by the way it is currently managing the affairs of the state. I am aware of the fact that it took the reins of the country at a time when the economic recession was already raising havoc all over the world. Even then, the ruling party should have done a better job of managing the country. I have a feeling that it has been so hung up and focused on some specific aspects of its election manifesto that it has, for all practical purposes, failed to recognise a number of critical issues of public welfare and concern already on the ground. I am constrained to say that for all practical purposes, it has lost touch with the mainstream population and it has only itself to blame.
Its management practices are not only poor but also not well conceived and properly directed. Besides methods and techniques applied in some of its major interventions do largely run afoul of people's interests. At the same time it looks to me that the ruling party is administering the country in an authoritarian manner. I find this attitude to be in poor taste and like adding insult to injury. As we struggle to survive being weighed down by water crisis, power crisis and gas crisis, all that the government can come up with is issuing decrees (farmans) harsh and unkind, dictating all kinds of extreme austerity measures including saving energies through stopping air conditioners at private homes, as though "the king has spoken". Living in this country is now becoming not only stressful but also extremely painful. People of this country with an exception of the favoured few have already become weary of the way that the country is being governed for all sorts of reasons.
Just consider this when stringent measures are being "ordered" like shutting of air conditioners in private homes and other establishments, power never goes off in the residential areas where the elite of the establishment live and homes of many rich and the powerful in posh localities of the city. I would like to question the sanity and logic behind this method of operations in general. Parliament for all practical purposes has not been functioning properly, befitting a democratic polity. We, the people, stand further marginalised and have been turned into objects of use and abuse. The voices of the people have been stifled. Whatever little of opposition we had, by design and default, have been systematically made insignificant and even invisible.
Many dictatorial regimes that came to power through coups and counter-coups by the army ruled the country since independence. But things seem to have worsened now under a democratic government. This is unfortunate. I often find it amusing that of late people at street corners and makeshift tea stalls on the footpaths often talk of the times of Hossain Muhammad Ershad with nostalgia!
It is disconcerting to note that there is hardly any evidence of democracy at work now in most of the interventions by the government. Cardinal institutions like the judiciary, the Anti-corruption Commission and the Election Commission, as envisaged in our Constitution which are meant to assist the state's management machinery, making it transparent and accountable, are malfunctioning, both by design and default. If we are to make progress in any sphere of our lives, a reversal of the situation, for the better, is imperative.
Our salvation lies in building a society that is system-based and one that is pro-active and has faith in the administration both in good and bad times.
People at this stage are in a dazed condition, thanks to the government's various obsession. Once they wake up, the incumbent government may find it all the more difficult to deal with what has been neglected since it took charge. I believe (hope, I am wrong) that time shall come when the ruling party will have a hard time dealing with some of the long-pending contentious issues of high public interest.
I am aware of the mess created by previous governments. I am aware of the fact that much of the present-day problems faced by the government in a way has been inherited. I am aware of the fact that it has been only 16 months or so since this government came into being. But all this does not negate the fact that much time has been lost in dealing with many inconsequential issues, particularly in the present-day context of the people's sufferings. This government has everything going its way, yet I find it is rather myopic in its vision.
Oh Allah, give us the wisdom to understand as to what we can do and what we cannot do and, above all, what we must not do.
..............................................
The writer can be reached at e-mail:chowdhury. shamsher@yahoo.com