Time for good men to assert themselves
Saturday, 20 October 2007
Enayet Rasul
"All that it requires for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing " - Edmund Burke, a late eighteen century British parliamentarian, intellectual, orator and political theorist
Bengal's greatest poet and philosopher, the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, also expressed similarly in one of his unforgettable poems that the one who tolerates what is wrong and immoral deserves to be hated in the same manner as the doer of the crime or immorality. The Holy Koran exhorts the believers in the same way. There are many verses in the Holy Koran that urge the believers to resolutely struggle against wrong and evil as a way of discharging their religious obligations and for their own good.
Indeed, so many examples can be found tracing the pages of history that describe otherwise splendid human societies, empires and states, meeting doom and destruction and at the centrepoint of the decline was the incapacity or unwillingness of good men and women in them rising and acting in time to stop the march of evil. Hitler's Third Reich was a classic example of this in the modern era. Hitler rose to power in a despicable manner resorting to gang tactics, lies, deception and other criminal methods all aiming to undermine completely the democratic system in his country and to substitute it with his brand of totalitarianism. Not only his own country but the whole world paid a very heavy price for it as subsequent events after the triumph of Nazism in Germany so painfully demonstrated. The same happened expressly because the good Germans in good number did not become active in time to check the establishment of a very debauched system .
All of these things are said to clarify their relevance in the context of present day Bangladesh. There is almost a consensus in Bangladesh, among its right thinking intellectuals, that the greatest weakness of this country which has frustrated its developmental potentials over the last 36 years, is its political system. This system became progressively degraded in different ways over the years with higher values of serving the people and working for people's welfare gradually taking a back-seat in the motivation and objectives of the political leaders. The same were supplanted by nothing better than personal enrichment at the cost of the people and the use of any method to that end. Politics in Bangladesh became too decadent and hostage to the possessors of black money, muscle power and the other ills, that led to a very destructive situation when the country's everday life and the broader economic and social security of its people faced utter peril.
Thus, a new government of national redemption came to power in January and has been indicating through its actions that it wants to give the country a fresh new start shorn of the liabilities of the past. The greatest of these liabilities would be the old style political system that existed. The leaders of the present government have been underscoring the importance of building a new political system minus the characteristics of the old one. From many politicians forced to account for their misdeeds now and from the probability of their not meeting the criteria to be considered as eligible for contesting the national elections, the pressure for undertaking reforms within the political parties, the energetic activities of the Election Commission which are noted to hold the elections very scrupulously and free from the influences of money, muscle and other objectionable activities like buying and selling party nominations for contesting the elections, from all of these developments one may reasonably come to the conclusion that the upcoming elections would not be an exercise like in the past.
There are grievances that the government's claim that it is creating road blocks for all unworthy candidates from participating in the elections, is not fully acceptable because many such people are still at large and have escaped the anti-corruption dragnet, so far. But the government's answer to this is that it is not practically possible for them to stretch the anti-corruption move too far without overwhelming the government's or institutional capacities and that the on going anti-corruption drive would lead to disqualification of a substantial number of corrupt politicians to make the field reasonably and widely free to be filled in by persons having true competence and character. It is also contended that parties and personalities have become so thoroughly discredited in the eyes of the people that the survivors or the lackeys of the discredited politicians would stand little chance of winning in the elections even if they should get a chance to participate in them.
Thus, the horizon is far from being a bleak one. A good opportunity is starting to show up for good and capable persons to fill the political void. They have always complained and rightly so that the field is not a level one for them to even consider participating in elections because of the very adverse factors against them. But for the first time they are likely to discover that the playing field has become surprisingly clean and competitive for them. They would have none but their own selves to blame and thump their heads later in despair, if they fail to read the signs quickly and make the most of this golden opportunity. The interim government can only go so far in paving the ground for competent and virtuous persons to stand in the election. But they cannot do more than that. The government cannot be expected to spoon-feed the process. It cannot or must not even do so to avoid the charge of political engineering.
The move to make the political system better taking advantage of the on going developments, must come from the people themselves to satisfy the requirements of democracy and avoid accusations of a superimposition by some quarter from above. Thus, the good and able persons must assert themselves-- the sooner, the best. They must get their act together and create political formations, alliances, understanding-- whatever things are required -- without wasting a moment from now for fielding candidates who would have clean background and be noted for their efficiency to truly deserve the posts of people's representatives in the next parliament.
"All that it requires for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing " - Edmund Burke, a late eighteen century British parliamentarian, intellectual, orator and political theorist
Bengal's greatest poet and philosopher, the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, also expressed similarly in one of his unforgettable poems that the one who tolerates what is wrong and immoral deserves to be hated in the same manner as the doer of the crime or immorality. The Holy Koran exhorts the believers in the same way. There are many verses in the Holy Koran that urge the believers to resolutely struggle against wrong and evil as a way of discharging their religious obligations and for their own good.
Indeed, so many examples can be found tracing the pages of history that describe otherwise splendid human societies, empires and states, meeting doom and destruction and at the centrepoint of the decline was the incapacity or unwillingness of good men and women in them rising and acting in time to stop the march of evil. Hitler's Third Reich was a classic example of this in the modern era. Hitler rose to power in a despicable manner resorting to gang tactics, lies, deception and other criminal methods all aiming to undermine completely the democratic system in his country and to substitute it with his brand of totalitarianism. Not only his own country but the whole world paid a very heavy price for it as subsequent events after the triumph of Nazism in Germany so painfully demonstrated. The same happened expressly because the good Germans in good number did not become active in time to check the establishment of a very debauched system .
All of these things are said to clarify their relevance in the context of present day Bangladesh. There is almost a consensus in Bangladesh, among its right thinking intellectuals, that the greatest weakness of this country which has frustrated its developmental potentials over the last 36 years, is its political system. This system became progressively degraded in different ways over the years with higher values of serving the people and working for people's welfare gradually taking a back-seat in the motivation and objectives of the political leaders. The same were supplanted by nothing better than personal enrichment at the cost of the people and the use of any method to that end. Politics in Bangladesh became too decadent and hostage to the possessors of black money, muscle power and the other ills, that led to a very destructive situation when the country's everday life and the broader economic and social security of its people faced utter peril.
Thus, a new government of national redemption came to power in January and has been indicating through its actions that it wants to give the country a fresh new start shorn of the liabilities of the past. The greatest of these liabilities would be the old style political system that existed. The leaders of the present government have been underscoring the importance of building a new political system minus the characteristics of the old one. From many politicians forced to account for their misdeeds now and from the probability of their not meeting the criteria to be considered as eligible for contesting the national elections, the pressure for undertaking reforms within the political parties, the energetic activities of the Election Commission which are noted to hold the elections very scrupulously and free from the influences of money, muscle and other objectionable activities like buying and selling party nominations for contesting the elections, from all of these developments one may reasonably come to the conclusion that the upcoming elections would not be an exercise like in the past.
There are grievances that the government's claim that it is creating road blocks for all unworthy candidates from participating in the elections, is not fully acceptable because many such people are still at large and have escaped the anti-corruption dragnet, so far. But the government's answer to this is that it is not practically possible for them to stretch the anti-corruption move too far without overwhelming the government's or institutional capacities and that the on going anti-corruption drive would lead to disqualification of a substantial number of corrupt politicians to make the field reasonably and widely free to be filled in by persons having true competence and character. It is also contended that parties and personalities have become so thoroughly discredited in the eyes of the people that the survivors or the lackeys of the discredited politicians would stand little chance of winning in the elections even if they should get a chance to participate in them.
Thus, the horizon is far from being a bleak one. A good opportunity is starting to show up for good and capable persons to fill the political void. They have always complained and rightly so that the field is not a level one for them to even consider participating in elections because of the very adverse factors against them. But for the first time they are likely to discover that the playing field has become surprisingly clean and competitive for them. They would have none but their own selves to blame and thump their heads later in despair, if they fail to read the signs quickly and make the most of this golden opportunity. The interim government can only go so far in paving the ground for competent and virtuous persons to stand in the election. But they cannot do more than that. The government cannot be expected to spoon-feed the process. It cannot or must not even do so to avoid the charge of political engineering.
The move to make the political system better taking advantage of the on going developments, must come from the people themselves to satisfy the requirements of democracy and avoid accusations of a superimposition by some quarter from above. Thus, the good and able persons must assert themselves-- the sooner, the best. They must get their act together and create political formations, alliances, understanding-- whatever things are required -- without wasting a moment from now for fielding candidates who would have clean background and be noted for their efficiency to truly deserve the posts of people's representatives in the next parliament.