Too much of politics
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Shamsher Chowdhury
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, said, "Man by nature is a political animal". As much as it is true, it is my impression that we are too much into politics of the worst kind. From the vendor on the roadside right up to the people occupying the highest seats of the administration are indulging in politics that we could do without. Nothing is wrong with it except for the fact that it is hindering the development processes.
Politics in Bangladesh is used and abused by its propagators and practitioners for their self-development and self-preservation. Here in this country we are into politics of hatred, politics of vengeance and retaliation, politics of lies and deception, politics of conspiracy etc.
Interestingly enough, the good men and women who do not indulge in politics of any kind continue to be sidelined and ignored by the administration. Politicians elsewhere are no prophets either, but it must be said that in most countries they are people-oriented and politics is not at the cost of the people. Despite the demagoguery and the high political pollution in other developing or Third World countries, the politicians there, unlike in Bangladesh, pursue pro-people policies and are largely focused on the welfare of the majority of the population.
Politics in Bangladesh is highly conflict-ridden and conspiratorial in nature, considerably devoid of moral and ethical parameters. Ignoring the common man at all times has been the key feature of politics as practised by our politicians. Our politics is essentially destructive. Our politicians are often engaged in showing that two wrongs make one right. Our politics is often foolhardy and highly misleading, as if to vindicate the claim of Nikita Khrushchev who said: "Politicians are the same everywhere; they promise to build bridges where there is no river."
To put it mildly, our politics is in a mess. It is often difficult to ascertain as to who is the opposition and who represents the ruling party? Sometimes the ruling party behaves like the opposition and the opposition as though it was the ruling party. Our politics is full of chaos and confusion. The ruling party, just like the opposition, often says one thing today only to contradict it the following day.
Politicians all over the country indulge in either withholding the truth or telling lies to a great extent; they purposefully ignore the concerns of the majority of the people, particularly the common man. Politics here is ridden with half-truths or half-lies. Our politicians never say what they believe in but say what the people wish to hear or all that are likely to sound as sweet music to their ears. Politics has become a dangerous tool at the disposal of our politicians which they use indiscriminately for and against foes or friends alike.
Politics now is full of vendetta and vengeance. Extreme intolerance dominates our politics that often leads to physical violence of the worst nature, even murder.
It is our feeling that unless we are able to bring about qualitative changes in the way we conduct our politics, the nation will stagnate. How that qualitative change will come about, is anybody's guess. It has to come through a drastic change in the entire structure of political leadership and management practices. The ball now is in the court of the politicians.
We simply must rid our politics of pointless demagoguery, senseless anger and conspiratorial maneuverings. We must build a distinctive platform from where we are able to steer our politics in the right direction. We must uphold democracy, both in spirit and in all our actions. We must rid politics of all kinds of dictatorial or autocratic tendencies. We must realise that bad politics is bound to lead to bad governance.
Epilogue: Bangladesh has made some strides in socio-economic developments but surely it has the potential of doing even better but for the failures of the political leadership, time and again.
Most democracies in the world were born out of massive sacrifices by the people at large. In the democratic world, Bangladesh stands out as the finest example where the whole people made exemplary sacrifices. All we need to do is to stay away from violence and anger and make education our forte in every sphere of our life. Let us rise above self, be honest to ourselves and indulge more in the pursuits of patriotism than politics of the cheap kind. Let us shun the path of lies and stay on the path of truth, no matter how bitter it is.
We have no doubts in our mind that Bangladesh is here to stay through the eternity but what we are concerned is: what kind of a nation will it be? Will it be a nation committed to fair play and justice? Will it be a state that would routinely protect the good against the evil? We do not know, but we continue to hope against hope that our future generations will see better days. While we are saying this, we mean they will be people with strong moral and ethical values, upholding human dignity at all costs. Surely no nation can survive without a soul.
E-mail: chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, said, "Man by nature is a political animal". As much as it is true, it is my impression that we are too much into politics of the worst kind. From the vendor on the roadside right up to the people occupying the highest seats of the administration are indulging in politics that we could do without. Nothing is wrong with it except for the fact that it is hindering the development processes.
Politics in Bangladesh is used and abused by its propagators and practitioners for their self-development and self-preservation. Here in this country we are into politics of hatred, politics of vengeance and retaliation, politics of lies and deception, politics of conspiracy etc.
Interestingly enough, the good men and women who do not indulge in politics of any kind continue to be sidelined and ignored by the administration. Politicians elsewhere are no prophets either, but it must be said that in most countries they are people-oriented and politics is not at the cost of the people. Despite the demagoguery and the high political pollution in other developing or Third World countries, the politicians there, unlike in Bangladesh, pursue pro-people policies and are largely focused on the welfare of the majority of the population.
Politics in Bangladesh is highly conflict-ridden and conspiratorial in nature, considerably devoid of moral and ethical parameters. Ignoring the common man at all times has been the key feature of politics as practised by our politicians. Our politics is essentially destructive. Our politicians are often engaged in showing that two wrongs make one right. Our politics is often foolhardy and highly misleading, as if to vindicate the claim of Nikita Khrushchev who said: "Politicians are the same everywhere; they promise to build bridges where there is no river."
To put it mildly, our politics is in a mess. It is often difficult to ascertain as to who is the opposition and who represents the ruling party? Sometimes the ruling party behaves like the opposition and the opposition as though it was the ruling party. Our politics is full of chaos and confusion. The ruling party, just like the opposition, often says one thing today only to contradict it the following day.
Politicians all over the country indulge in either withholding the truth or telling lies to a great extent; they purposefully ignore the concerns of the majority of the people, particularly the common man. Politics here is ridden with half-truths or half-lies. Our politicians never say what they believe in but say what the people wish to hear or all that are likely to sound as sweet music to their ears. Politics has become a dangerous tool at the disposal of our politicians which they use indiscriminately for and against foes or friends alike.
Politics now is full of vendetta and vengeance. Extreme intolerance dominates our politics that often leads to physical violence of the worst nature, even murder.
It is our feeling that unless we are able to bring about qualitative changes in the way we conduct our politics, the nation will stagnate. How that qualitative change will come about, is anybody's guess. It has to come through a drastic change in the entire structure of political leadership and management practices. The ball now is in the court of the politicians.
We simply must rid our politics of pointless demagoguery, senseless anger and conspiratorial maneuverings. We must build a distinctive platform from where we are able to steer our politics in the right direction. We must uphold democracy, both in spirit and in all our actions. We must rid politics of all kinds of dictatorial or autocratic tendencies. We must realise that bad politics is bound to lead to bad governance.
Epilogue: Bangladesh has made some strides in socio-economic developments but surely it has the potential of doing even better but for the failures of the political leadership, time and again.
Most democracies in the world were born out of massive sacrifices by the people at large. In the democratic world, Bangladesh stands out as the finest example where the whole people made exemplary sacrifices. All we need to do is to stay away from violence and anger and make education our forte in every sphere of our life. Let us rise above self, be honest to ourselves and indulge more in the pursuits of patriotism than politics of the cheap kind. Let us shun the path of lies and stay on the path of truth, no matter how bitter it is.
We have no doubts in our mind that Bangladesh is here to stay through the eternity but what we are concerned is: what kind of a nation will it be? Will it be a nation committed to fair play and justice? Will it be a state that would routinely protect the good against the evil? We do not know, but we continue to hope against hope that our future generations will see better days. While we are saying this, we mean they will be people with strong moral and ethical values, upholding human dignity at all costs. Surely no nation can survive without a soul.
E-mail: chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com