Never shall we forget this period of rule

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Md. Momin Uddin
While the previous caretaker governments were constitutionally bound to arrange national elections within three months of their formation, the present caretaker government took over with a declaration that they would take two years to hold the ninth parliamentary election. The reasons are clear: needless to say, the elections held by the past caretaker governments failed to make the House free from corrupt and dishonest people, and the present one, like the romantics, dreamed of a parliament to be populated by people having angel-like qualities, who would devote themselves to the all-out construction of the country and to the taking care of the needs of the people of their respective constituencies. So, the government might have thought that they would need at least two years' time to metamorphose the politicians into angels, cleansing them of their sins and corrupting tendencies by putting them into the houses of purgation, or to find out, if necessary, fresh people as parliamentarians. However, this writer would say, perhaps the government failed to understand the difference between dream and politics.
Dreamers can see the end of even hundreds of years, very close to their eyes, bringing a world of hopes, promises and prosperity, but waiting two years in politics is not only difficult, rather impossible and unbearable to all extents. Praises go to the politicians of this country that they have undertaken a massively impossible task of going through the ordeals of waiting for about two years without elections. However, the finish line of the long journey of two years, which seemed hidden in the deep black clouds of uncertainty, at last seems to have arisen in the horizon with the declaration of the election schedule. But who are going to participate in the elections?
Political parties have become apparently busy, taking election preparations. If our memory, eyes and ears do not betray us, the same known political faces from every party, except perhaps one or two new faces? God knows what they are like? are going to participate in the upcoming national election. If so, why need we be waiting for two years? The little hope that the government's anti-corruption drive rose in our hearts when it started imprisoning those corrupt big hands of politics who always remained beyond the reach of laws, is now ebbing since most of them are now again out wearing floral wreaths and showing victory signs (in fact thumbs) to Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Government and the laws. The government is also holding talks with them time to time for what purposes we are not foolish to fail to understand. The ACC which boasted of having adequate necessary evidences of AL and BNP heads' holding illegal property is now proved blind as it has presently declared not having found any evidences of these two party heads' holding illegal property. Most of the corrupt politicians who were imprisoned on charge of corruption are now bailed out, certifying them qualified as candidates in the upcoming election. Now if the election does really hold on December 28, then these politicians-turned-angels are going to be our fate deciders. Hurrah! What a change!
To the beginning, the government was active and busy, arresting corrupt politicians, trying forcibly to bring about reformations in the political parties-especially in AL and BNP-by minusing Hasina-Khaleda, sometimes trying to form a National Government comprising people from the so-called civil society and what not. But now their efforts of arranging the national election after two years with the same politicians whom they made us believe as corrupt, are not only disappointing, but force us to believe that either this government is acting as an agent of a particular party of their choice to bring it to power, or they were greedy to taste the state power, or they were foolish like the political idealists. This writer would dare say that our advisors fall into the third category as they have never tried to understand that politics is politics and that it has got only one colour. History testifies that to try to beautify politics by painting it in different colours is not only a great blunder but is also an act of foolishness. If not so, communism could have been able to stand upright; countries as dreamed by Karl Marx would not have been termed as utopias. Our honouble advisors today have got no other option but to step down to stand in the queue of those in history, whose political theories and dreams failed to work.
On November 14, 2008, Badrul Ashan, a noted columnist for The Daily Star, started his write-up with an anecdote of Russia that I feel tempted to quote here: 'once upon a time in Russia one statesman named Josheph Stalin dreamed of creating super soldiers by crossbreeding humans with apes, and the task was assigned to Illya Ivanov, the most eminent animalist of the time. He stopped his research six years after he discovered that creating super soldiers by crossbreeding humans with apes was not possible due to the fact that the number of their chromosomes was not identical. What the Russians took six years to understand, we have learned only in two.' Exactly so. To change the taste, attitude, mentality, and characters of politicians as well as of people in general developed over years and thus creating supermen or super politicians is never an easy task. This writer thinks by reading Mr. Ahsan's column, our present government would clearly understand what an impossible task it dared to accomplish only in two years, that likely can never be possible, or if it does become possible at all ever, it is a time consuming research, not possible only in two years.
Still, the government's behaviour seems to be baffling and enigmatic. On the one hand it appears to be sincere that the polls be held on the announced new scheduled date. On the other hand the possibilities of holding free and fair polls are being made difficult by some unwelcome actions or inactions. Political parties are also behaving themselves. Already the BNP has put forward some demands and cautioned that unless and until their demands were met, they would not decide to take part in the upcoming polls. The Election Commission has positively responded to some of such demands. The government is expected to fulfill its latest announcement about lifting of the state of emergency. Now if, for any reason, one major party does not participate in the election, it will have no credibility home or abroad, and surely another more devastating and gruesome 1/11 would then be awaiting us. If the government would have gone for the polls not noticing who participates and who not, just to ensure its exit (circumstances predict that they will do so), it will throw the country into a certainty of limitless corruption, anarchy and bloodshed.
The nation will now hopefully have the election, not on December 18 but on December 28, and we have every reason to believe that the election will be a free and fair election in so far as the government's preparation is concerned. But whether it will be an acceptable election will depend on the participation of all major political parties in it. Again whether this election will lead to the formation of a government that will be free from the corrupt, muggers and musclemen is also a major question since the same persons are collecting nomination papers and are likely to be nominated by the parties. And if so, the achievement of this government will be no less than the big zero.
Nevertheless, the government has got some achievements. Under its guidance the Election Commission (EC) has successfully prepared a flawless photographs-pasted voters' list. It has unbelievably checked corruption to a tolerance level. News of kidnapping, looting, hijacking, raping, murder, extortion, etc., do not very frequently appear in the newspapers. People today feel free and safe to walk on street even at the late hours of night. We are about to forget the most trusted weapon of the politicians of Bangladesh -- hartal. A supersonic speed is noticed in the government offices. Almost without any demonstration or violence, people have yoked to the sky-high price-hike of necessary commodities. Then, are the people happy? Are they indirectly benefited by this government that demonstrated its dithering in carrying out its prime duty of holding a credible election? We could easily get the answers of these questions if the state of emergency was not in operation to gag out mouth. Voters' ID cards have been prepared at the cost of crores of taka, but if they are to be used in the next elections, their quality demands that they should be preserved in cold stores.
Who knows whether or not many of the voters will be able to cast their votes even in this election, because God has given them one face, but the EC has gifted them either a better or an uglier face. Corruption has decreased to a great extent, not because of the good governance of the policy makers, but because of the fear of being punished. News of kidnapping, looting, hijacking, murder, extortion, etc., do not frequently appear in the newspapers, not because the law and order situation in the country as well as the economic status of people has improved, but because of the grace of the state of emergency, which, once lifted, will bring everything back to its normal level.
Yet this government will have a place in the history of Bangladesh. In near future the two-year long tenure of this government will be honoured by people as a golden period of prosperity and success. The crises precipitated by this government will double in the next era. The price and cost of everything have gone much beyond the buying capacity of the people, especially of the government office holders who solely depend on their income to maintain their family. They are silent now, managing somehow either by borrowing or by selling personal property, or by sending children to work, instead of going to school. But how long will they go on thus? If the situation goes on thus, they are to follow a simple policy: either starve with wife and children and live humiliated or be corrupt. And most of us will choose the last option of being corrupt. Government office holders in all sectors will start amazing as much as they can to manage their families and in case they face another such crisis period after the tenure of the next government over. No government within five years in future-whether it is of the BNP or the AL, and however hard it tries-- will be able to bring the price and cost of necessary things within the buying capacity of the petty-income people. Just to be living, people will feel compelled to indulge in corruption; many will have to stop sending children to schools, many will have to die without food and medicine. Nothing will be possible unless and until bribery, kidnapping for ransom, looting, hijacking, murder - all these will be the common phenomena of everyday.
Then the common people may remark that the present caretaker government was better, never understanding that the wide-range corruption of the elected government is the worst result of the situation prevailing in about last two years. So, everyway we remember this period; never shall we forget it.
The writer is Lecturer, Department of English Language & Literature, Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Trishal, Mymensingh. He can be reached at e-mail : mdbablu_momin@yahoo.com