Theory and practice

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DONATIONS "not lawfully declared" or actual expenditures being "in excess of what could be shown" are not the cases only in the developing countries or low income ones like Bangladesh. Even the developed countries that are, to our ordinary perception, "civilised ones" having good governance face such problems. Here one can cite the recent case in the United Kingdom.
There the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faced grilling late last month over illegal donations to his governing Labour Party following revelations that property developer David Abrahams donated over 600,000 pounds (US $ 1.2 million) to Brown's centre-left party through four friends or associates in breach of the existing rules. The British Prime Minister stated that he knew nothing about the donations or the practice. But he admitted, as the wire service report said, that the afore-mentioned donations or receipts were "not lawfully declared". Abrahams, the property developer, disclosed at the same time that he had received a hand-written letter from Labour's chief fundraiser Jon Mendelson, praising him (Abrahams) as one of the party's "strongest supporters" and requesting a personal meeting.
Will this incident lead to framing of "corruption", "tax dodging" and "many laundering" charges in the UK against Prime Minister George Brown, Labour Party's Jon Mendelson or property developer David Abrahams? The developed countries know how to treat cases not by appearance but by substance. What lesson should we draw from this?
Sultan Ahmed
Agrbad, Chittgong