Retrieving the country's image : Adroit handling needed

Needless to say that the present BNP-led alliance, in desperation to capture power made too many commitments which, realistically speaking, cannot be fulfilled within a period of five years. It is unfortunate that even after lapse of about three and half years we fail to see any positive sign of fulfilling their commitments. Even then they have started soliciting votes for giving them another five years.

It is said that great souls do not have anything to do with consistency. BNP-led alliance appears to be following this principle! It changes its position even in days. Such action, it is a common knowledge, seriously damages the credibility of the government. If any fault or failure of the government is pointed out by any national body or international organisation it hardly hesitates to reject it. It is really difficult to understand as to why a democratically elected government with more than two thirds majority in the parliament should feel shy to admit failure. We know that all efficient democratic governments accept failure. Only a dictatorial regime behaves otherwise. The fact seems to be that the sycophants and touts around the ruling hierarchy are quite capable of hiding the truth from the inner circle. We have seen some thirty-seven years back (1968) how the Ayub regime collapsed just after observing the great 'decade of development (1958-68).' Ayub abdicated through handing over power to the then army chief of Pakistan Gen Yahya after he obtained a true report from his principal secretary about the actual political scenario in the then East Pakistan. Ayub rightly did not accept the report of the then Governor of East Pakistan, Abdul Monem Khan, about the political situation.

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Ayub was a military dictator. As such he had the privilege of violating the constitutional provision for handing over power to the then speaker of the national assembly, Abdul Jabbar Khan. In case of a democratically elected government the ruling government cannot violate constitutional provision with impunity. Bangladesh constitution provides some unique provision to hand over power to a non-party caretaker government (Art 58). However, this provision has become controversial and efforts are on to make this provision more acceptable to all.

The alliance government is blaming the AL for tarnishing the image of Bangladesh abroad through wrong statements. Such blaming give the impression that the whole governmental machinery is not competent to challenge the so-called false propaganda. Even if we accept that the statements of the government are true can the government say clearly as to why governmental statements are gradually losing weight? The problem is that the alliance government is in a dilemma. The BNP will have to choose between the cooperation of the western world (in fact international community) and continuing pursuing soft line with the Islamic fundamentalists. We are not happy to hear tough public statements from senior leaders of BNP only about some foreign government, we also want to hear similar statements against Islamic fundamentalists.

We may appreciate the formation of RAB. But killing of a few criminals is certainly no permanent solution to controlling crime. We want to know why common people are barred from knowing the details of the crimes committed by these criminals. So long as money play the most critical part in Bangladesh politics, criminals will continue to thrive. Without adequate analysis of the problem it appears that government is concentrating on patchwork (like providing RAB with armoured cars). Power corrupts, and absolute power absolutely. If too much power is given to RAB that may corrupt them. It is extremely difficult to find a powerful honest man in Bangladesh. Changing the Bangladesh society (a highly corrupt one) into a reasonably honest one is a very difficult task. Without real cooperation from the common people no government can perform this job through holding seminars or making threats of punishments.

The alliance government is composed of strange mixture of people. Some are freedom fighters, some ex-Muslim Leaguers, some ex-Awami Leaguers, some ex-JP members, some ex-civil servants or military personnel and some efficient opportunists. Jamaat's relationship with BNP is as old as the birth of BNP. However, the most effective relationship developed during the last national election. However, BNP can never accept the anti-liberation philosophy of Jamaat because it will have to remain moderate with secular outlook and believer in democratic rule and culture.

It is indeed an extremely challenging job to rule Bangladesh, a poor disaster prone country with unsatisfactory law and order situation, inefficient bureaucracy (mainly due to politicisation) and corrupt society and political instability. Though BNP-led government loudly claims its achievement (quoting donor and development agencies) it has never reached the goals of its commitments during the last election. Killing of Ahsan Ali Master, SAMS Kibria, Ivy Rahman and attempt of assassination on Sheikh Hasina and failure to provide proper protection to British High Commissioner indicate ineffectives of the government. Galloping inflation is threatening the macroeconomic stability.

It is extremely doubtful as to the benefit of BNP to blame AL for all mishaps or misdeeds. It accuses AL of tarnishing the image of Bangladesh abroad through false statements. BNP should consider the following points before accusing others:

(a) How efficient is its administration? Can it handle crises effectively?

(b) How much damage has been done due to politicisation of administration?

(c) Are the top bureaucrats honestly performing their job or are they just passing their time?

(d) Are the members of the cabinet maintaining good understanding among themselves despite their personal differences?

Need for attention of the government has become overdue on improving the performance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Importance of maintaining good balanced relationship with as many states as possible cannot be overemphasised in case of a developing county like Bangladesh; outburst in presence of foreign diplomats or strong public statements cannot bring satisfactory result. Without a clear policy toward Islamic fundamentalists BNP will not only damage its own reputation as a moderate political party, it may also bring misery for the country. For the sake of retrieving the tarnished image of Bangladesh the following may be considered:

(i) Be tough with Islamic fundamentalists;

(ii) Be more tolerant and respectful of the views of the opposition;

(iii) Be more attentive to issues concerning good governance and

(iv) Be more tactful in maintaining balance in its relationship with USA, EU countries, India and China.

We must not forget that self-interest of the country can best be served only through actions based on strong logic and not on sentiment.

A B M S Zahur is a retired Joint Secretary.