State of the government

It is tragic that all this is being done willfully and with the intention of protecting its ultra right coalition partners, namely Jamaat-e-Islami and its like-minded parties. Whether or not these so-called champions of Islam and their off-shoots have direct links with the terrorist attacks now or had in the past, it is simply dangerous to have any form of links with these elements.

The continuous sidelining, ignoring, and lack of concern for the people at large have been the hallmark of this administration. I have never been fond of Awami League either, as I have pointed out in my earlier writings, it also had its quota of cardinal mistakes in and out of government, but nothing seems to compare with those of BNP and the present administration.

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Awami League made mistakes born out of miscalculations and misjudging of issues at hand, and not by deliberate actions devoid of any moral and ethical considerations. Awami League held a lathi-procession in the High Court premises while this government is sending intelligence agency men who are "breathing down the necks of the Judges" -- all in the name of providing security.

I find it absurd that when the country is passing through one of its most critical times, when the entire nation is burdened with unprecedented spiraling prices of essentials of day to day living, the CEO of the administration seems to be mentally cheerful enough to appear in public fancily dressed and apparently bereft of any worry.

Today it reminds me of when her husband, then the President of the country, while visiting a flood affected area, took to task one of the senior-most bureaucrats for being dandily dressed, not befitting to the occasion or the surrounding circumstances. How can anyone be so unconcerned?

She and her party members call their policy interventions "politics of development." If this is what the politics of development, one wonders, what would one call utter disasters and chaos. It was indeed ironic and utterly disgusting to watch the fanfare displayed recently while celebrating the birth anniversary of BNP at a time like this. To me it appeared to be, to put it mildly, utterly disgusting and a slap in the face of the suffering millions.

The continuous somersaults by the venerable Law Minster are not only outrageous but also ridiculous. His latest reactions, very angry reactions, over the High Court's recent ruling on the 5th Amendment of the Constitution, as displayed in the entire media, cannot be described as part of any form of politics of development whatsoever. It is all the more shocking when you think of his exclusive educational background.

Our honourable Finance Minster seems to be equally cool and composed, given the turbulent circumstances around him and his operations. I wonder what was going through his mind when all too suddenly he raised the gasoline prices at such staggering rates at a time when people are already burdened with unbearable high costs of living, and that too right before the Holy month of Ramadan and the ensuing Eid ul Fitr?

Can you guess why he did that? Maybe he did it simply because such hike in prices has never before affected his family nor will it in the future. I am still having difficulty overcoming the shock, when asked by a reporter of one the local dailies about August 17, he responded by saying something along the lines that bombings of this nature are a common phenomenon all over the world today, and that no bomb attack has yet taken place in the premises of our Parliament, as happened in neighbouring India.

Like our Finance Minister, the erudite economist heading the country's main body dealing with the country's financial institutions, continues to see no problems with the deteriorating state of our foreign currency with the conversion rate of a dollar touching all time high at about Tk. 67.

With the soaring prices of gasoline and the overall costs of living continually rising I was contemplating selling off my one and only small Suzuki Zen (which despite my protest my wife bought last year out of sheer kindness and concern for her disabled husband who now spends most of his time in a wheelchair) and instead buy a CNG-operated three wheeler.

I realised I could not do it, now that a CNG-operated three wheeler vehicle costs nearly as much as the price of an 800cc Suzuki Maruti. I suddenly remembered the innumerable stories of market manipulations in the local dailies, which resulted in this high cost of three wheelers, due to some interventions and market manipulations by none other than the venerable Minister for Communications.

While the administration is heavily engaged in all kinds of propaganda exercises making visible "the good work it is doing," it seems to sink deeper and deeper. While the elite and the exalted Rab is being congratulated by a section of the people for its crossfire killings, other kinds of crimes are on the rise like the recent robberies and killings of businessmen, with the involvement of the police forces in some instances. It is ridiculous that this administration has not been able to put a halt even to the spate of robberies committed at a number of jewelry shops otherwise housed in comparatively secure locations.

It is my belief and hope that someday we may be able to overcome the damage caused by all this, but we may never recover from the damage caused to this country by this growing indifference to and the tacit approval of religious extremists by this administration.

I am afraid that the way things are unfolding sooner rather than later we shall see aggressive and tactical interventions by "the relentless imposing and fake well-wishers of America and the West" -- all in the name of helping us in subjugating and fighting the evils of religious extremism and terrorism.

In the meantime, I have asked a friend of mine to get me a copy of the "Namaz Shikha." After all, what else could I do except seeking His forgiveness and protection. I certainly do not wish to go out and kill people, like some of these present day self-proclaimed defenders and champions of Islam.

Shamsher Chowdhury is a freelance writer.