My party, right or wrong!

Not very long thereafter, I started realising the immorality, arrogance and the ominous portents f disaster associated with the utterance of such a line as above. It did not take much time to appreciate that such utterance smacked of blind patriotism and ran counter to the values of a democratic world order seeking to remove the last vestiges of imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism.

Much water has flown between now and those eventful years of the sixties. The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a unipolar world is the present reality. Whether the leadership of the so-called free and civilised world are on a high moral ground is very hotly debatable. In the same vein one may wonder whether the arrogance coupled with the immoral and unilateral action of the lone superpower and its ally are proving to be obstacles in the flowering of emerging democracies? Do leaders of the nascent democracies get encouragement from the rash and ill-judged actions of the superpower to consolidate their grip on the levers of power? Do they feel tempted to only promote their partisan interests even at the cost of destroying those very institutions on whose effectiveness and resilience depend the sustainability of a democratic polity?

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It is in the background of the aforementioned premonitions that the right thinking Bangladeshi citizens may like to look deeper into the health of our body politic to know if much of our present predicament follows from the precariously partisan behaviour and activities of the dominant political masters. If indeed our political leaders have been influenced by the great American patriot referred to at the onset of this piece and have deliberately adopted a 'My party, right or wrong' policy in all matters pertaining to governance and issues thereto. If in the conduction of affairs of the state there is a 'Carry on regardless' attitude.

Civil service and partisan culture
The civil service owes its loyalty to the government of the day, irrespective of political party, and it is imperative that the civil service avoids creating the impression of political bias. The anonymity and political neutrality of civil servants is reinforced by the conduct rules restricting political activity. As the civil service has to serve governments of all political persuasions, it is essential that civil servants whatever their private political views, should not be seen to be politically active in a manner which would inevitably compromise their neutrality under one political party or another.

The civil service management code of UK states that: "The constitutional and practical role of the civil service is, with integrity, honesty, impartiality and objectivity, to assist the duly constituted government of whatever political complexion, in formulating policies of government, carrying out decisions of the government and in administering public services for which the government is responsible". They are also required to conduct themselves in such a manner as to "deserve and retain the confidence of Ministers and to be able to establish the same relationship with those whom they may be required to serve in some future administration". The above code also states that civil servants must not misuse their official position to further their own, or another's interests.

The above may be the ideal but ground reality in Bangladesh now is sadly indicative of the rapid erosion of the bureaucratic culture and politicisation of the services has acquired an ominous dimension. Professionalism, competence and honesty, which are the hallmarks of a hallowed system has started giving way to cronyism, pliability and dishonesty -- both intellectual and financial. The political leadership is dangling favours to create so-called loyal and partisan officers who would go to any length to please their superiors in order to remain near the seat of power. In such a situation, the self-respect and honour is taking leave and the frustrating process is quickly trapping the junior functionaries who find it difficult to remain unaffected by the all-pervasive malady.

The unfortunate reality in Bangladesh is that our politicians love to scare the civil servants with regard to their tenure and the system does not provide the desirable high degree of security to the civil servants. Somehow, wily-nilly, we have reached a situation wherein the discomfiture of civil servants, however unjust, is mostly a gleeful sight. Little do we realise that the nation will be paying heavily for such unhealthy attitude.

We need to know that in UK, in practical terms the civil servants enjoy a high degree of security under the royal prerogative and the politicians in Bangladesh should know that the constitutional significance of permanency, as it obtains in UK lies in the development of expertise and the natural growth of a civil service 'ethos'. Most importantly, permanency ensures the availability of such expertise to governments of differing political persuasions. Are not these practices worth emulating for our supposedly democratic society?

Partisanship in regulatory body and implications
While ensuring internal security for maintenance of public order in state interests is the statutory task of the agencies, in reality the interests of the state often get diluted and mixed up with interests of the party in power. The situation is marked by an unfortunate lack of understanding and appreciation of the requirements of the state and the government in a democratic and pluralist society like ours. The unpleasant truth is that agencies maintain file and shadow the leaders of pronouncedly constitutional politics-oriented parties of the opposition who are recognised partners in the business of politics. At some point of time when such opposition party comes to power, there is an uneasy relationship between the political masters and the agencies. In such a scenario professionalism becomes the worst casualty, sense of direction is lost, the organisation dips into a lackadaisical environment and interests of the state take a back seat giving greater space to partisan considerations.

The present situation is perhaps illustrative of what happens when vital regulatory institutions remain significantly preoccupied with inconsequential partisan matters to the detriment of national interests and how the same affects the crisis management scenario. We are unfortunately passing through a sad time when doubts are being expressed publicly about the neutrality and honesty of some vital organs of the state whose functions can neither be arrogated to others nor be privatised. The compounding tragedy is that such criticisms by supposedly responsible leaders of our polity cannot be summarily dismissed by discerning observers, both internal and external, of our socio-political scene.

Social dimension of partisanship
The unfortunate reality in Bangladesh today is that to lead an honourable life one perhaps to be partisan. To retain one's proprietary right over land, secure contract for development work or to even safely build a house on one's own property, one may need quite often the support of the local powerful group or coterie and barring some fortunate exceptions this powerful group enjoys the active patronage and blessings of the political power that be.

Newspaper accounts tell us about the plight of the workers of the defeated political party following the national election. Such accounts depict the pathetic fugitive existence of the hapless workers who, in the absence of their litigation-stricken leaders are forced to live a miserable life. Their misery is further compounded by the institution of allegedly politically motivated criminal cases with a view to psychologically and socially crippling the opponents. Consequently, political identity is often becoming a hazard for many individuals and groups and politics is turning into a dangerous business where annihilation of the adversary appears a preferred objective. Under such circumstances, there is a desperate and perverted bid to amass wealth without caring for the legality of such acquisition. Politicians of different descriptions make the pragmatic assessment that such ill-gotten possessions would be handy for self-protection during the likely event of being out of power in the not-too-distant future. The trend, to say the least, is deplorable.

The desired course
We will do well to remember that modern state is a political contrivance for civilised people to lead a lawful life and the impartial and dispassionate performance of some vital state institutions, made possible by political wisdom, ensure the success of such an existence. Prominent among these institutions are the judiciary, the education system, the Election Commission, the public service, the media --whose lively and positive role guarantees the fulfilment of societal goals. The state must not be stripped of its benevolent character and the government should not appear less than representative by reason of tragic partisan action.

Those in charge of the affairs of the state should look beyond their nose and be on a high moral ground in order to be the true guardian. Let us make sincere efforts in creating the proper political ethos befitting a democracy.

Muhammad Nurul Huda is former Secretary and IGP.