Present politics and our future

Bangladesh, in her thirty-five years of history, has seen a number of presidents, prime ministers and leaders of many political parties, but yet to find a statesman who could propel the nation towards the path of real progress, economic and otherwise. So, the hopes and aspirations of our people for having a just and equitable society with humanity, dignity, equal respects and opportunities for all of its citizens remain largely unachieved.

The failure of our leaders to consolidate the ideals of democracy and implement it in a fair and beneficial manner may be attributed to the evident lack of their wisdom, vision, farsightedness, honesty, integrity, and magnanimity required of great leadership. With the exceptions of a few, most of our heads of government and political parties, through their thoughts and actions, could not distinguish themselves above the rank of ordinary.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Noticeably, the most important agenda for many of our politicians is to get elected and grab power by hook or by crook, so that, as is blamed, they can squander national resources to amass towering fortunes for themselves and for the members of their parties and families. Therefore, change of government through elections did not make any difference either, because our major political parties are merely the two sides of the same coin. So, corruption and cronyism, crime and violence, abuse of power and waste of meager national resources continue to increase under each government, with simultaneous deterioration of peace and safety for all. Life for the ordinary citizens is becoming unbearably more miserable day by day.

For all practical purposes, democracy in our country is dysfunctional to the extent that it is no more than a deception and mockery to legitimise the plunders of politicians-- in their hand it only serves the corrupt to facilitate their evil deeds and selfish interests. In our society today, individual's talents, abilities and honest work are not necessarily the principal parameters of success; the rich and the mighty get whatever they want by depriving others of their due rights.

Besides, political leaders and their coteries view public resources and state instruments as their personal property and do not hesitate to abuse and dispose of that interests at their whims and desire. It appears as if they look upon the country as their kingdom and manipulate its business in a way that would satisfy their motives, all under a fake democratic cover.

Moreover, there is now talk in the political circles that the leaders of both major parties, in collusion with their cronies, are hatching up plots to transfer party leaderships to their immediate family members as harbingers for state leadership. Leadership that is not earned, but handed over by political conspiracy and selfish design to perpetuate the state power in one or two families is not much different from absolute monarchy. This kind of sinister scheme is a treachery and travesty of democracy, with terrible consequences which we have already been experiencing. The nation cannot afford to have those dark chapters of history repeated anymore. The wise and the honest in the political arena must resist it at any cost, for the sake of democracy.

Most, if not all, of the vices that exist in our society are the outshot of our corrupt political parties. They have created a vicious cycle of crime, violence and terror by nurturing criminals just to protect their interests and intimidate their opponents. Needless to say, the innocent people are the worst victims of this harmful situation.

Under these circumstances, concerned citizens are crying out for a savior to rescue the nation from its current state of crisis and cure the ills of our politics, but no sign of help seems to be in sight. Any isolated and cosmetic attempt to confront corruption, nepotism, injustice, violence and lawlessness, without fixing the political system is just like treating the external symptoms without addressing the cause of the disease. The problems need to be addressed where they belong -- at the roots, not at the branches.

So, the country at this time needs revolutionary reforms in its politics and policies. Without such reforms, any superficial change will be just another futile attempt to alleviate the pains and sufferings people are going through for no fault of their own. It does not seem plausible that anyone from our major political parties will be able to rise above the crowd and answer the call of the nation for the urgently needed reforms. However, this is not to say that everyone in our political circle is corrupt and worthless.

There are some very talented and decent individuals among the politicians, but because of their honest, objective and independent thoughts, they are either cornered in their party or already cast away. Some of these individuals have formed their own political organisations, and whether happy or not about their fate in politics, they now seem to be at a distance from their counterparts.

These politicians, who are relatively less influential but honest, and some intellectuals on the sideline of our politics had the potential for doing something good for the country, but unfortunately they cannot move beyond the shells of their ideologies and petty differences to unite others like them for a greater cause. Their organisations and activities may give them the personal satisfaction of lofty political identity and intellectual pursuits, but do not offer any effective programme to attract the attention of the general public, and are therefore practically useless.

So, the prevailing political environment in Dhaka is not indicative of any prospect for true reforms, unless there is a miracle of Biblical proportions. But, be it miracle or magic, the solution to our problems has to come from the people of our society, and the country cannot wait too long for that to happen.

The empire of corruption and evil has to be crumbled in order to establish justice and meaningful democracy so that our future generations do not suffer the way we do. It is a very difficult mission, but a doable task which will undoubtedly require a lot of sacrifice and hard work on the part of everyone involved. But, by any measure, it is a truly great endeavour worthy of every effort, despite the hardship.

The nation genuinely expects and needs more from its educated, wise and privileged citizens, especially those who have been in high positions and still command some influence and authority over matters of national importance, to help change its ailing situations. At this moment of our history, the country is clamouring for her brave sons and daughters to stand up and move forward to wake up the hero that lies in every individual. That is the need of the time, and those who can rise to the occasion to meet this challenge of our generation will be saluted as real heroes by many more generations to come.

Dr. Matiur Rahman is Professor, Austin Community College, Texas, USA.