Powerless in power!
He fought until his blood was extinguished
Only then was he worth of his people.
-- Pablo Neruda WHEN, early in the year, the incumbent Awami League came to power with flying colours, it was by all means a roaring time, but such experience had indeed been few and far between for the party. In its chequered history it seldom enjoyed unqualified pleasure for the victory it scored in the past. It is no ordinary power that it came to be embellished with on 2009 when it got the mandate of three-fourths of the electorate. The AL was thought to have reached the summit of its post-independence success. Yet, its government started to stumble no sooner than the aura of the celebration faded. Power is an indispensable enzyme a party has to be equipped with -- if to accomplish anything great. That's why the political parties vie with each other to come out on top, and therein lies the catch-22 of its success and survival. Yet, at times one is so helpless that power is reduced to utter insignificance. None seems to care about the authority one wields. At least on two fronts -- price hike and law and order -- the government can hardly advance any explanation for its powerlessness, and has to stomach ignominy because of its inability. With all the authority in his hand, if the poor commerce minister, and for that matter the entire government, is unable to provide succour in the price crisis one has to realise the limit of the power unless it is absolutely unadulterated and, of course, armed with morality. In a power game there is nothing like giving up half way unless all the weapons to combat recalcitrance in the market and wider social scene have been used. The authority has to indeed use its full repertoire to strike at the monsters of price hike and social unrests, which have bared their fangs. That's what poet Naruda hinted at. The authority must also move beyond the seasons of festivity and celebration to deal with the hard part. Power is an unknown quantity and so is its potential, which is determined by the sanctity attached to it by its practitioner. Once the sanctity of power is done away with and bartered for subterfuge power becomes a devalued coin. Its impact is lost on the hoodlums of the AL's front-organisations, which make a mockery of the country's otherwise manageable law and order situation with their reckless tendering, extortion and the infamous BNP style high-handedness. It's not so much the problem of power and the resources of the government. It's more of the catharsis of the power -- asking point blank why one is asking for the power. Awami League -- despite its caution -- is again on a slippery slope, when law and order is dipping, the prices will keep soaring and even the "crossfires" are back. Yet the party has taken over absolute power with the strongest ever mandate after independence. Things are falling apart only after a few months. Why are there so many challenges to its power -- which the media has been focusing on and even the government itself is concocting. The AL must, for a while, look inward to search for the moral content of its power. Unless that is done, a powerless right within the citadel of power will be haunting the authority. Moreover, both the problems, which the government is becoming exasperated for not being able to resolve successfully, may merit efforts at national level. Experts feel that the collective wisdom of the nation, subsuming in it the expertise of all political forces, will exorcise the undesirable elements ensconced in food syndicates. We must be able to involve the opposition who ruled the country for long, and is aware of the cuckoos in the nest who disturb our social order. When the intention good it, is reckoned that any effort to resolve law and order at national level can reach its fruition. Or else any half-hearted effort, and one bereft of its moral content, will fly in their face.
Only then was he worth of his people.
-- Pablo Neruda WHEN, early in the year, the incumbent Awami League came to power with flying colours, it was by all means a roaring time, but such experience had indeed been few and far between for the party. In its chequered history it seldom enjoyed unqualified pleasure for the victory it scored in the past. It is no ordinary power that it came to be embellished with on 2009 when it got the mandate of three-fourths of the electorate. The AL was thought to have reached the summit of its post-independence success. Yet, its government started to stumble no sooner than the aura of the celebration faded. Power is an indispensable enzyme a party has to be equipped with -- if to accomplish anything great. That's why the political parties vie with each other to come out on top, and therein lies the catch-22 of its success and survival. Yet, at times one is so helpless that power is reduced to utter insignificance. None seems to care about the authority one wields. At least on two fronts -- price hike and law and order -- the government can hardly advance any explanation for its powerlessness, and has to stomach ignominy because of its inability. With all the authority in his hand, if the poor commerce minister, and for that matter the entire government, is unable to provide succour in the price crisis one has to realise the limit of the power unless it is absolutely unadulterated and, of course, armed with morality. In a power game there is nothing like giving up half way unless all the weapons to combat recalcitrance in the market and wider social scene have been used. The authority has to indeed use its full repertoire to strike at the monsters of price hike and social unrests, which have bared their fangs. That's what poet Naruda hinted at. The authority must also move beyond the seasons of festivity and celebration to deal with the hard part. Power is an unknown quantity and so is its potential, which is determined by the sanctity attached to it by its practitioner. Once the sanctity of power is done away with and bartered for subterfuge power becomes a devalued coin. Its impact is lost on the hoodlums of the AL's front-organisations, which make a mockery of the country's otherwise manageable law and order situation with their reckless tendering, extortion and the infamous BNP style high-handedness. It's not so much the problem of power and the resources of the government. It's more of the catharsis of the power -- asking point blank why one is asking for the power. Awami League -- despite its caution -- is again on a slippery slope, when law and order is dipping, the prices will keep soaring and even the "crossfires" are back. Yet the party has taken over absolute power with the strongest ever mandate after independence. Things are falling apart only after a few months. Why are there so many challenges to its power -- which the media has been focusing on and even the government itself is concocting. The AL must, for a while, look inward to search for the moral content of its power. Unless that is done, a powerless right within the citadel of power will be haunting the authority. Moreover, both the problems, which the government is becoming exasperated for not being able to resolve successfully, may merit efforts at national level. Experts feel that the collective wisdom of the nation, subsuming in it the expertise of all political forces, will exorcise the undesirable elements ensconced in food syndicates. We must be able to involve the opposition who ruled the country for long, and is aware of the cuckoos in the nest who disturb our social order. When the intention good it, is reckoned that any effort to resolve law and order at national level can reach its fruition. Or else any half-hearted effort, and one bereft of its moral content, will fly in their face.
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