MOHAMMAD GANI
IN RUSSIA, people eat ice cream there in the winter because it's warmer than the weather outside; more or less meaning! Politicians and their chauvinists in Bangladesh are now taking whatever atmosphere-warming they could get and thus Awami League and BNP leaders have now put a "pause" on stepping each other and been embracing closely for strategic partnership on super democracy; also perhaps in quest of developing a truculent joint forces to declare crusade against this unconstitutional Care Taker Government.
Our "Jono Netri" Hasina and "Gono Netri" Khaleda, nation's 2 ultimate and the only ultimate role models and champions of super-democracy in Bangladesh have fallen into the deep holes; visibly virtual consequences of inadvertently inviting "crocodiles" into the street of Bangladesh on 11 January 2007.Interestingly, they have not yet stopped digging down and their unscrupulous Comrades and Lieutenants querulously demanding to this unconstitutional Care Taker Government to unconditionally set these 2 step-sisters free; along with all other alleged "honest criminals" like Tariq Zia, Lord Babor, Sk. Selim and many more immediately. Recently they have gone even further, demanding that "all prisoners" throughout the country must be freed at once and all jails/prisons facilities must be shut down, abolishing Jail/prison systems!
Entire prison employee's brigade must be re-employed with "Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company" and with PDB. Meanwhile, all prison facilities must be converted into historic "Awami League University" campuses (not Ivy League University!) for advanced study and research on corruptions management and trainings where Dr. Hasina would be its distinguished Vice Chancellor. They also reminded that illegitimate Care Taker Government has no right or Constitutional Authority to apprehend/harass nation's aggressive "patriotic" leaders and must stop illegally persecuting them (except the War Criminals, formerly Razakars!).
Can't we include the killers of our founding father Mujib, Zia, Siraj Sikdar or Colonel Taher etc into this War Criminals list? One could now wonder how an "illegitimate" Care Taker Government could possibly conduct an "Election for legitimate Democracy" in Bangladesh regardless of how "fair or unfair, free or not free" it could be?" Imagine a "Democracy" coming out through the barrel of an "undemocratic" Care Taker Government; very interesting!
Not over yet! We have more exciting stories behind the story of this unconstitutional Care Taker Government though most often our recalcitrant politicians come up with misleading information for fooling the entire nation as usual. Why this nation or any democracy needs a "Care Taker Government" on the first hand? Who did exactly declare State of Emergency in Bangladesh for quite sometimes and why? Were State of Emergency and/or a Care Taker Government warranted for any good reason? Couldn't this nation or its democracy live without an illegitimate Care Taker Government? Allergic politicians (to CTG) and their lieutenants need to recognize the importance of all these truths-in-politics before castigating Care Taker Government with their upper hands. They need to recall that Emergency was actually declared by a "Legitimate, Democratic and Constitutional" President Iajuddin Ahmed (a.k.a formerly "YESuddin") of elected BNP-Razakar Government and not by this Care Taker Government by any means.
Didn't our founding father Mujib declare "State of Emergency" during a peaceful democratic Government? After proclaiming "State of Emergency", didn't he use his parliamentary majority to win a "Constitutional Amendment" limiting the powers of the legislative and judicial branches, establishing an executive presidency, instituted a one-party system (BAKSAL) that required all civilian government personnel to join the party? Was it warranted?
The CONCEPT of Care Taker Government or the "Other kind of Democracy" in Bangladesh is the conclusion of miserable failure of our national super-democratic minds; a Constitutional "war child" of estranged Hasina and Khaleda who trusted or committed to trust an illegitimate Care Taker Government over democratically elected Government. Regardless of whatever could be their strong reasoning and arguments behind trusting an illegitimate Care taker Government over democratically elected Government; the catch is that this manifestation or practice of approbation of an undemocratic Care Taker Government is entirely undemocratic and flouting the norms of any democracy! Why and how an undemocratic or illegitimate Care Taker Government could be more trustworthy to Hasina or to Khaleda over an elected Democratic Government?
If they do not trust a democratic government on conducting election, why this nation should trust their democratic government after the election or how they could possibly justify that an undemocratic Care Taker Government is better than a democratic Government in conducting national election? If Care Taker Government could be trusted for conducting crucial national election, then why can't it be trusted on other issues? Does any democracy; anywhere in the "civilized world" has a provision of Care Taker Government?
Well, if Bangladesh is "NO civilized democracy"; then thy shall be, a democracy of its own model and also it could be without Hasina and Khaleda too! What is so wrong about it? Wasn't it an ignominious and desultory political game of mercurial Hasina that invited and welcomed an undemocratic Care Taker Government over a legitimate Democratic Government?
Political aspirations and inspirations for democracy among the people of Bangladesh often become emotionally-charged ambitions despite having chronic poverty in their day to day life style. Our politician's habitual hegemonies during this process shock and shutter their consciousness and expectation over and over again. Leader's stentorian pre-election commitments and rhetoric get lost almost immediately after the election. Thus only voting or conducting a "free and fair" election alone does not guarantee true democracy in Bangladesh that could address and resolve nation's exigent problems.
Though outcry for democracy by our political leaders continues and becoming stronger, we shall see their actual interests behind this outcry clearly if look through carefully, 'that their rancorous noises are merely for their own benefits. Unlike the norms of true democracy, our candidates usually buy nominations from the political parties with huge and competitive price tags and then invest more wealth and muscles into win the election. Their election victories then bring them unimaginable fortunes during the following 5 years in return of their pre-election investment!
During last 37 years, nation's 75 million to 145 million people have done their part to the politicians and to their democracy but in return what exactly the politicians and their "home-cooked" democracy have done for this nation, if any at all? Existing and ongoing developments in Bangladesh were accomplished and /or would have been accomplished even more effectively and successfully without Hasina/Khaleda's circus democracy as those were actually executed by the spending funded by the donor nations and local entrepreneurs of course with huge invisible "line losses"! These developments have nothing to do with our picaresque democratic touts and thieves those have been reigning and ruining Bangladesh for years and to their tenuous policies of deceits, deceptions and manipulations.
Obviously, it is assumed without question that majority rule democracy is the best system "available" to organize humanity and to rule a nation. We all find the majority rule democracy which is rule "by the most" appears to offer a clear advance over dictatorships which are rule by the one, or oligarchy which is rule by the few. In Bangladesh, majority rule democracy of "we the people" actually ends the moment we exit the voting booth and our elected leaders then legally have no need of our opinions for the following five years. Nevertheless, compared to the rule by the one of dictatorship, the rule by the most of majority rule democracy appears to be working in a much fairer way. And "this fairness" is perhaps the only greatest value to any nation under democratic rule to embrace as the best "available system" to govern that nation but no, it is not the absolute!
Democracy is not always the best system that evenly fits all and thus often nations need to introduce its "own model" to develop an eclectic structure of government in accordance with their desired needs. In Bangladesh, we need a democratic model, a Government and a culture that shall respect the law of the land over power and honesty over greed for personal wealth. We need to consider the steps we must begin to take today to help shaping our Democracy in a manner to have a successful future for the entire nation. This nation could live and have lived without aggressive democracy of laconic Hasina and Khaleda who have been abusing and choking the teachings and philosophy of true Democracy for years.
Indeed, we always have a very poor opinion on our most political leaders; one of the noblest profession to serve our nation, to serve the humanity, to serve the mankind. Time to time, over and over; our eccentric politicians have failed to deliver this nation what they promised and thus lost all the public trusts. For years, they have pushed the already beleaguered fates of 145 million of people miserably down to the ground and to an alarming uncertainty to our future generations. We now vehemently disagree with their policies, performance and leadership etc. because of their unscrupulous behaviours who are always determined to do anything to gain power, always abusive of their position and privileges.
Their avarice for power and wealth made them lustrous to maintain hidden double life that ruined their morality and wisdom; and therefore are less likely to make any bold decision for circumstantial reasons. So, in a challenging game of politics, it becomes difficult for them to address injustices and create changes. We historically have a "culture of corruptions" and all politicians in the Government are susceptible to political corruption like bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft and embezzlement. These endemic corruption are so alarming that all level of government officials have proclivity for these greed, as if our entire nation have been held hostage by the rule of thieves.
Finally, 145 million people in a tiny slice of our "lonely planet" Earth, with only 55 thousand square miles lands do exert buckling loads on everything we could possibly effort as a nation. Our problems and issues are huge and truly resolving them by giving out some hopes to this impoverished nation is an onerous task. At this moment, all we need someone with authentic leadership, spirits of statesmanship and patriotism to supplant inscrutable Hasina and Khaleda at least for 1 (one) five year term. Let us close our eyes and open our hearts, then only pray and hope for delightful smiles of happiness from an "imaginary origin" in the pale faces of 145 million people of our beautiful Bangladesh!! #
First published in Mukto-mona.com, April 03, 2008
Mohammad Gani, a Bangladesh-born freelance writer and researcher lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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