Alamgir Hussain writes from Singapore
MUCH has been said, too many invectives have been hurled, unlimited anger
has been expressed and protests have been lodged in regard to the recent
FEER piece 'Cocoon of Terror' about Bangladesh. In this bullying war of
words, Bangladesh citizenry from all spheres of life, and of course our
government, have participated in their loudest tone in unison to safeguard
the image of our much-loved country. Of course, certain political outfits
have come out in support of FEER which is just because of their vested and
despicable political interest. I don't wish to discount those few voices who
have expressed concern and sought an appropriate look into the allegations.
The truth is we didn't stop short of taking FEER to court for defamation
which has generally been appreciated to be the best effort to withhold the
secular and moderate image of our country.
By the time the heat of the above controversy had hardly subsided, our
beloved country once again ran into another scandal of being accused by the
Danish government of attempts for corruption by the incumbent shipping
minister, first one of its nature. And our responsible government once again
came out to protect the image of the country by challenging the Danish
government to prove their allegation, served letter of protest (show-cause
notice?). Certain members of the public also came in support of the
government and even advocated to chuck the Danes out of the country and
advising the government to do away with foreign aids.
Well done. We have shown amazing bravery. But the truth of the matter is
that howsoever brave we be we can't afford to live in this present-day world
outside its fold. And the fact is whatever efforts our government has made
to safeguard the country's image it has only plunged into showy spot of
darkness to the outside world. Bangladesh's image has already touched
rock-bottom with shameful headlines in world press one after another in
recent times. First came the Transparency International report labelling
Bangladesh as the most corrupt country. Then we made headlines again with
unleashed atrocities against minorities during post-election period. The
worst Human Rights Group report and the unspeakable law and order situation
in the country to name a few more. It's hardly been any secret what kind of
street support Osama and the Taliban had attracted during the America-lead
Afghan war -- we will be na�ve if we think world hasn't observed us during
those days. And the latest is the FEER piece and the Danish government's
withdrawal of grants on graft charges. The way our democratic government has
rejected these allegations by banning, challenging and serving show-cause
notices without any look into them reflects absence of democratic norms and
decorum in a supposedly democratic country.
With country's image touching the nadir in recent times, I think the recent
FEER and Danish allegations could have been great opportunities to enhance
our image on international scene had our government been judicious enough --
if we could address them in appropriate context by initiating proper
investigations. Calling an investigation would immediately have given a
credible democratic image to our country and if we could come clean after a
thorough investigation, our image could improve to a great extent. Even if
we couldn't come out totally clean, we could step up actions against those
elements and/or corrupt authorities and that, in itself, could give a great
leap in the government's image for showing sincerity to fight bad elements
in the country. With top-ranking in corruption, donor countries are already
reluctant to throw aid into Bangladesh. America is already attaching
condition of fighting corruption with any aid. And with the recent battering
of our nation's democratic, secular and humanistic image, I should say these
were two opportunities unknowingly given to our government which could
cash-in on them to make some amends of its recent failures.
The irony of the matter is that our government is now planning to do away
with Western aids and wish to focus on national resources and Asian aids
like from Japan, China etc. The former is a good move but we have to realise
that the benevolent Japanese government is already unwilling to deliver aids
to our government because of misuse and mishandling. The reality is that
doing away with foreign aid is just impossible in a country with unbridled
corruption in every sphere, sparse talents and virtually no infrastructure
and industrial development and government's optimism of continual supply of
aid from Asian countries is just immature. If corruption, human rights
violation and incidences of violence keep going on these neighbours can also
choose to withdraw assistance. We must mind that Japan and China are strong
allies in America's fight against terrorism and one must wonder how they are
taking government's total reluctance to look into FEER allegations.
The fact of the matter is that it is not too late for our government to act
and redeem some of our dusted image which is only good not only for the
people but also for the government in a longer-term consideration. The
innocent and peace-loving people of our country deserve a better image as a
nation and don't definitely deserve those miseries which may befall us
because of the failure of our government. We can only hope it will come out
of the shell of its ego and false prestige and give a rethink to its actions
regarding these controversies.