Whenever the subject of politics comes up, we automatically visualise waves of people parading down the streets, shouting, breaking cars, and causing damage to civilian property. It’s always some political leader explaining why the current state of affairs is the fault of some other politician, usually their predecessor from the opposition party. Rarely do we see our political leaders actually going out to meet the masses, unless it is election time.
Most of our politicians are so focused on scoring votes and winning elections that they forget that there is a lot to be done after the elections as well. Politicians who hold office are supposed to be public servants, not public suppressors. We seem to have forgotten that the role of a leader is to empower citizens, listen to their troubles, and come up with possible solutions. Instead, being a political leader in Bangladesh has become synonymous with flamboyant exhibitions of power and wealth. But thanks to “Shopner Desh,” we may experience a drastic shift.
In early October, the first movement of its kind was launched in Khulna Division, Bangladesh -- Shopner Desh, a citizen-empowerment movement spear-headed by Bobby Hajjaj, an academic lecturer at North South University and a former candidate for the DNCC mayoral polls 2015. The movement began its journey by holding discussions and seminars at numerous degree colleges and local press clubs in Rajbari, Magura, Jhenaidah, and Jessore. Hajjaj, followed by his band of volunteers, engaged with local communities, listened to their problems, and urged for discussions on possible solutions.
The members of the Shopner Desh movement also disseminated information on health-care and behavioural changes that ensure healthier living. The movement also included free medical camps for the poorer communities, organised with the help of the Bangladesh Medical College Alumni Association (BMCAA).
“By engaging with local communities on a personal level, we get to find out problems that were previously unknown to us. For example, many residents of Keshabpur village suffer from ear infections and hearing problems. After we discussed this further, we realised it was because many villagers bathed in the pond by taking dips, and the water entering their ear canals would cause infections. Such problems can be easily remedied and prevented by following some simple precautions, which we are trying to teach the locals,” said Amin Mohammad, a volunteer of the Shopner Desh movement.
When asked about what exactly Shopner Desh hopes to accomplish in the future, Hajjaj says: “It is a nation-wide citizen-empowerment movement. We are trying to inspire positive societal change by urging the citizens of this great nation to take action in building a better and more prosperous Bangladesh. Instead of complaining and waiting for solutions, we want to encourage the citizens to come up with solutions themselves. Thus, enabling them to build the nation of their dreams.”
As seen from pictures posted on Hajjaj’s social media profile, the movement has received enormous response from the youth and elderly alike. Many students joined the movement on the spot, donning Shopner Desh T-shirts. They helped clean the adjacent areas of their respective institutions and helped conduct the medical camps in their areas with volunteer doctors from the BMCAA.
Personally, I’m hoping that emerging new leaders who aspire to be politicians one day will take a page out of Shopner Desh’s book and start a whole new trend on how to go about serving the people, not just for votes, but for building a more wholesome nation.