After anomalies were detected in the quantity of gold on the crests given to the foreign friends of Bangladesh, we thought national-level theft would end – if not for remorse, at least for the fear of getting put in the oven.
Things are not as simple as we think. The rot that has eaten up our souls is baring its teeth every second from all angles, warning us to be on our toes to embrace such revelations every moment.
The mind ceases to think when it looks for reasons behind the actions of the high-ups – all in the grips of looting, plundering, mayhem, and brutal murders. Just remember the Narayanganj seven murders and the perpetrators.
We are waiting for the next shocking news to reach our doors. We are battered and bruised. High-level government servants are deceiving the nation and the government.
They bought fake freedom fighters’ certificates from corrupt authorities and went on to secure prestigious government postings. Five grubby characters arranged these credentials to prove that they were freedom fighters, and thus get the benefits of extra years of service and opportunities to do more harm to society, and amass more ill-gotten wealth.
See the blustering characters! They did not care to check the dates of their birth, and the year the liberation war was fought. These wicked brains were 12 to 15 years old in 1971. How could they have been attached with the forces in any way back then?
Imagine the level of wisdom of these iniquitous psyches, serving the government departments for such a long time. God knows what else they have been doing to deceive the people and the country all the years they have been working. Track records from the beginning of their careers should be brought forth.
Look further back, check their school and college records and activities in their areas, and I am sure, more stinking facts will surface. At the very end of their occupation, they wanted to stay on for some more benefits by resorting to barefaced deceit.
Government servants on whom the state management depends and towards whom people look up with deference come out as felons.
Take a step closer. Over the last five years, 11,150 freedom fighters’ certificates have been issued. The most obtrusive fact is that the authorities have exercised unilateral power when issuing these certificates. The Bangladesh Freedom Fighters Council has been bypassed. The Muktijoddha Council Act 2002 has been overlooked.
Interestingly, their names were found nowhere in the state records. However, this is not the first exposure of fake freedom fighters credentials. So far, 116 fake certificates of public servants have been cancelled since 2009, and investigations into over 500 other frauds are in progress.
More deafening is the fact that the certificates have been signed off by the state minister of Liberation War Affairs. How low should we droop our heads? Where do we hide our faces?
There are many instances of state and government corruption stories worldwide. In India, Pakistan, and other Asian countries, we know of strange leakages of high-profile crimes committed by ministers, MPs, and mayors. The people of South Korea, Japan, China, and India are well versed with high altitude sleaze, and how they were dealt with.
Many disgraced politicians and ministers took their own lives in disgust after their misdeeds were exposed.
No one from this land has the guts to admit guilt. We haven’t witnessed voluntary abdication of positions. Our ministers, MPs, influential leaders, and political heavyweights are regularly involved in controversial acts and speeches. Everything appears to pass by smoothly. Nothing touches them.
There are hundreds of genuine soldiers of 1971 who do not care for a piece of paper (as they put it) that confirms they were freedom fighters. They feel good when they behold the flag flying high, and they harbour intense hatred for those corrupted fighters, and pity the fake ones.
We should not let this event slip away like other ones in the past. The corrupted souls involved ought to be exposed, and the sword of justice must come down hard on them.
From the signing authority to the recipient, all must be put on trial and handed the harshest penalty. Their qualifications, credentials, certificates, benefits, and ill-gotten wealth must be seized.
Deposing them from their posts and reprimanding them will not be enough, at least not with those who tried to buy the esteem that others paid for with their lives. If this is not treason, duplicity, and treachery, then what is? This is a crime against the state and history.