The patriotism of the political leaders of our country is so admirable! They love our country so much that they’re about to go to war with each other on any given day now.
It feels like I’m living in the times of Caesar – you know, the one who came to power and didn’t want to give it up because it was the best thing on Earth?
Our leading ladies have gone so far beyond the line while pulling at each other’s leashes that the boundary of sanity must look like a dot to them right now, and they can’t even bother to care anymore.
The time has finally come when we are probably on the verge of a Mexican standoff between our current government and the parties who want to snatch control away from our current government. It has been a few decades since anyone in this country has seen the ruling and opposition parties sit down peacefully over a cup of tea and discuss matters regarding the development of the country. Rather, things are getting worse.
Would you even believe me if I said that those memes on Facebook regarding the delightful parties between the leaders are actually true? Go ahead and do some research, you’ll find that the two big ladies of our country were actually friends once upon a time. They were humble people who I believe truly cared about this country and wanted to do good for its people. Until the question of power arose, everything was fine.
The continuous blockades and obstruction of justice has reached the point where it is beyond bearable. The government, who has outsmarted the current opposition since last year’s election without candidacy, is not shown any mercy to the opposition so far, and it seems like things are not going to change anytime soon or anytime late.
Meanwhile, the blockades continue to eclipse our regular lives in a way that makes us feel like aliens in our own country.
Businesses are being ruined, especially ones related to export and import, which I believe you all understand have a lot to do with our reputation as an enterprising nation to other foreign countries. Industries will be falling apart soon, given the huge losses they all have to bear just to sit and observe the epic and timeless battle of power between political parties, parties whom we rely upon to take care of our country.
If the queen of blockades really cared for the people of her country, would she be sitting in her mini palace of all things comfortable and playing this absurd game for this long? And given the kind of power our new mother of the nation possesses right now, if she really were our loving mother, would she be asking us commoners to take care of the miscreants and bombers on the road while the well-equipped army we have is resting?
Why isn’t our government taking measures to sort out the situation right away, so that every single day of our lives, we don’t have to bid farewell to our families before leaving for work as if it may be for the last time? Are the horrifying images of all those innocent people being burnt alive not enough to make them realise that we need them as badly as ever?
Not that the ruling party has done too badly in running the country so far, but taking the wrong turn of celebrating their success in the elections was, in my belief, a very cheap move. Given that they have run the country at least a year longer than the opposition, they could have handled the matter in a more mature way and possibly taken a public poll to show how well they have done to become favourites, rather than scratching at old wounds.
It is well known that any opposition party in this country comes with a bad history – they burn down the city, torch vehicles, murder people, and what not. So much for being nationalistic, the opposition does not care the tiniest bit about the nation. Everyone cares about power, and they are not willing to share any of it.
Every single sound mind of this nation wants this problem to be resolved immediately, otherwise, dire consequences await us all. Existing businesses will fall apart if things keep going on like this, and new foreign investors are already scared to pitch in. No matter how rosy it all looks, things are far from flourishing. We are a developing country with educated people all around us, and we need an appropriate environment to live in.
This isn’t the country Sheikh Mujibur Rahman dreamed of. From what I have learned about the great man from my father, he despised situations like these and would have been on his toes to have it resolved as early as possible.
I believe the leaders of our nation should start leading us like that, so that Bangladesh can continue to be exemplary in the ways it is capable of. It’s not too late to make up for all the fighting and join hands in harmony and peace, for the betterment of the country and to prove that real patriotism can still be a good thing.
Raihan Hadi is Founder, Ideas for Bangladesh, and Deputy Secretary, Korea-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry.