One of the primary reasons Bangladesh is known in the wider world is because of the nation’s legendary corruption. This malpractice in the state mechanism affects each and everyone, no matter the position of the person in the society, be it in a metropolitan city or a remote village.
But, these are all old stories and are shared by many other countries in the world, including our next-door neighbour India, the largest democracy in the world, as well as another neighbour Myanmar, ruled by military junta for years now.
The level of corruption in different countries is well documented in Transparency International (TI) reports. Although the reports are neither a bible, nor “satanic verses” as they are likely to be dubbed by either of the powerful political parties in Bangladesh, TI as least gives an idea on perceived corruption.
According to TI, Bangladesh is not the most corrupt country at this moment. Still it’s among the countries listed on bottom of the list. Our record is still dismal.
The name of Bangladesh has been on discussion on international arena for over a year, for the alleged corruption conspiracy in Bangladesh’s multi-billion dollars dream project: The Padma Multipurpose Bridge. As a result, the World Bank cancelled the loan for the bridge, with the Asian Development Bank and other development partners following suit.
While a case related to the alleged corruption conspiracy is pending in a Canadian court, the so-called independent Anti Corruption Commission of Bangladesh has been investigating domestically, without any headway, so far.
Although it is yet to be confirmed through investigation who the real culprits were, the country as well as the world heard that many big names, including ministers and their relatives, were involved in the corruption attempt.
No one currently believes that anyone who is part of the present ruling mechanism will be on dock, as long as the present ruling coalition is in power. But, who knows what may happen if changeover takes place either through election or a 1/11-like situation!
The problem is that successive governments do not necessarily take actions to root out corruption. Their actual target is always political vengeance and weakening the past ruling party so they can remain in power for another term.
That is the reason that the 1/11 government’s bid was not successful. And that’s the reason that the present rulers are overlooking alleged corruptions by their own people and focusing on bringing back Tarique Rahman from London.
To many, Tarique Rahman, after Ershad, is the name of the most individual corrupt person in the country.
Interestingly, despite this ugly title he still enjoys the support of millions of Bangladeshis. The case is the same for his political foes, too.
Due to this strange psychology of our nation, the 1/11 government was forced to release corrupt officials and pave the way for them to become MPs and ministers, or to leave the country for a political hiatus.
As the election nears, the hibernation period is almost over, and Tarique Rahman is reportedly planning to stage a comeback. So, some think that an apparently annoyed government hurriedly arranged an arrest warrant by mobilising the Anti Corruption Commission to the court.
It’s a tough job for the government to bring Tarique Rahman back from London. But, it’s clear that Tarique himself will come back if his party is assured of assuming power in the next general elections.
All these are hypotheticals and subject to how the elections are actually held. The present government did away with the caretaker system, and that’s one reason that many people are critical about the government despite supporting Sheikh Hasina in other issues, including the trial of the war criminals and a strong position against extremism.
But these same supporters are also frustrated over the government’s inaction against corruption in its ranks especially as it was one of AL’s major election pledges. The implementation of the promise is visible only when related to the former ruling party, particularly Tarique Rahman.
Amidst debate and discussion over Tarique Rahman’s alleged corruption and the arrest warrant, we faced the Mohammad Ashraful issue. His confession of being involved in match-fixing caught the attention of not only the cricket arena, but the attention of the country as a whole.
Many hearts were broken by his statement. Most people could not bring themselves to believe it.
If asked, these people will say they don’t expect such acts from “idols” like Mohammad Ashraful or Khaled Mahmud. The cricket stars are iconic figures to them.
Then what about Tarique Rahman of BNP or any big name from the Awami League, the two parties and their leaders, supported by about 90% of Bangladeshis? The answer is simple. Either they don’t believe that their political leaders are corrupt or they don’t expect that politicians will be corruption-free.
If we accept that our leaders will be corrupt then what’s the destiny of the nation? What can we expect from these politicians if we do not hold them up to a higher standard?
Still at least Mohammad Ashraful confessed his wrongdoings and sought forgiveness, that is probably too much to expect from our leaders.
