Divided You Stand; United We Fall

Following is a opinion piece that I had published in the formative years of this century. We were in the midst of the "non-cooperation" movement - a situation not very different from the current series of blockades we have suffered in the name of protecting the "people's rights" and "democracy." Ironically the "non-cooperation" was similarly billed. I think the sentiments are still relevant today.

The spokesman for one party calls it a success, the spokesman for another party calls it a failure. The people calls it farcical, and it is not the recent elections they are talking about.

The term "non-cooperation" when last used was used to send a strong message across nearly a thousand miles. The call was a prologue to the historical six point demand - in 1971, which led to a war. Today the call can be heard again from the same party, but this time could it just lead to a civil war, setting brother against brother, father against son?

As the situation progresses, or in this case deteriorates, no party can claim success or failure with the present political crisis. The shout that the success of the movement is the call of the people or the cry that the people has not supported the call of the movement are all personalized "wet dreams" conjured up by the leadership of the respective political parties in the country.

No contributing member of society should say that he can support either parties in light of the present political situation. People do not bring out their vehicles in a hartal because of the risk of its destruction and the risk to their lives, not because they fully believe in the cause of the opposition. People are attending office not to show support for the government in this period of opposition called "non-cooperation," but because they cannot afford to loose any more working days.

Destruction of property, public or private, is a crime. Not because of the unruliness and chaos it brings but because of the amount of valuable foreign exchange wasted. With the loss of more and more working days and loss of productivity, more and more failed deadlines in the export industries and more and more missed school days, the people of this country are being asked to pay a far heavier price then they can either afford to pay or are willing to pay.

The person making a contribution to society, the person trying to make ends meet, the honest individual who wants nothing more than to live his life are the people who are saying - enough. The political leaders are playing their own game of supremacy in their ongoing struggle to be one step ahead of the "enemy", loosing the true sense of the fight far behind.

The masses supporting the movement have always been delinquents and people who cannot make a contribution to society. The economy does not help, with the growing disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots" an animosity for each other has developed. With the advent of corruption there are a lot of people in the country with amenities that they do not deserve, advantages that are not their due. Because of this the country must undergo intense reform for any headway to be made. But with a reformed and new competent leadership.

The majority of the people in this country are moved by emotions and sentiment, not the black and white of an economic or an ideological platform. A definite lack of formal education among the voters only helps in the confusion. In a country where the voters cast their votes with the recognition of a symbol instead of a rhetoric, democracy is not what needs to be fought for. The leadership of this country must concentrate on encouraging foreign investment, open markets and seeing that the living standards of the people improve.

The leadership is only putting the wool over the masses' eyes, and confusing them with irrelevant ideas in their pursuit for power. With the support of people who do not know better and who do not understand that destruction of property, the killing of people over what is considered ideology differences is pulling the country further down into the doldrums.

The old styled politics of yester-year has to be discontinued immediately for a more intelligent approach to development. Unfortunately, the political culture is still embedded in the politics of nostalgia. Political leaders are still judged for competence with familial ties instead of education or ability. The leader of an mostly uneducated nation must be among the most highly educated, and one with the ability to use that education effectively. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's Prime Minister until 1990, was the architect of the economic miracle that has increased the Singapore per capita income to US$ 23,000, in just 30 years. The second richest nation in Asia, after Japan, Singapore was officially recognized as a developed country this year.

The present day hot item on the world agenda is democracy for all. Bangladesh in the present day is still too immature to utilize it for the benefit of all its citizens. Democracy comes with liberalization of the economy and with the liberalization of ideas. The people would still prefer to have their thoughts governed.

The majority of the people are more concerned about at least two square meals a day, they do not care for ideas that promise them a better life in the near future. The masses are like small children, only just beginning to venture out into the world. They are not equipped to understand that a little restraint now will promise a consistent uniform country-wide development later. And besides the economy has conditioned them to only think of their own benefit and the benefit of their kin, what matter is it to them of the benefit of people with whom they have no contact.

The country is in need of a positive development in the hands of a leadership that is committed to the good of the nation and not just their own kin. In the twenty-five years of the nation's independence such a leader has yet to rise. Today a larger number of the people in the country are more educated and more cognizant to their environment then the numbers during the independence; today the people are demanding of their rights.

With the growth of industrialization in the country and the export of labour, more and more people in this country are becoming aware that the economic benefits can also be theirs. This industrialization was jump started by industrial investment, and by foreign investors. If the current political trend continues the country will loose what little development that has taken so far, alienating foreign investors and local investment.
further.

The economy has never been the ruling party's to own. It has always been the asset of the nation and its people. The political opposition parties at any given time in the last twenty-five years have attempted to hurt the economy in their bid to hurt the ruling party. The result : An occasional change in the leadership and a failing economy.

The politics of this country has proved farcical to outside observers. The only news that reaches beyond the borders have been negative. News of floods, news of famines, and news of political unrest have saturated the papers abroad. If the political crisis can be averted, then news of development, news of progress and news of social reform can take their place.

The newspapers report that US Congressman Bill Richardson is very excited with his first visit to Bangladesh. Richardson describes Bangladesh as an "important" country and that he will present a "first hand account to the US Congress on Bangladesh." The question is what thoughts does he take back with him?

Time and time again, the political opposition has deliberately attempted to foil any prospect of foreign investment. When the US Trade delegation visited Bangladesh in July of last year, when the British Trade Delegation was in Bangladesh in November of last year, the first thing they witnessed was the day long strikes called by the opposition party. They witnessed that the political nature of the country's political parties to bring the economy to a standstill.
It is small wonder that the leadership do not realize that by subjecting the country to undergo economic and social degradation the task they want to take up of saving the country becomes far more difficult. Ironically, with the political culture of mass destruction and blatant disregard for property that the disillusioned youth of this country are witnessing, the true problems of development is yet to surface.