Which way is up, again?

One can study the political climate in Bangladesh until one is blue in the face and not arrive at an answer as to what kind of democracy we practice.

In 20 years of democracy the nation has been brought closer and closer to its knees. Given the current trend and that no respite seems imminent one wonders what kind of a nation we will celebrate in 2021 when Bangladesh turns 50.

Corruption has been ingrained into the very fabric of the nation's psyche – so much so that even the youth engaged in good jobs in the private sector providing good pay are indulging in corrupt practices. It's like no matter how much they make, making some more 'under the table' can only make life more fulfilling.

When I and my contemporaries were in our twenties – which was about that many years ago – I believe we all put in an honest days work. We were not paid as much as we would have wanted probably but there was honesty and dignity in what we did and how we did it.

Boys and girls of the same age in 2012 can't seem to be paid enough to warrant keeping their noses clean or feel loyalty to the company they represent. I don't really blame these young people as the whole country seems swamped by people who benefit by practicing outside a moral code.

Doing to pretend rather than pretending to do

I've always seen myself as a writer; perhaps, more a 'wanna-be' than an actual 'true' writer for the sole reason that a writer writes. Period. And I don't really, save for occasional inspired (desperate?) out bursts.

In my mind I have convinced myself that a true writer writes obsessively, or rather, religiously – this idea sprouts from a part romantic notion and part realistic understanding. After all, anyone can write obsessively (okay, not maybe anyone per se) but fewer still can probably deliver with true intent, purpose and substance.

In a way my failure to write regularly I find deeper meaning and a relation, perhaps only tangentially, to the failure of the country that I live in. (This analysis could be easily misconstrued as a rather petty attempt to add 'substance' to what is otherwise drivel – of (desperate) intent (to write) without (any) purpose and/or (real) substance. It is not. You, dear reader, are of course entitled to misconstrue its true intent and purpose.)

To put it in one sentence: No one is doing what they are supposed to.

Lessons from the French

One cannot look at the papers and not realise that there is a political tsunami running across Europe that is pushing for change in leadership – most of the power from this growing tidal wave of reform finds its source in two areas of the political landscape – need for a much delayed economic reform coupled with xenophobic social turmoils.

Europe had started to increasingly look inwards as the ominous shadow of the Euro zone crisis drew dark clouds over once robust economies that had hedged its bets on more fragile ones. What was considered revolutionary economic tactics in building a strong unified Europe was in another form unsubstantiated optimism that lesser economies would take the correct measures for a stronger united Europe over the health of their own struggling economies.

In a way that is exactly what happened and the Euro zone prospered, until the lesser economies had finally to choose its own health over the economic stability of the whole. In what is probably now a recognised vicious cycle the whole euro zone prospered on anticipated prosperity – loans were provided to pay for loans in the false hope that eventually there would be a surplus (because to think otherwise would be unimaginable).

Tipping the gravy train

As I carve this blog post out of thin air, it dawns on me that today would be the first anniversary of my starting this blog on a more regular basis.

It also dawns on me (bright person that I am, some things are all too obvious) that my commitment had waned somewhat from month ten onwards. I had a burst of inspiration back in February of this year, but alas it was as short lived as political stability in the land that I call my home.

This blog post also marks my first post, since twenty-oh-six or seven, that I am writing and posting from Dhaka, having arrived back in my hometown after a welcomed (and thoroughly unexpected) two-year hiatus.

The city I left two years ago was plagued with its share of problems, not least of which were acute power shortage and perennial traffic congestion. Two years have gone to no apparent betterment (unless we account for the fact that the problems have grown) but now I find that the country is in the midst of escalating political instability to heighten the everyday challenges faced by the unfortunate denizens of this city.

Why 'Bye bye' seems to be the hardest word

With no disrespect to Elton John or Tom Rice 'Sorry' isn't the hardest word... 'bye bye' seems to be.

There has been a lot of the trouble in the middle east since the beginning of the last year – all because the nations' leaders (dictators, actually in democrat clothing) refuse to step down. Countless of people have been killed and countless lives shattered over the years because autocratic leaders cannot see beyond their self-convictions (thanks equally to ego-stroking by corrupt cronies) that they are best for the people they rule.

In fact to find such leaders one would not have to look just at the middle east but all most anywhere in the world where the checks and balances of democracy have not been fully realised (i.e. places where the constitution is as pliable as putty and can be amended or bent at will, thanks to an opposition that is debate-boycotting, in some cases, or impotent or non-existent, in others).

My homeland Bangladesh would be as good an example as any. Currently we have two women leaders at the helm of the two major political parties – both leaders have inherited the post. One after the assassination of her father (perpetuated to be the 'Father of the Nation') and the other after the assassination of her husband (perpetuated to be the 'Declarer of Independence').

Exposing civil disobedience

Again I am forced to comment on the dastardly politics of my homeland and the blatant disrespect for authority that the politicians are tacitly encouraging as a legitimate means of protest.

A police officer, no less, has been subject to an attack by opposition activists where the perpetrators have forcibly removed his trousers, leaving him parading on the streets of Dhaka, surrounded by his colleagues, in in his unmentionables.

I do not wish to discuss whether or not this was a good thing or if he (as a representative of the police) had it coming – bottom line is that the core intention was to humiliate. These hyenas were set loose to have some fun by deriding the 'administration.'

What is lost is that the police really are only following orders to beat down the protesters on the streets; these same officers had been sent against the current powers-that-be when the present opposition was in power.

What is also lost is that when you teach people that it is okay to defy authority figures (and there should be no argument that this policeman was an authority figure) that defiance will eventually not be conditional; when people have learnt that they can get away with defying an authority figure they will extend that privilege to areas that go beyond political protest during strikes and into areas of everyday civil society life.

When you lose respect for authority, you lose respect for order. While it is true that government is in charge of ensuring order, it is also true that government is not a political party. Civil disobedience left unpunished will only encourage its continuation. If ever the present opposition finds itself back in power, it then will be responsible for similar forms of civil disobedience.

Had the politicians in the opposition party any maturity and sense of decorum they would be the loudest to distance themselves from the action and the first to criticise their own people for going to such extreme measures; legitimate protest cannot be advanced through forms of humiliation but only through structured action (lest one day the very opposition leaders who are slapping each other on the back for 'giving it' to the administration find themselves exposed to a very similar predicament).

Meanwhile, the police will wait anxiously for the moment when they can mete their revenge with the blessing of the government. This may lead to further hartals, but will conclusively provide more opportunities to the law enforcers on duty.

And the cycle continues when the present government is out of power and the opposition (then in power) will order the police to mete out the same treatment.

Personal Religion, global repercussion, and local restitution

Religion is a rather personal affair. What I think about my religion should be as personal as how you practice yours. Born and brought up a Muslim, I would venture to say that my point of view on the religion (and most everything else, for that matter) is somewhat “liberal.” My point being is that when I say “liberal,” I do not say “right,” but most people (of a less liberal or more orthodox point of view) act like I did!

But then this is not an essay on religion or my point of view. Although since the subject was brought up, I would like to add that ironically the theology that calls for brotherhood and harmony among men and women is also the excuse behind most of the conflict in today’s world.

For example, take the conflict between the Jews and the Muslims over Jerusalem – the Jews claim that they are the “chosen” people (but the Muslims, of course, know better). My point is that if the Jews want to believe that they are God’s own, and the Muslims believe that they have been chosen to suffer in this life to be given the key to paradise – where of course there is NO space for the Jews – isn’t it enough that the chosen people will eventually burn? The Muslims can suffer for a better after-life, which they are only passing time to attain, the Jews can bask in the glory of being the “chosen” people in this world and in the end the Muslims are given their share of the virgins and wine and the Jews their “just rewards.” Peace is attained. A divine (?) win-win situation if there ever was one.

Of course, the previous passage is totally stereotypical and quite unacceptable, but it is because people believe with a vengeance what they do about these stereotypes, is why everything is wrong. The best example of this is the tarnation that has ripped through the land of the immigrants and every under-achievers dream – the United States of America; once a country of magnificent tolerance and harmony has, through the actions of one of those under-achievers with a rich dad, become largely a country of intolerance, suspicion and racial profiling (this statement itself is a stereotypical world-view). Just like in Bangladesh we got the kind of leaders we deserved, likewise in the US – in a land populated by people who have chosen to remain uninformed about most of the other states within their international borders, let alone other states outside their international borders, there was always that risk of one of those “unenlightens” being elected to the highest office! Of course Americans have to protect their soil from people who mean them harm, but first the American people have to protect themselves from their leaders who mean harm to other countries.

It’s a vicious circle, I’ll grant you – but to quote one of America’s better presidents – not coincidentally a democrat – “the buck stops here.” We were faced with a motley crew of corrupt businessmen and politicians over the last 30 years – however, the ones over the immediate past five years were especially vicious. Our situation today has more to do with reasons of sycophancy than demerit. Over the last 20-odd years we have been voting for the spirit of two people long dead. Truth be told, sycophancy is just another form of religion – more pagan-styled idol worship than spiritual cleansing. Most of us should be aghast, to witness the seeming worship of symbols, monuments and photographs (tiled or otherwise). The laying of wreaths of remembrance and the raising of hands to pray towards a monument! It’s anti-Islamic (but then what do I know, being a “liberal”).

What we have politically in this country is the battle of two “almost deities” – both pure as milk and untainted in the eyes of each respective camp. To borrow a real life conflict: much like the Jews and the Muslims over Jerusalem – none able to see eye to eye on the matter and each regarding the other a terrorist group with little or no legitimacy. The Jerusalem conflict is beyond the scope of this writer to solve, however, it is time that we say that “the buck stops here (!), when we talk about our home-grown conflict.

While the current caretaker government cannot be considered divine, i.e. pure as milk and as untainted as our fore-fathers, fore-generals, or fore-opportunists, they are human – and if you pull religion into the argument – a result of possible divine intervention. So while these ten at the helm of things may not be an appreciated alternative, currently, they are a better source of leadership than what was in store for us through the “democratic” process.

It is probably a rude awakening for those of us who choose to have short-term memories that the situation in the country between November 2006 and January 10, 2007 was borderlining on a possible civil war (and this was going to be the real thing and not one like the “patriotic” Jamaatis had suggested was what happened in 1971). We can’t possibly bicker about these people taking too much time to fix things, and forget the situation that prevailed BEFORE they took over (and not just from when they took over in January this year, but the over the last 30 years prior to). The presence of this administration and the clean-up currently being undertaken is enough to convince me as proof of the existence of a God and that the omniscient hasn’t forgotten about us (but then, I am a “liberal”).