That there is systemic corruption in Bangladesh is beyond question. To a smaller or greater degree our politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats and even some members of the judiciary are corrupt; more corrupt than those in the US, for instance. Patriotic Bangladesh must get civically involved locally and exert enormous pressure on the government to stem the tide of corruption and religious and non-religious violence that have become all too pervasive in Bangladesh. This must be done for the sake of Bangladesh; not to please masters abroad. One has to be wary, however, of the motives of agencies such as TI, which cites Bangladesh for corruption without suggesting remedies. One can only conclude that the motives are not necessarily altruistic.

From what little statistics I know, I cannot understand how endemic intra and inter-country variables can be used to rank corruption in ethnically, politically, economically, culturally, religiously, and population-density-wise diverse nations. With morality and corruption perceived differently in different countries, even defining corruption is hazardous, let alone quantifying it. TI itself admits that its corruption index is actually a perception index. How is perception quantified? According to the perception of the failed US Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, President Bush is "the most brilliant man" she has ever met! Corruption in a poverty-stricken have-not nation can be understood, if not condoned; but, what is the excuse for corruption in a rich and "have" nation?

The question that needs to be asked of Transparency International, however, is how and why they focus on indexing certain vices and not others. The vices that foreign agencies prefer to focus on are suppression of human rights, freedom of the press, and corruption. These are serious vices, and every nation which ranks low should take notice and must act to reverse it. Two things are important to remember about the vices that are routinely surveyed: the nations named near the bottom are invariably poor nations; and the vices named harm the citizens of the nations named, not foreigners. Why not tabulate vices committed by western nations that harm citizens of the poor, helpless nations?

Since the western and the rich nations come out smelling like roses in the surveys they carry out, logic forces one to conclude that they are better protectors of human rights, have more freedom of the press, are less corrupt, have fewer vices, and are better human beings. Are they? What about the massive lies by the Bush administration that preceded the invasion and destruction of Iraq; prisoner torture and prisoner homicides in Abu Ghraib; the imprisonment of The New York Times reporter Judith Miller for 85 days for the crime of not divulging her source, which turned out to be the recently indicted Scooter Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff?

After taking our hats off to the western and the rich nations for their humanity, freedom, and incorruptibility, let us play the devil's advocate and change the categories. Let us start with Berlin and Germany. For the last fifty years, millions of Turkish "guest workers" have toiled to rebuild Germany after WWII, without being granted German citizenship! Since Transparency International is located in Berlin, they should have no difficulty coming up with an "Exploitation of Foreign Workers Index," where I have a feeling that Germany will rank very high; perhaps higher even than Bangladesh?

How about an "Illegal Invasion of Sovereign Nations Without UN Mandate Index"? The US and Britain, backed by most European and western nations illegally invaded and occupied Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) without the authorisation of the UN Security Council. The last time I checked, Bangladesh had not invaded a foreign country. Surely, in this international outlaw index, the western nations would rank very high, higher perhaps than Bangladesh?

What about a "Killing Foreign Nationals Index"? According to western estimates, because of the US-British led invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Afghan and Iraqi civilians have been killed. American involvement in Vietnam resulted in the death of two million Vietnamese, and American nuclear bombs killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians. I am not aware of Bangladeshis going into another country and killing its citizens. Once again, the western nations would rank very high on this killing-people-of-other- nationalities index through invasion and aerial bombing; perhaps higher than the poor nations?

There has to be a "Torturing Foreign Nationals Index." The torturing and homicides of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, Guantanamo Bay, and outsourcing of prisoners for torture abroad under the aegis of the Bush administration are well documented. The British, too, have tortured Iraqi prisoners. Yet, no torture index exists! When was the last time Bangladesh tortured foreign prisoners? Surely, western nations, especially the US and the UK would rank very high on the torture index, perhaps higher than "poor and corrupt" nations?

There must be a "Violator of UN Security Council Resolution Index." Israel has distinguished itself as the number one violator of UN Security Council resolutions. Yet, its crimes have gone unpunished. After declaring the UN irrelevant and invading Afghanistan and Iraq bypassing the UN, President Bush is now pressuring UN Security Council to enact sanctions against Syria and Iran! I am not aware of Bangladesh ever violating a single UN Security Council resolution! Western nations, US and Israel would rank very high on this UN-violator index, perhaps higher than "uncivilized" poor nations?

Why not an "Occupation of Foreign Lands Index"? In spite of the UN Security Council resolutions asking it to end occupation, Israel has been occupying the West Bank since 1967 and brutalising the Palestinian civilians. Bangladesh is not occupying foreign lands, although by refusing to cede an equal slice of land to Bangladesh in exchange for Bangladeshi enclaves Dahagram and Angarpota as per Mujib-Indira pact, India is. In this category of stealing someone else's land, Israel and India would rank very high, wouldn't they?

There should also be an "Intolerance for Minority Religious Symbols Index." Next door from Transparency International, in France, Muslim women are forbidden to wear their religious symbol, the headscarf or the "hijab," in government buildings. We are talking about women here! I am not aware of any religious group being prevented from wearing their religious symbol in Bangladesh. Although former European fascist and communist regimes faced no difficulty gaining membership of the European Union, Muslim Turkey has been barred for over forty years, because people like French President Jacques Chirac openly oppose Turkey's entry. In this category of intolerance for minority religious symbols, France would rank very high, perhaps higher than "corrupt and poor" nations?

TI admits that its corruption index is a composite of several corruption- related indices. Why not construct a composite index of the major vices every nation commits, and rank nations according to how they terrorise and brutalise other nations? TI must include indices that measure aggression against and invasion of foreign nations, killing civilians of foreign nations through invasion and aerial bombing, torturing and killing foreign prisoners, occupying someone else's land, flouting UN Security Council resolutions, exploiting the foreign labourers working in one's country and preventing people belonging to minority religions from wearing their religious symbols. TI must apply the same rigorous "scientific" methods to this composite index as it does to construct the corruption index. I have a feeling that in this overall "composite" index of real human rights violations, the roles will be reversed -- the rich and western nations will top the list of major offenders and the poorer nations will bring up the rear.

So, Transparency International: neither the rich nor the poor nations have a monopoly on virtues or vices. Vices abound. It depends on what vices one chooses to focus on. Bangladesh and other poor nations face monumental tasks in ridding themselves of societal ills. However, Transparency International or the rich donor nations which finance it, have not earned the right to pontificate to poor nations. Instead of lecturing poor nations on how bad they are, unless the likes of Transparency International expand their models to highlight the much more serious crimes committed by western nations, one can be forgiven for regarding them as no more than another instrument of western imperialism.