Gold galore comments galore
RABINDRANATH Tagore loved this land and wrote, “Amaar shonar Bangla, ami tomai bhalobashi…” (O my golden Bengal, I love thee so…). He used the Bangla word for 'golden' as a metaphor, to allude to the abundance of beauty of the pristine land. But, after so many decades of his death, our Biman people are trying to establish the fact that Tagore used the word in its pure literal sense. Hence they are hell-bent on flooding Bengal with real gold…gold biscuits…to make the great bard's soul happy in heaven. He would dance and sing in praise of those men and women in Biman for turning his Bengal into a real shonar Bangla.
After a series of raids and recovery of gold biscuits from Biman aircraft toilets, lounge toilets, and some other inconceivable places, some of the raghobs and boals of Biman along with some small fry have been netted already by the intelligence agencies. But the main 'shark', the boss, the Goldfinger, is still out there in the wide wide world watching everything from the dark depth of his lair. He is possibly trying to connect with some powerful people in politics to avoid getting caught in police dragnet. And for a section of politicians this means big business, a chance to earn two-pice, (In reality, few millions), through providing shelter, and keeping sleuths away from him. In exchange the shark will have to cough up some of the gold biscuits.
You see, what is interesting in the whole story is the very fact that all these years gold biscuits have been coming to Bangladesh, Kgs after Kgs, mostly by Biman, and everyone from a cobbler to a blacksmith used to talk about this while having tea at a stall. And yet we didn't see any big fish getting caught so long. It is only last week that some of the big names of that organization have surfaced! Now, one would like to know, what the multifarious intelligence agencies have been doing all these years? How could those corrupt elements avoid getting detected for such a long time?
The gang has been scheduling and rescheduling Biman flights to facilitate smuggling of gold from various overseas destinations and yet no one inside Biman had any idea of what was going on! The gang put their own pilots in the craft so that smuggling became easy, but none of the honest pilots could smell the rat and raise any question! Some of those blessed golden men and women have built palatial buildings in the city and yet no agency inquired about their income source! Where were the tax people, who chase guys like you and me with such frenzy for submitting tax returns?
It is indeed difficult to believe that everything suddenly started to fall into pieces for the investigating agencies and names started to pop up one after another. A couple of thousand people work in Biman, but only about a dozen people have been apprehended so far. The million dollar question is, how could about two dozen people carry out such a secretive operation year after year and become millionaires right under the authority's nose, fooling all with such perfection for such a long time! Now the next million dollar question is, will anything really happen to the powerful network that controls from behind curtains! Let us wait and see.
Ah! The comments galore! It is a free land where everyone has the right to express what she or he believes, isn't it? That is the cornerstone of democracy. We must say whatever comes to the tip of our tongue and draw the attention of the media. We must talk first and think later. The powerful man with a glib tongue from Tangail commented on matters that did not concern him at all on that fateful day, and in consequence now facing the music –music not too pleasant to the senses. He talked about “Reduction”, God knows what he had meant by that, but now he finds himself being reduced to that reduction level by the government. When you take away power from a tiger it looks like a wet cat. He now looks like a bewildered cat that was hit by a big club-duh!
Only weeks after this comical act from the Tangail trepidation, a powerful advisor had to comment on things that he should have left alone. It was not his cup of tea and yet he took a sip. Now he has burnt his lips and tongue. It is always the tongue that causes the trouble. Some people, when they reach the top, do not look down at the ground. They keep looking up and want to be there where normal people cannot reach. From that dizzy height when they fall it hurts most-ouch!
Good Lord! Now even death penalty awardees show V-sign and give comments on camera! It has been reported in this daily that Mobarak who has been given death sentence on Monday flashed a V-sign and commented, “The order to hang me has been issued, let the photojournalists take my picture.”
The writer is Special Supplements Editor, The Daily Star.
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