The selfish affluent class
A few days back, a male friend of mine was wearing a traditional Moroccan dress. He told me that the dress was presented to him by a friend who owns a holiday home in Morocco and that he often goes there for holidays. That set me thinking. Wealth has become abundant in Bangladesh. Enormous amount of wealth has been amassed mostly by the business people, civil servants, lawyers, doctors, engineers, bankers, smugglers, etc. through dubious means.
Many of our RMG exporters, manpower exporters, professionals, industrialists, etc. have 'bought' immigration to safe havens like Canada, Australia, second home Malaysia etc. They are even happy to be relegated to second class status in those countries. They bought all the above privileges with the wealth earned in Bangladesh. They take recourse to various channels and methods to create wealth and make their own lives as well as those of their children and other family members secure.
A pertinent question arises, where is patriotism? Where is the desire to pay back the debt they owe to their own country and people? After earning all the wealth on the soil of Bangladesh, these people are enriching other countries. Super-rich people of India and many other countries are imbibed with a sense of responsibility and patriotism. They re-invest the wealth earned at home and abroad in development of their own country. It is high time our fortunate one percent 'super rich' showed patriotism and became partners in the development of their country. The government can also employ agencies to investigate and track down this class of Bangladeshis to stop the flight of capital.
Dr. SN Mamoon
Dhaka
Comments