"We and the 18 century novelty"

I am glad that Rifat Mahbub pointed out the similarities between the Dhaka of today and the 18th century England (November 7). I have mused on the subject, but from a different angle.

I often think of the appalling corruption in our politics. This was a trademark of the 18th century England. England then was dominated by a patriarchy that controlled political and social matters, including government jobs.

One major exception is that the British patriarchy was not linked with criminals and godfathers, as our patriarchy is. Think of Prime Minister William Pitt laughing at the conviction of William Wilberforce on slave trade issue, saying, "It is a nice idea, William, but it would never work. It would split the Tory Party!"

During the hey days of colonialism, wealth was coming in from the empire but most of it went into a few select pockets and not much of it reached the poor whose lives were wretched, almost beyond belief.

Like us, England then had a feeble police force and little health care or education. The squalor and viciousness, especially in the slums of the new industrial towns, were beyond any description. There were typhoid epidemics up to the 1830s, but the authorities could not link its outbreak with with infected drinking water.

The Anti-Slavery Movement took 50 years to abolish both the slave trade and slavery. A corrupt Parliament was reformed in 1832 and a reformed series of Parliaments under various political parties vied to reform our public and social life from top to bottom.

I wonder what will inspire such a movement here? I am most impressed by the wonderful Muslim religious piety and devotion in so many hearts here. But can it be harnessed to the kind of moral passion and readiness that would produce the political and social reforms that liberated millions of the wretched in England?