The admirable spirit of facing facts

It is hardly surprising that most of the ruling Awami League (AL) leaders have evaluated their first year in office in a very positive light. As expected, to the opposition and its alliance partners, the AL-led government's one year of performance was nothing to write home about.
Small wonder this is the usual language of appreciation or criticism of the political parties, either in power or in opposition, about each other, especially in Bangladesh context.
In democratic parlance, about everywhere, party or parties in power and those in opposition are critical, often scathingly at that, about one another. Even so, in Bangladesh things habitually go to their extremes. Here the two main political groups belong to, as it were, two enemy camps in a military war. And as in any such war, there are no holds barred when it comes to attacking the opponent. In the end, in this kind of polemical attack, it is the truth that becomes the first casualty.
Obviously, in this overcharged ambience, the political polemics in vogue is highly rhetorical and exaggerated and, more often than not, lacking in substance, or truth at worst.
Notwithstanding this prevailing political culture, one sometimes comes across exceptional political characters who talk in a language that has little similarity with established customs.
The food and disaster management minister of the incumbent government has set such an example. Curiously, while taking stock of his and his government's successes and failures, he spoke in a language that is different from his other cabinet colleagues as he unabashedly admitted to his ministry's failure to address the miseries of the Aila victims.
It may be recalled here that in May 2009, the cyclone Aila swept through southern districts of Bangladesh, accompanied by huge tidal waves that killed some 200 people and dislodged around half a million people from their homesteads along the coastal belt. Sadly though, Aila hit the country only one and a half years after Sidr, the worst hurricane from the Bay in recent memory, had razed the country killing some 3,500 people.
It was like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. Hardly could the populace in the south, battered by Sidr, recover when Aila struck with a vengeance. It was a double whammy, and it was not only the victims whose sufferings multiplied. Rescue and rehabilitation work also got tougher and further complicated. The newly elected government of the grand alliance led by Awami League was yet to have their house in proper order when Aila put them through their paces.
Even then, addressing the woes of the cyclone-hit people should have been on the highest priority of the new government. The media and the people at large, except, of course, the victims themselves, were about to forget the Aila nightmare. Now, thanks to the food and disaster management minister's acknowledgment of the reality, we can at least jog our memory afresh. The frank admission of the minister speaks volumes for what those hapless victims of multiple shock and devastation have been going through until now.
What should an average person make of Dr. Razzak's candid comments on the rehabilitation of the cyclone victims? Was it a faux pas or a deliberate attempt at breaking away with the existing culture of always toeing the official line?
In the prevailing mood of politics, some, who are not used to such openness, may even think that Dr. Razzak has let his government down by such frank admission of a lapse in the performance of his ministry or the government, for that matter.
In point of fact, if anything, he has only told the truth and thereby helped the government and the people to face facts and thereby have a better grasp of the situation in the Aila-affected districts.
But then, by all accounts, the food and disaster management minister's remark is a clear departure from the current practice of our politicians both in and out of power. That apart, our hope is that Dr. Razzak's style of bringing the burning issues into perspective while making any assessment will not be totally lost on his colleagues or other politicians watching him.
It is in the in the correct spirit of democracy that the truth should not be suppressed under any circumstances. For, in the present case, if any attempt had been made to hide the real picture, then it would be nothing but a prescription for perpetuating the suffering of the Aila victims. Sweeping the truth about the Aila victims under the carpet would have only made their rehabilitation work harder.
Now that people know the fact, the government and the non-government agencies along with the various philanthropic organisations may get into gear and make renewed efforts to reach the victims of that cyclone and start relief, rescue and rehabilitation operations in a coordinated fashion.
In the present case, accepting facts will hopefully go to helping the victims of the last year's cyclone out of their sad predicament.
The nation could get over many of the hurdles that litter its development path, if its leaders become franker and develop the spirit of squaring up to the facts.
Syed Fattahul Alim is a senior journalist.