Needed sanity and transparency for stability and sustainable development

The present political chaos and the hartals, street agitations, price hike of essentials and violence on the streets are a threat to the country. Seldom has this country so desperately needed leadership to steer clear of the crises, doldrums and chaos as it does now.
Because of poverty, endemic corruption at all levels of the society and administration, non-governance and remittance fall due to job losses in UAE and Malaysia, there has been a disastrous upsurge of violence and crime that has caused loss of hundreds of lives, worsening of the economy and an unprecedented polarisation of the society.
Police inaction and non-governance become apparent when people see an indicted war absconding even though he was being watched by both policemen in plain clothes and in uniform before the warrant was issued.
The unstable political climate has invaded the RMG sector. Production in about 350 garment factories in Ashulia industrial belt remained suspended for a day as workers took to the streets following rumours of death of a co-worker. It did not end there. Clashes between the agitating workers and police left at least hundred people including 10 cops injured. In the melee that followed, one female worker was crushed under the wheels of a bus when the workers were chased by the police.
Panic grips the citizenry when they read in the newspapers about attacks on journalists. A report published in The Daily Star on May 20 said that the right arm of a staff reporter of Samakal was hacked by unidentified assailants for reporting about an obscene dance performance in the campus of Pabna Edward College. Only four days before, a zonal correspondent of Kaler Kantha was allegedly beaten up in Bera upazila of Pabna by a nephew of a state minister for publishing a report on the alleged corruption in tender process of Test Relief (TR) and Food for Work (kabikha) programmes. Such reports show how the nation is being looted, in some cases in collusion with people who have been elected by us.
The report that a ruling party law maker had to open fire from his licensed pistol to escape the fury of his electorate must be a chilling one for the nation. It must be made clear to the nation why he had to incur the wrath of the people in his constituency.
In recent times, reports of disappearances and secret killings have filled the pages of the newspapers with sickening frequency, and the law enforcers are clueless about all such dastardly acts. The assurances by the high-ups in the government about the progress achieved in Ilyas disappearance and Sagar-Runi murder incidents cannot keep the people happy.
The culture of corruption is all-pervasive and stalls all development efforts. A report in The Daily Star on May 20 said that law enforcers seized over 18,000 copies of high-school textbooks, meant for free distribution in Kushtia, from a paper vendor in the town. A report in The Daily Star on May 22 said that Rapid Action Battalion seized more than three lakh litres of furnace oil stolen from Padma oil depot in the port city shows the sweep and size of corruption.
Shockingly, politicians and public servants are not bothered that the image of the country is taking a beating abroad. The complete lack of political will to contain and recover illicit transactions or outflows has escalated poverty and inequality, degraded public institutions and weakened the private investment climate. Poor governance and corruption have contributed to financial and economic collapse, public alienation and even violence, with disastrous consequences for the poor. It is important to bring corrupt politicians to justice by giving exemplary punishment to those who have abused power. Law enforcement agencies have to stop being the handmaidens of those in power.
The message from all these ominous developments is clear: democratic norms are rapidly disappearing and anarchy is gradually creeping in. Most people feel that if the government fails to contain this surge of corruption, violence, extortion, abduction and mayhem in the streets, reform measures or economic rejuvenation of the country can never be implemented.
Sensible citizens are wary of the consequences of the societal breakdown -- creation of an ideological void that is filled with militancy, religious intolerance, and political animosity.
Before these maladies turn into a catastrophe, a new pattern of politics imbued with sensibility and responsibility is needed. What is needed is a clean-headed sense of democracy's fragility and limitations. The primacy of human rights and the rule of law, consensus on national issues and tolerance must be enshrined in the society. The move for the revival of the society will definitely have to come from its leaders and intelligentsia who are now at loggerheads with each other.
Politics must be oriented to serving the people, lifting the people from the depths of misery and working for the progress and development of the country, which our leaders seem to have discarded at this critical time of the nation. Foreign investors are wary of venturing into an inflammable area, a conflict- ridden site that has largely been made so by the politicians themselves with utter disregard for people's sufferings.
Since most people are mute spectators, politics, perhaps in its worst form, is a free ground for many whose vision does not go beyond their personal gains. The great potential for progress that was envisaged is fading out, giving in to chaos and violence everywhere. The country from Teknaf to Tetulia is mired in political unrest, with repression and deception masquerading as populism.
There is no hiding the fact that the parties or alliances that came to power have done more talking than improving the lot of the vast populace, as evidenced by the nagging power sector, ailing health sector and mounting inflation, price hike of fuel, electricity and essentials.
With all the upheavals that the people witnessed during the last few years, they must see the emergence of charismatic leadership in this critical period when there is shortage of everything other than greed and violence. The leaders people are looking for must try and win political allies, seek consensus and avoid vendetta. There has to be a change of governance and style.
The government has to be more transparent in national development programmes and the opposition, even if they don't have a sizable number in the parliament, must join the parliament and raise the issue of non-party/caretaker government issue for conducting the next parliamentary election.

The writer is a columnist of The Daily Star. E-mail: [email protected]