Conquer the sea of corruption

A few illustrious children of our country have conquered Mount Everest. We have also "conquered the sea!" We are proud of both. However, we need to launch an all-out campaign against, and conquer, the "sea of corruption." We are suffering from rampant corruption in every private and public sector. Between the highest mountain in the north and the sea in the south we, Bangladeshis, live in one of the poorest countries in the world and a society that is engulfed by corruption.
The Oxford Dictionary defines the word "corruption" as "dishonesty by accepting bribes to do a favour" and "immoral behaviour." Sociologists and economists view corruption as "behaviour which is deviation from the norms and duties governing the exercise of public role or office for private gains" and "the abuse or misuse of public offices for personal gain." Corruption can be seen in several forms: giving and taking of bribes, favouritism and nepotism, misappropriation, and illegal patronage.
Financial and moral corruption is on the increase in every society, with adverse consequences upon the entire human family. No person is an island today. What one does in one remote corner of the world directly or indirectly affects people living in any other corner. The bad effects of corruption of any kind have more vicious consequences in poor countries like ours than they do in affluent countries. The tragedy is that our people have to tolerate corruption because they are helpless hostages in the hands of the few who perpetrate corruption. So bad is the effect of the corrupt people, however few they are in number, that "one sinner destroys much good" (Ecclesiastes 9:18). A bad apple contaminates the whole basket.
The root reason lying behind corruption is the fallen state of Man affecting the values of self-respect. This is the sinful nature of human beings known as the original sin. Corruption results from diminished morality and ethical values of individuals. The unquenchable greed and lust for money, wealth and power have corrupted the mind of the whole human race. The over-emphasising of the other world as against this present world and the life in it causes neglect of pristine human values of love and respect for life, and even fatalism, in many.
Religious education is, for the most part, concerned with the vision of heaven. People tend to not care about day-to-day life and living with other people in just relationship. Many think it is enough to appease God by their so-called religious practices. They want to love God, whom they cannot see, while they neglect other people, whom they see. No one should forget that if God is God for all people, and He is One, He is a Just and Righteous God, who loves all people, and not only a forgiving one.
There is also a belief among many people that there is a dichotomy between body and soul, and that there is no moral connection between them. They think sinful acts done with the body do not affect the soul, which goes to God after the death of the body. But in Bangladesh the intense political culture of rivalry and profit-mongering commercial motive have dealt the hardest blow. In the Taurath God commanded: "Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous" (Exodus 23:8). Bribe perverts justice and fairness. Prophet Jeremiah said about corrupt people: "They have become rich and powerful and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limits. They do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it. They do not defend the rights of the poor."
More often than not, corruption makes poor people poorer, while the rich get richer. The genuine rights of the poor are trampled down. Evasion of income tax, hoarding of unaccountable money and black money, adulteration of food items and medicinal products, and reckless rise in prices of daily necessaries render the overwhelming 80% of our population captives in the vicious circle of poverty and helplessness. Nepotism and favouritism in the job market are other hydra-headed monsters thwarting progress. The worst effect of corruption is the demoralisation of the young generation. Many of them want to leave the country for a better place. But the country loses their love and service.
The raison de etre of the government is primarily to provide service to the mass of men and woman who voted for the political parties that form it. They must earn the respect that they deserve. They must be serious in upholding the principles of justice and fairness with policies that are pro-poor people and communities so as to create an environment where human and other resources will find maximum utilisation that will, in turn, help create a proactive synergy for all to grow and prosper. Corruption in high places is too bad, too dangerous and too shameful to be exaggerated. Our poverty-stricken, ill-clad, ill-fed people can no more bear the burden of this.
The leadership principles and good governance values have universal relevance and application. They serve as benchmark for national leaders and governments to be tested on moral standards for good governance and public policies of responsible management of resources as faithful stewards and custodians. Today, a benchmark for good governance is compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many other related charters, including the Convention for civil and political rights and the Convention for economic, social and cultural rights. Individuals as well as the government need to take this issue seriously and take pragmatic steps to ensure fundamentals of democracy and human rights that are enshrined in the universal values and principles so that we can say a big "no" to corruption.

The writer is Principal, College of Christian Theology Bangladesh.