Dialectics will take us nowhere

THESE are the times to indulge in dialectics, with the hope of getting back the lost empire. These are the times to talk, with tea, tea-talk that is, and then wait for the time to take the people on a ride once again. Gradually "leaders" are sharpening their tongues to lash out at the power and the powerful, as things remain in bad shape in various sectors, at the moment. These are the times to remain forgetful about your past deeds, about the gross misconduct, misrule, torture, blackmailing, and what not.
Every day, we are being entertained by the leaders, with comments like "BNP can get united in five minutes, it is the ego that has to be taken care of first." Very good, sir, if it can be done in five minutes then what's stopping you? Oh, that ego? Why can't you take care of that ego if it is the only obstacle? If you cannot overcome your ego problem, how do you plan to overcome real-life larger problems that will come in the future days? Will you stop negotiating with international partners or international bidders if it clashes with your ego? That was not a smart thing to say, leader.
Amidst such incredibly hilarious comments and depressing news, we also get to hear something positive, something good, something that lifts up the morale. Alas! Such news items come only once in a while. In Monday's The Daily Star there was one such news item that made me happy after a long while. It is an issue that has been bothering me for many years. It was the man-made misery that the people of Bhabadaha in Jessore had to tolerate silently for long 18 years. The large area consisting over 100 villages went under knee-deep water after a water project was built on a wrong site, thereby trapping water inside.
The water-logging made cultivation impossible as it devoured the entire land where people had their homesteads and farmland. Cattle-heads kept on dying and there was no way to grow any vegetables. For long 18 years thousands of people of the area pleaded and begged to the local leaders to exert pressure on the government to rid the land of the polluted water. Leaders promised action but once they visited Dhaka, they returned richer, but with no action recipe. The health condition of the people living virtually surrounded by water worsened every day but there was no one to listen to their lamentation. It soon became a "land that time forgot."
So, after 18 years and after three elected political governments, Bhabadaha has finally gotten rid of the water. Land has come out from its watery grave and farmers are now waiting for a bumper boro paddy (nearly 80,000 tonnes) to make them economically slightly better off. Even better days are expected ahead. But how did the miracle happen? Who is the great "leader" who has taken the initiative to help those hapless thousands who passed 18 miserable years in the water-logged area?
No, it was not any leader(s) but the 55 Bengal Regiment of Jessore that worked hard for two years to remove the water and bring the land back to shape once again. The money was provided by the Asian Development Bank. The task was simple, that involved re-excavating some canals and small tributaries of Tekka and Sree rivers to take the polluted water to Shibsha river. Actually what was required was compassion and will to do the work. A report says that the excavation work will continue till 2011 to clear the rest of the area of the water that still remain there.
You see, this is one mighty example to prove that mere dialectics does not solve problems. What you need is commitment, honesty, accountability and self-respect. It is plain and simple that there was no commitment and accountability on the part of the people who introduce themselves as leaders of the people. They came by the dozens in last 18 years but they hardly cared for their own people. It is possible that to all of those leaders who now live in the posh residential areas in Dhaka Bhabadha was not a glamorous project so they did not talk about it.
If you read the country pages of newspapers you will often come across news items that say that local villagers are giving free labour to construct a road or a culvert or dig a canal, as the work was not done by their leaders when they were in power. But I am sure the leaders had had funds allocated for those culverts, roads and canals. Then where did the money go? Do I have to give the answer? The akalmand only needs an ishara.
Slowly but surely we are heading towards the general elections. Once the elections will be held some of the elected representatives will form a government. Then what? What will they do? What kind of policy they will adopt to bring about changes in the economic and social sectors? Are they aware of what is called "Need of the hour?" Will they be competent enough to visualise what the country will look like fifty years from today, and what has to be done today so that it does look pretty? Will the future leaders be honest and have self-respect? Plenty of it? Yes, self-respect is the key word here.

Shahnoor Wahid is a Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.