Youth to the fore

AGES ago, Rabindranath Tagore said: "Youth, I do adore thee, Age, I do abhor thee." Tagore recognised the ultimate torchbearers of a nation, who are the youth. Like Tagore, I also believe in youth, and I consider myself as an active supporter of empowerment of the young in the development of the nation. The nation, today, needs leadership by physically active and educated people. In this article, I will concentrate on the role that the youth played and could play.
Leadership is a hot topic, as more and more institutions grapple with the challenge of building strong, effective and visionary management structures. The private sector is very advanced in this field, and many government institutions are now looking to follow suit in cultivating management excellence and leadership.
Bangladesh is emphasising leadership development as a foundation for effective governance and successful nation-building. Eventually, however, the quest for strong moral leadership will necessarily lead to a re-conceptualisation of how we raise and educate our children.
If we believe that politics is the most effective driving force in governing a nation, we must have an efficient team of politicians who will work for the nation. Other forces like education, business, economics, culture, trade and commerce etc., are the areas for the politicians to work on through strong and beneficial policy making.
If we look at the evolution of Bangladesh, we will see that all successful movements, starting from the language movement till the end of autocracy, were possible only because of the involvement of the young people. Almost all of them were students.
After the fall of Ershad, there were three democratic governments. All of them neglected the building of the nation, rather they built themselves through corruption. Maybe there are some individuals who are truly working for the nation, but this giant corruption group overshadows them. The youth have always been deprived, though they have always been the key to change.
The most powerful youth forum in our country is the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu). The corrupt politicians had intentionally banned election in Ducsu, and some teachers were also involved. Had there been Ducsu elections regularly in the last 17 years, Bangladesh would have had at least 50 young leaders today. This is only from Ducsu, let alone other universities and colleges. Today's vacuum in leadership is rooted here.
People of the age group18-45 comprise almost half of the total voters in Bangladesh, but they have no representation at the policy making level because the old leadership intentionally ignored them. Age should not be a limitation. The whole world is changing. Young people all over the world are being empowered gradually. Barack Obama is comparatively very young, but he may be the next US president.
Another example is British Foreign Minister Mr. David Miliband who prioritised enhancement of young leadership. Even if we look at our own history, we see that Dr. Kamal Hossain was foreign minister at the age of 34. Why can't we think like those days?
The absence of the youth in the building of the nation caused unemployment and degeneration, which is why we are still an LDC.
50 years ago, there were many young people in mainstream politics, and we won in the language movement and the liberation war because of direct involvement of the youth. Politics becomes a people's front when well known young organisers do the field-work by themselves.
Young political leaders, business leaders, academicians and researchers are the dream combination for building a brighter nation today.
Leadership is created through movements, not just through liaisons, seminars and meetings. Leadership through movement builds character. A leader has to resist the temptation for power and special consideration in making rational decisions.
Effective leadership is a crucial prerequisite in every sphere of social life, and for success in nation-building endeavours. Despite Bangladesh's enormous potential, the inadequacy of leadership has an adverse effect on socio-economic and political development. The country needs honest and effective leadership, not only in politics but also in business, education, media and administration, to resolve conflicts, alleviate poverty, empower women and the disadvantaged, and ensure good governance.
Bangladesh is a developing economy with large income disparities in society. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting further marginalised. This gap, I believe, is a threat to peace because both extremism and terrorism are born out of the hopelessness of poverty. The solution to Bangladesh's poverty is not aid but responsible, competent and compassionate leadership.
Bangladesh today needs homegrown leaders who can unify constituencies and construct a narrative of addition instead of a narrative of division. It is this divisiveness and lack of appreciation of diversity that has often caused violent partisan politics, communal tensions, and discrimination against religious minorities in the country.
I believe we can address this poverty-peace nexus by providing the youth leadership training through action and dialogue. I believe in focusing on the youth because they are the future leaders of our country. I also believe that, to address the complexities that beset the socio-economic culture of Bangladesh, it is imperative that our future leaders embrace diversity and bridge economic and religious gaps.
Finally, I would like to say, it is time for the young people to work. Think-tanks, civil society and passionate and experienced political leaders could be our inspiration. Elections are forthcoming. The current caretaker government can establish this dream by preparing guidelines for the political parties to nominate at least 30 percent young candidates (aged below 45) for the parliament. Now is the time for the young people to carry our nation forward, and our seniors could train and help them.

M. Shoeb Chowdhury is an entrepreneur and social and human rights activist.