Anti-graft drive loses moral ground with Tarique's release
The caretaker government not only failed to fulfil the promises it had made at the time of 1/11 changeover, but also suffered a moral defeat, said speakers at a dialogue yesterday.
The speakers observed that the government also impaired its anti-corruption drive by releasing from detention graft suspects like Tarique Rahman, through which move it lost the moral ground for keeping any other person in jail on charges of graft.
They however observed that bringing Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia to a table for a dialogue might help to initiate a new political culture in the country replacing the current culture of 'walking out of the parliament'.
But they noted that release of the two former premiers from detention alone will not ameliorate the country's current political crisis.
The comments came from a dialogue arranged by BBC Bangla Sanglap in Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital.
AL Presidium Member Abdur Razzak, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh Mujahidul Islam Selim, Action Aid Bangladesh Country Director Farah Kabir, and former energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman were the panel of dialoguers in front of a live audience.
The speakers said formation of the Truth and Accountability Commission (Tac) gives an impression that any corruptionist will finally be absolved at the end of the day.
They said the government's lack of planning and strategy, and its disorientation regarding the projects it took up has resulted in the present crisis in the country, with corruption suspects getting freed hampering the anti-graft drive severely.
The dialoguers termed the changeover of 1/11 as a 'cosmetic one' and graded the government's performance since then as 'poor', with its failure to hold the parliamentary election even in two years.
"The caretaker government has failed morally with its failure to keep any of the promises it had made at the time of taking over power on 1/11," said Abdur Razzak.
"The ground for 1/11 was created by Tarique who is widely known as the most corrupt person in the country. When Tarique is released from detention, none other can be kept in jail on charges of graft," he added.
"Tarique's release is not an isolated incident. There is a relation between the way high profile graft suspects had been arrested randomly and the way they were later released altogether all of a sudden," said Mujahidul Islam Selim.
"When an entire system is ailing and malfunctioning due to corruption, changes can't be brought from within the system. Corruptionists can't be brought to justice when politics of despotism and an economy of plunder are the order of the day," he added.
"If we start questioning the release of Tarique, the independence of our judiciary will also be called into question. And if so many questions start being raised our very existence will be in a crisis. We should look into whether the government has weakened the drive against corruption," said former energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman, soon to give the answer himself, "The government has definitely impaired the anti-corruption drive."
"The popular notion of politics in our country is not realistic, it is not about only the conflict between the two chiefs of two parties. There are whole classes in the society. The agenda of the dialogue between the two top leaders should be made public," said Selim.
"The agenda must address the reasons for the crisis," he added saying that the dialogue itself will not end the existing political crisis anyway.
"Only a meeting or a dialogue can't end all crises," said Razzak, adding that Awami League has no problem with sitting with Khaleda Zia as the chief of BNP, but it has a problem with sitting with her as the head of the four-party alliance.
"If the name of Jamaat-e-Islami is included among the dialoguing parties, we will have some ideological problems with that," Razzak asserted.
"We should not let our top political leaders go unchallenged anymore. If they want to continue in politics as representatives of the people, they must sit for meetings for the betterment of the country," said Farah Kabir.
"The spirit of Truth and Accountability Commission (Tac), gives an impression to a corruption suspect that no matter what the person did, he or she will be freed at the end of the day," she noted.
When the audiences were asked two raise hands if they think the government has impaired the anti-graft drive, about 70 percent of them raised their hands.
The dialogue was moderated by BBC's Masud Hasan Khan.
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