Dilemma for the young voters

Photo: Amdadul Huq/ Drik News

SOMEONE told me of a Lebanese proverb that says: "Bad is better than worse." Watching elections frenzy and thinking of the Bangladesh politics, I was thinking of young voters who, faced with a dilemma, may use this proverb while making their electoral choice.
One of the interesting points about the December 29 election is the demographic composition of the voters. About 30% of the voters will cast their votes for the first time. Now whom they will vote for is anybody's guess.
As a teacher for over two decades, I have had some insights into young minds. The more I have known them, the more I have learned to respect them. The young have ideas and ideals. They have no time for unsubstantiated remarks. They are impatient with stupidity and they get disappointed with dishonesty. They should be listened to and not simply lectured at.
-The candidates seeking their votes must be honest with them and tell them as things are, with all its warts. Don't tell them lies -- whether about the past, or your date of birth.
- Don't paint an overly optimistic scenario. The current economic crisis, affecting the entire globe is a real crisis, and Bangladesh is not immune from it. Responsible political leaders should prepare them for the sacrifices.
- Don't try to use the same old political rhetoric -- political slogans must be replaced with political data; politics of bullets by bullet points.
- Politics of bitterness and animosities must give way to politics of reconciliation and civility.
- The young voters, for the most part, are not going to be impressed with religious bigotry. They know the future belongs to the enlightened. Tolerance and secularism will win in the long run. The turn to religious right is, at best, a diversion bred by economic crisis and alienation. When the dust settles, a progressive enlightened society is where they would want to live.
- Most young people have forward-looking ideas -- they want to dream of a bright prosperous future. Please show them the light and not spread gloom. They want to live in a digital culture with their fingers on the keys (of laptops and cell phones) and eyes on the horizon of the future.
- The young people want to see Bangladesh as a globalised, cosmopolitan society; they want to be proud of their culture and heritage and yet enjoy the music of Alicia Keyes and Bappa Majumdar at the same time. They don't see an inherent animosity between my famous namesake, Habib (Wahid) and Avril Lavigne.
- They like fusion in music, in food, and in politics.
Our politicians must grow up to win the hearts and minds of this generation.
Sure, elections are about making promises. But the promises must not be irresponsible fantasies. As I watched the manifestos of the main contenders, I remembered one particular episode of The Simpsons where Homer runs for the mayoral elections and makes such promises like: "You don't have to take out your garbage to the roadside; let someone else (city officials) take it." But what about the funds? Homer gets into serious problem for his irresponsible promises once elected to office.
Both parties have made lofty promises and elaborate plans. For BNP, some of these are not only jaded but ironical, like fighting corruption. For the Awami League, at least, there are specific targets -- presented in bullet points.
But please let us not promise anything free. There is no free lunch.
BNP has shown some honesty by saying that they will fight against portraying Bangladesh as a religiously extremist state. At least, here BNP is honest. That's exactly what they did when they were in power, anyone alerting about the rise of extremism was painted as acting against national interest.
For them the game plan was simple: use the religious right to intimidate political opposition, and suppress information about religious extremism. Punish the messenger and ignore the message. This did not work. The stories of BNP men's complicity in the so-called Bangla Bhai's reign of terror were more than a bungle. The BNP government dismissed the well-reported stories in the print media.
What happened to the young and bright in Bangladesh? Remember the story of Mr. Mahi B. Choudhury. While an MP of BNP, he wanted to accord a reception to Sheikh Hasina, the opposition leader who wanted to visit Mr. Choudhury's constituency. For such a forward-looking thought Mr. Chowdhury was not only never rewarded, he was, instead, reprimanded by the then ruling party.
There are many such well-educated, articulate, young leaders in various fields in Bangladesh. Just watch what the likes of Ms. Tania Ameer or Mr. Zafar Sobhan are saying.
As the days of elections near, the young must make a decisive choice. In the absence of the likes of a Mr. Barrack Obama, they must pick the lesser evil.

The writer is Associate Professor of Sociology at the National University of Singapore.