Moral eclipse and reforms

The graph rises towards the devil.

OUR country is once again sinking in the marshy political tract for the quietism pursued by all concerned. With the return of democracy after two years, one hopes that the sanity and order that the caretaker government (CTG) tried to bring about in our political culture by reforming the flawed and decayed practices will be maintained with unremitting zeal.
For nearly four decades we have had our share of sorrows and trials. We still observe that our leaders, regardless of the party tag that they wear, are subjecting us to their whims and whips. I fear that it is because of their utter disregard to peoples' aspirations that the nation now seems to be hovering on the brink of a revolution.
Our resilient citizens have given a pause to allow the political leadership to tame the political turbulence, however outrageous it was, by crafting calmness. Casual observation can easily sense the mood of our people, which expresses scorn and at the same time an enormous passion to free our vicious politics from the shackles of skullduggery and wantonness of the cronies and sycophants.
I do not see any possibility of chastisement of those political rank and files who have got used to persecuting the conscience of our people by making lofty pledges and planning scams to bag benefits.
Given to self-aggrandisement, these leaders are beefing up their cronies by giving them the opportunity to be proactive to discourage any attempt for transition from intolerance to incredulity and from obedience to discussion.
Now that we know who is responsible for our humiliating climb-down from the apex of our pre-liberation aspiration to the nadir of our current frustration, how do we convince them to practice morality instead of lubricity?
I think reforms in all sectors of our national life must take root, albeit gradually. The quintessence of the reforms should be development of social taboos that will make one morally bound to cultivate the reforms, and a political culture that will assure an all- encompassing integration of social values with moral bindings.
Although I am saturated with deep awareness about what I must do, I at times feel inclined to ask myself whether or not I am trying to catch a glimpse of snowflakes in the middle of a blizzard.
When the last CTG demonstrated an inclination towards bringing about some reforms, we thought that it was going to be a watershed in our history, and hoped that they would act as a formidable force to implement our common vision. Their efforts ended in fiasco as they took up too many tasks at a time without ensuring availability of strong institutions and people committed to the hilt to translate the vision into reality.
The forces of evil were up and about to add riders to the list of tasks to compound the problems. Leading lights and the conscience keepers of our society suddenly vanished, and the CTG was left high and dry to plough a lonely furrow.
It seems to me as if reforms and the CTG's detractors were on a collision course, and that is why the CTG's move was defeated. Let us not forget that defeat is not extinguishing the light but putting out a lamp, because success may come with the emergence of precursors to lead the way to victory.
Let us try once again to seek a new cure for the old epidemic, or at least a new prophylactic regime, lest our nation finds itself submerged in the thick slush perpetually. How do we purge the rottenness in our politics and governance? Our nation is tired of the conventional model of democracy and development, which failed to mitigate the deprivation and poverty perpetrated at the behest of the politicians and experts. Let me list the reasons that led to the dismal performance of our governments. These are:
* Political polarisation along two party lines made dialogue among the parties a far cry,
* Lack of practice of democracy within the parties led to sycophancy and cronyism that helped the leaders to consolidate absolute power,
* Absence of financial transparency,
* Accordance of priority to party security over state security,
* Assigning state security apparatus in informal tasks, and
* Lack of mutual trust between leaders and the led.
To enable development of democracy and to ensure good governance, the following should receive attention:
* Over-concentration of power by electing the leader of the party as the head of the government should be avoided,
* Efforts should be made to manage political differences between the two major political parties by promoting mutual understanding and mutual trust,
* Parliament should be allowed to function on the merit of the subject, unhindered by the force of the majority,
* Criminalisation of the legislators should be guarded against by active monitoring of the parliament, party and concerned government agencies,
* There should be no decline in the power of the court,
* Bureaucracy should not be politically patronised,
* Formal tools of the government should not be assigned to informal tasks;
* Media should be allowed to be vocal and vibrant,
* Civil society should be encouraged to play a non-partisan, intellectually enlightened and issue based role,
* The president should remain involved, and presidential activism should be reckoned with to guard against over exuberance of the head of the government,
* The Election Commission should be designed and geared to function independently of government interference, and
* The Anticorruption Commission, Rights to Information Commission, Human Rights Commission etc. should be encouraged to act without fear or favour to identify the red herrings that may make their task complicated, and suggest to the government to remove them.
Reforms do not take root overnight. We all know that reforms for democracy and development crystallise over a period of time, deriving sustenance from the nation's history and culture and from the peoples' collective experience over the years.
We should nurture an attitude of positivity, and make sure that the institutional foundation is not eroded and that any rise of identity crisis is blunted. Moral eclipse due to perceptive dynamics can distort a good set of rules.
Moral enlightenment coupled with spiritual commitment can help us build a society free from political and economic exploitation. So let us reform ourselves before it is too late.
Z.A. Khan is a former Director General of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies.