Untold Facts

Nepotism, Corruption and Graft Spree for ‘Sacrifice’ Made

Nepotism and corruption
A few days ago a smart foreign diplomat of crucial importance made a complaint about ‘Nepotism and Corruption’ as the main hurdle against development in Bangladesh. The ruling party General Secretary and a powerful Minister Ashraful Islam conceded to the matter by stating plainly that the Awami cadres have been doing all graft businesses to make up the losses they made for their sacrifice they made earlier, obviously implying that they have just been picking up the booties of their hard fight to bring Hasina-Ashraf nexus to power in January 2009. The further confirmation of the graft spree may well be had from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ‘warning’ to the grafters time and again and yet the grafts have been going on unending and in many cases with more vigor and in still better smarter styles, certainly not beyond knowledge of the leaders. There is also rationale behind the grafts as the party government in power now over nine months failed to redeem their pledge among many others made in the Election Manifesto for providing at least one person’s fully employed paid job for each family. The unity slogan for poverty elimination made by the P.M. on the 17th October possibly was directed to the loyal grafters to make her grip still firmer for goals she has in view not necessarily for poverty elimination but for something else.

Grafting and poverty
Since it is about ten months now that the graft cases have gone one uninterrupted, and the party men and women have earned a lot, we do not know for certain, if they would restrain their greed now for some helpful consideration of the extreme poor millions. The expectation has ushered in the fact that their leader Sheikh Hasina has on the 17th October made a razzmatazz of poverty elevation gathering in the grand style in Dhaka. Cynics were saying that she made a show up there of all those who grabbed properties of billions Taka in cash in all illegal and immoral ways during the last nine months or so. Some were further saying that her and the Secretary’s bank accounts, if not at home, but abroad swelled further that none at this moment could inquire into, much less made public. It is open secret that they have both properties in Europe and America possibly in clandestine identity, and so many of them like in politics and in the government.

After 1971
The graft business going on since January 2009 in Bangladesh reminded to me an old fact. One honest and sincere freedom fighter of 1971 told me years back that in late January 1972, he made a point to the then leader and Hasina’s biological father in a meeting held at the famous Siddiq Bazar Community Center, Dhaka, that he should ask all freedom fighters to restrain from any illegal property grabbing for peace and stability in the society. He retorted in his own crude style in Bengali, ‘AMAR CHELERA SHOTERO BASAR KONO KISU KHETE PAINI EKHON KISU KHACHE ETE TOR CHOKH TATAI KENO’? The threatening comment may in English version be like this: My boys had nothing for seventeen years (after 1954), and now that they are having something for them, why should you have eye sore?

The nod and after
The honest young man said to me, in addition, that immediately after the occasion, not only that graft spree had its heyday but also torture, eviction and even murder of many innocent persons took their tolls on one pre-text or the other. The prime plea was that the victims had been ‘Collaborators’ of the Pakistan Army in Bangladesh in 1971, and so had no right to exist in the country! That was how the forerunners of the 2009 grafters made their ‘business’ halal! The grafting business went almost unhindered for the three and a half years period until the absolute and one party totalitarian leader fell somewhat tragically though but in people’s jubilation in mid August 1975. But the culture of human greed remained in their minds that spilled over at times to other party leaders and workers, as well.

Graft and monarchy
There is no exact enumeration of facts and figures about graft money by political leaders and workers, but it is certain that the ‘father’ of the evil culture owes much to the credit. That is why I am not amazed at all that they are on with the grafting businesses for making up losses of their sacrifices they made for enthroning Hasina that many are now sadly foreseeing after the passage on the 13th October the notorious act in the rubber stamp parliament for century ahead SSF Security as VIP of Hasina’s following progeny including her sister Rehana’s amazingly for many as the future Crown of Bangladesh- now Queen Hasina to be followed by Queen Rehana and their progeny in continuing heredity.

Not GandhianThe emerging monarchs and the party leaders and cadres cannot be followers of Gandhi, the Indian great leader, who practiced denial of property and lived life of a ‘NAKED FAKIR” just as one British politician labeled him. They are right followers of the free market economy as propounded by Adam Smith and upheld by the West underpinned by human greed and material gains but devoid of ethics and morality. To them very unfortunately politics is not for any sacrifice for any great ideal but for fortune making at any cost. Widespread poverty and helplessness of the desperately poor millions provided scope to take advantage of for fortune making of the tout grafters firmly supported by the emerging monarch’s party.

Wealthy monarchy and poverty
One would not see any harm in the monarchy being established provided the nearly half of the 150 million people of the country would not suffer in grinding poverty for mainly the genre of corrupts and grafters as they continue to eat away huge properties even those rations meant for the most destitute VGF (Vulnerable Group Feeding) card holders. The foreign diplomat, I am sure, in his wisdom has taken due note of the present vicious syndrome of nepotism, corruption and grafts in Bangladesh.

Author: Dr. M.T. Hussain