Will the politicians answer public questions?
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![Photo: Barta24.com](https://imaginary.barta24.com/resize?width=1280&quality=75&type=webp&path=uploads/news/2024/Jul/25/1721874272358.jpg)
Photo: Barta24.com
During the last few days of darkness, we have faced many inquiries from people of different classes and professions, who are not related to politics. These people, trembling and confused by the situation, have thrown numerous questions to the politicians of the country. The meaning of what the people who have not gone to seven or five have understood without understanding much is that the ruling party wants to hold on to power and the opposition wants to sit on the throne of power.
Analyzing the various actions and statements taken by the government after the start of devastation along the lines of the quota reform movement, what can be said is that saving the country from devastation was the most important thing and the government did just that. It will not be difficult to identify a few things from what is seen when analyzing the events and the photos and videos available to the media of this unprecedented destruction that has been going on for several days.
Government policy makers and law enforcement officials have repeatedly claimed that the destruction was carried out by trained terrorists of the Jamaat-Shibir and BNP and its affiliates. They also claimed that BNP Acting Chairman Tariq Rahman, who had 'fled abroad', was the mastermind behind this anarchy. The main goal behind this attempt was to oust the government. Before the start of violence, everyone considered the presence of students on the road as a quota reform movement. How the initially peaceful movement became a tool of unprecedented violence is not widely understood. Some are also claiming that the banner of the students' movement has been 'hijacked' and that many of us have been involved without realizing it. Not all of the large numbers of people who took to the streets wreaked havoc, as law enforcement claims and analysis of the videos will make clear.
The question here is 'a number of 'terrorists went on a rampage for days, and the law and order forces suffered casualties'; Even then, it took several days to stop the flow of destruction! At this time, the role of the country's remaining people was how? Social and political analysts speculate that perhaps a section of the general public sympathized or tacitly supported these 'few'. And yet another section of the common people was divided, assessing their overall situation in no position to support, reject, or resist either side; because they did not know the real truth.
If we turn our attention to the political sphere, there too we see an extreme state of dichotomy. Bangladesh Awami League, which has been in power for a decade and a half, has historically provided leadership in the country's independence and liberation war. Almost all parties active in politics today were established after independence. Even though the democratic framework is constitutionally recognized, there is no trace of democracy anywhere in the inside or outside the political parties, this complaint is voiced everywhere.
The ruling party, Bangladesh Awami League, claims that it manages its politics and governance by adopting the spirit and philosophy of the great liberation war. The quota reform movement initially clashed with the ruling party and its student organizations mainly over the freedom fighter quota in government jobs. In view of the situation, it appears that the dichotomy of the present society has widened on the issue of Great Liberation War. Undoubtedly, the slightest contempt or insult towards the freedom struggle of a country and its noble spirit is an unforgivable crime. But if the generation of the country does not get the opportunity to know the true history, how do you blame the new generation? Politicians have to answer the public question why we could not achieve universal common position on the question of the Great Liberation War even after half a century of independence.
Not only the Awami League, but almost all the other political parties foam at the mouth when the issue of the liberation war comes up, but they show little attention in upholding the ideals of the liberation war. It is important to say this because if we look back at the past national elections, we can easily remember how many so-called leaders of various parties flocked to the capital just to get nominations. Then to the media, each of them pledged to devote themselves fully to the service of the country and the people. The question is here, the unprecedented rampage across the country including the capital went on, the huge resources of the people-state were burnt to ashes, looted - where were they then?
In this unprecedented period, the top leaders of the two main parties Awami League and BNP have come to press conferences almost every day. It was full of leaders. The general secretary or secretary general of the party is giving a speech and everyone nods their heads, some shout out loud 'Right ..Right'. In very common sense, those faces of politics seem nothing but hypocrites because at this time of crisis in the country, they are supposed to take their supporters, loyalists and general public to their respective areas to prevent violence. It is not supposed to be a competition to show off your appearance at a press conference. After the discovery of democratic politics beyond the colonial or feudal period, we have seen the dedication of politicians in this country. How they used to exhaust everything and stand by the people!
At present, there are 350 parliamentarians in the country, including reserved women parliamentarians. There are a large number of public representatives including City Mayor, Zilla Parishad Chairman, Upazila Chairman, Municipal Mayor, Union Parishad Chairman. If they had real responsibility towards the people, these public representatives would have tried to protect the state and people's lives. People involved public representatives maintain peace and order without incitement we might not have seen this devastation if we were on the ground alongside law enforcement. Sadly, we have seen none of this in reality. Does it mean that our politicians' 'politics' is not dedicated to the interests of the people? But we see the political opponents of the same party to suppress their efforts in the field! If they had applied even a little of this devotion to the welfare of the people and the peace of the society, such a transitional period would not have appeared in the country.
If we look at the news of regional politics published in the newspapers in recent years, we will see - how much conflict within the ruling party! Grassroot loyalists complain that the party's leaders, who have been in power for a long time, have come to think of themselves as so powerful in their respective positions that they have little contact with the workers. As a result, the Awami League grassroot's duty to stand by the people during the crisis is being ignored in most cases despite the instructions of the high command, according to newspaper reports. As a result, although the Awami League was organizationally active during the time of being in the opposition party, their organizational condition, if not fragile, cannot be said to be very well organized. This context needs to be mentioned because the organizational weakness of the ruling party also plays a role in the rise of anti-national interest-seeking cliques.
In some parts of the country, including the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chattogram, I have seen saboteurs facing resistance from the leaders, workers and supporters of the ruling party. The question is, apart from Awami League, the remaining 43 political parties registered in the country, what did they do these days? They blame each other by holding a press conference or sending a press release to the media. Some may not even have done so, remaining silent spectators. In spite of the disunity of these 'politicians', how do they come to ask for the people's mandate in every national election?
Experts in society, politics and government, however, agree that people's ignorance and misogyny have paved the way for hypocritical politics. Today the path to developing mindfulness and values is narrowed by insufficient investment in education and culture. The intellectual and moral education of the people has been blocked by this indulgence. Even if the infrastructural development is progressed, the politicians may have forgotten to think about the fact that people's values in the society have fallen to the bottom! Otherwise, how is the allocation for culture in the national budget of about Tk. 7 lakh crore Tk. 778 crore becomes Tk. 86 lakh?
With this indulgence, superstition and mischief spread terribly in the marginal towns of the country. Perhaps because there is no effort to alleviate this crisis of understanding among the common people, the opportunity to sarcasm the history of the great liberation war, the father of the nation and the self-glorification of the 30 lakh martyrs of the liberation war was created in Bangladesh during the liberation war. Analysts believe that rampant corruption is largely responsible for deviant politicians forgetting public service and acquiring wealth. Are the politicians of this time burdened with countless questions from the conscious people, will they make any effort at all to solve this problem?