& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

TO THE EDITOR
Why are we corrupt?
It was really a very shocking morning (08.10.003) for me as I heard that for the third successive year, Bangladesh was ranked as the most corrupt country among 133 nations by the Transparency International (TI). I am afraid in future where we will go?
Anyway, the fact is that we all know why are we so corrupt. From the top to bottom, this society is infected with corruption. There's not a single field that is free from it. In every sector of our daily life we are witnessing many illegal activities. But it is sad that we are doing nothing against to stop them. Because of the deeds of our own
countrymen we have become the most corrupt country. Isn't it a great shame for us? Well, who cares about that? We are just happy if our own purposes are served. And this is a reason why corruption is on rise.
We have to come out from this situation. We should think about it and save our own country. People who are serving in the highest ranks should stop all kinds of illegal things first so that their juniors are forced to give up every kind of corrupt practices. We all should start working together and promise to act responsibly. Students should also make their institutions free from any kind of political ills. Police immediately need to stop taking
alleged bribes and serve the nation honestly. In each and every sector we have to make everything free from corruption. And all that's possible if we all start thinking about the problems and how to solve them.
I always wonder how A Bangladeshi citizen maintain all the rules and regulation while he/she goes to work abroad!
It's high time we save our nation and every citizen must know that we alone have to do it. Just don't think about your own lives. Do we realise what kind of suffering is waiting for our future generations? So, please stop doing all kinds of illegal things and save our motherland. Or do we
want the permanent recognition as the top most corrupt country in the world?
Samiha Esha
Uttara, Dhaka
Reflections on Bangladesh's interpretation of democracy
Ever since the removal of Ershad's dictatorship and restoration of democracy there were hopes and aspirations of our people but that have been crushed by the cyclical leaderships of Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina. One is now at great pain to distinguish between the governments of BNP and AL when
it comes to policy or operation.
Neither party seems to grasp the concept of stewardship instead of opting to establish a family dynasty that often strains our budget if not goes against our national interest. My worst fear is that this shortsighted self-destructive tendency may be buried deep in our collective feudal past. There are no institutionalised mechanisms for self-righteous citizens to participate and climb up the political hierarchy. Despite past overtures and pledges neither BNP nor AL are democratic in nature. If a sketch of their rank and file is taken (not withstanding one or two exceptions) it would appear that the only paths to rise are
based on past "contributions" in muscle or money.
Since the treasury and opposition don't know how to co-exist in the House, a change of guard in the parliament has been reduced to a mechanism for self-serving by alternating set of faces and settling personal feuds. Alas this corrupt political practice permeates deep into the daily lives of common citizens: business contracts are
given to leading party deputies superseding and in gross violation of open tender system; police/gangsters are deployed against civilians who pose a threat or barrier to the ruling party; even the military - protected by laws
enacted in violation of human rights - has been used to quash dissent; promotions and demotions of civil servants and teachers are based on an individual's political affiliation. These are hardly conducive for openness and accountability that have traditionally attracted top talents to government, industry and civil service of any thriving nation. Upstanding deputies who fall short of absolute loyalty to the leadership are simply cast aside: ex-president AQM Bodruddoza of BNP and Bir Bikram Rafiqul Islam of AL are perhaps examples.
Instead these are times for political chameleons who can quite successfully postpone say, the
establishment of an independent judiciary -- the one mechanism that could check this decay. But then again if an elected British Prime Minister can lie to catalyse war on thousands of innocent people and destroy a top scientist to save his own skin and a "selected" US President can create so much fear and havoc in the world and bring it to a grinding halt for the sole benefits of his friends, who am I or you to complain about Bangladesh's interpretation of democracy? Any progress we made in the last decade is in spite of our leaders and not because of them.
Shabbir A Bashar
Stanford University, California, USA