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MY WORLD

A Break from Writing; Democracy at Work in Britain; Support for Sylhet Development Council

S.M.Ali
THIS column had teen tn a Mata of suspended animation for months, —ng It* writer an odd feeling
aaw idea* worth writing about Ofcourse once in • while I would get that nervous af«—niUon that Arthur KoMtier put *o well that once yW stop writing for any length ilme you may either k»*e
desire to write again or rediscover that the joy of reading far exceeds wh*t one might call the ordeal of writing
Year* before he wrote his best seller "Deshe Bldeshe". the late Syed Mujtate All used to tell his nephew* and nierea that he aaw ateohitely no point tn writing some mediocre stuff
when he could gain so much more by delving into the world of literature that one could only acratch In one life-time Why Dr Ait eventually succumbed to the pressure from these youngsters to take to •eriou* writing, produced "Deshe Bldeshe' and dedicated it to the memory of one of hl* favourite niece* is another story. worth saving for another
During our university day*, we were told that Prof Abdur Razaak. one of the beat-known Intellectuals of our time, once gave the same reason why he preferred reading to writing. Maybe hl* aversion to writing went a bit too lar. since. according to one of his many admirer*, our national profes •or juat did not feel like completing the theata for hia doctorate. He was juat too buay reading!
So. when I stopped writing this column for months. I took the liberty of assuming that I now belonged to a distinguished company. Ihe problem was. due to a serious eye trouble I had developed quite suddenly. I could not do much reading either
Now having regained what my doctors In Bangkok call my
normal eyesight. I am catching up with all the reading I have missed for weeks. A cynical colleague says that I have not missed much except, he quickly adds, the four page coverage of the 'Media Round Table" on the economy of Bangladesh, a Star Special published by thia paper lift month Looking back, i see a few positive sides to what was for me a negative, almost a frustrating situation.
In London. I was glued to the hotel television — which was not too good for my eyes — watching the BBC coverage of the Labour Party Conference. To someone from Bangladesh whose perception of the democratic process has suffered a few jolts during past one year. It was refreshing to see how the leading opposition party tn Britain conducted its own debate on Issues ranging from education to defence, from immigration to European integration The debate produced a set of divergent views which eventually provided the framework for the manifesto of the Labour Party for the next general election. No one bowed to the wishes of Nell Kinnock, but all treated him with due respect and consideration. On his part. Mr Kinnock did not take anyone for granted This was democracy within a party at wwte. • party that has an excellent hance of taking power after the next polis
It so happened th* J Bangladesh Opposition I seder Sheikh Hasina was then in London, staying in the apart ment of an Aw* ml League leader sorting out differences
among various factions of her party in the British capital I wondered if she had the time to watch the TV coverage of the Labour Party conference and see for herself how the opposit^pn — or the "alternative government* as one can call tt — prepare itself to face the electorate with a well defined detailed altema tlve programme. And it is a programme that is worked out not behind closed doors, but on an open forum, under the glare of television cameras
This was indeed democracy at work, with ail its thrust and drive. Involving the load-' ership and the rank and file, not a soulless ritual of rubber stamping pre-arranged decisions based on expediency.
Two days later, the TV cameras turned to the annual conference of the Conservative Party. We watched and listened to what 1 thought was a superb exposition of the British external policy by the Foreign Secretary. Douglas Hurd. Then earn* the dsteie it was again de—rrary at work, this time, within the ruling party. I know the High Commissioner for Ban^adesh in the United Kingdom RMaul Karim ai-tended both the annual con ference*. like so many other diplomats baaed in London What did he exactly report to Dhaka? Anything along the
tines as to what lessons we can draw about the working of par Momentary democracy?
As expected BBC covered the two conferences with skill, objectivity and personalised light touches which, at times, offer the electronic media some definite advantages over newspapers. Instead of con-centrating on the top leaders. It talked to people who. with out making headlines in the pre**, remain part of the think tank for their reaper tive organisations For tn-.stance. one morning. BBC talked to Tony Benn the rad I cal Labour leader who. a few years ago. nearly captured the leadership of the party. One
question put to the Labour leader was something to this effect : "Do you see any future for socialism in Britain?" After a short pause, Benn replied. "Every generation rediscovers socialism to suit its own needs." It was the kind of answer we would have got from another radical Labour leader the late Nye Bevan who. too. lost out in the leadership of the party in the fifties but remained an asset for the or^nl sation. until he died, somewhat prematurely, of 111 health.
It is worth mentioning here that among ail the British leaders. Bevan was the one most sympathetic to the democratic aspirations of the
people of Pakistan, even as early as In the mid-fifties, but extremely doubtful if the people of erstwhile East Pakistan could accept the rule from Islamabad for long. He expressed these views to none other than the late Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani who spent a few months in London. in a semi poiMlcai exite when the stage wa* being set for in Pakistan the Import tion of martial tow by General Ayub Khan.
• • *
NOTWITHSTANDING a
London — a 90-minute laser
our 10-day stay in tte British capital had its lighter moments and brief, but fond, encounters with old friends and relatives One morning. Cist after we had finished our reakfast. there was a fire alarm in our hotel, which, we were quickly told, was not a scheduled exercise So, we rushed down the stair* - some in their dressing gowns — and stood on the pavement behind our hotel, shivering in early
inspected virtually every room.
There was no sign of any fire anywhere, not even a burning cigarette end on a bedside
Then, we heard the bell captain say. "We wish Mr Sherlock Holmes was here to find out what happened!
Well, quite an appropriate remark
The place where we stayed was "Hotel Sherlock Holmes', located on the Baker Street
It was with the help of this bell captain who. believe it or not. turned out to be a man from Maulvl Bazar, that we got the direction to the nearest Bangladeshi restaurant which was inaptly called The
Discovery of iadta' and whose owner turned out to toe a tow key supporter of BNP We had quite ■ few meato at this
political aitwation In Bangladesh The owner. Mr Bari. anted — good question*
Star. I presided him with * fairly balanced picture appor Honing Mame between the nil tte^en? finding quite a feC good things to say about both
In a shared commitment to the welfare of our district. we both agreed that ttetthe au thorltles should try to set up ■ 'Greater Sylhet Development Council." a* recently proposed by Abu Sayied Mahmud, a past President of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries, with core investment drawn from Sylhetis In the United Kingdom Yes. Mr Bari seemed gtnuinely interested in the setting up of the Council.
But. for reasons I could not understand, he also
Ing a tea garden in Sylhet.
May be it to a status symbol, a weekend retreat and probably a sound Investment, all roiled into one
On the day we left London Babul. Mr Bari * son. walked with us to our hotel after our lunch in their restaurant.
Then, with a quite a few people in the lobby watching us the young man bent down and touched my feet and then of .my wife. *nd asked for our blessings
Who says that all second Cneration Bangladeshi born Hons have lost their old ways?
If some have. Babul Is not certainly one of them.