UNLiMiTED greed for money and wealth is a kind of mental disease which causes white collar people to get involved in corruption. A person, whether he is a politician, a bureaucrat, a businessman, an educationist or an intellectual, whose corruption knows no bounds may behave like a normal person in the society; but, in fact, he is mentally sick.

His corruption may not be detected with the naked eye or be proved in the court of law, because of his skill in hiding it; and he may shout to the heavens that he is an honest person because no corruption charges can be proved against him. Still, he is mentally sick.

in case of physical sickness, the sufferer knows he is sick; in case of mental sickness the sufferer does not know that he is sick. Corruption is a malignant disease, and whoever falls in its grip finds his lust for money and wealth becoming ever more insatiable.

The "art" of corruption in Bangladesh has become so subtle that it is very difficult to prove against political leaders of high stature. They smuggle their ill-gotten money out of the country to inflate their foreign bank accounts, keeping their domestic bank accounts as "slim" as possible. There are some foreign banks where anyone

can deposit his/her ill-earned money, hiding his identity.

More than a decade ago i met a person from Switzerland in Brussels. He was a boastful man, introducing himself to me as an adviser to the foreign minister of his country, or something like that. He was whining about corruption in the third-world countries.

i said to him: "Please, get banks of the developed countries like yours to stop opening accounts for political leaders from third world countries; and the corruption in these countries will be reduced by upto fifty percent." He did not like my idea.

The politicians of Bangladesh, like in other underdeveloped countries, are almost worshiped by the people, as if they were demigods/goddesses. The hand-to-mouth people put all their faith in them, believing that these political leaders will change their fate, will break the chain of their poverty and hardship.

Most of these political leaders pretend to love their people, but when they come to power they don't give a damn about them; and their only goal is to mint money for themselves, for their relatives and cronies.

He (i omit mentioning his name here) is a political leader, more than 60 years old. He has amassed a huge amount of wealth through corruption

during his long political life. He has no child, and his wife has crossed the childbearing age.

The couple often stays in a hospital, as both of them have been suffering from different ailments for years. Still, this gentleman does not spare a single opportunity to earn some more money through corruption, whenever it comes in his way.

is he not mentally sick, suffering from excessive lust and greed for money? He is extremely rich, and old without any issues, suffering from incurable diseases. Why does he still need more money, and for whom?

A general election for the provincial parliament was held in East Bengal in 1954. (East Bengal became known as East Pakistan in 1956, and as Bangladesh in 1971.) The election was fought between the Pakistan Muslim League and the Jukto (United) Front. in the election campaign Jukto Front brought serious allegations of corruption against the Muslim League leaders, who were in power at that time.

Nurul Amin, the then chief minister of East Bengal and a leader of the Muslim League, started telling people in public meetings: "Please vote for us, as we have been in power for the last few years; and according to the Jukto Front we have made money through corruption misusing our power. So if you elect us again we will work for you,

as we already have enough money, we don't need that any more. But if you elect Jukto Front people, who don't have much money, they will start making money through corruption while in power, so they will not work for your well beings."

The fundamental mistake that Nurul Amin made, about human character, is that the lust for wealth is like drinking seawater, the more one drinks seawater the thirstier he becomes.

in Bangladesh, where 35% of the population live under the poverty line, where it is hard for many people to manage two square meals a day, where thousands of people live inhuman lives in slums, when some political leaders, so loved and respected by the people, come to power, they simply start plundering the country to smuggle money out to foreign countries. They think that to be loved and respected by the people, and to exploit them, is their hereditary right. To them sending the cream gathered by churning the people to foreign bank accounts is a game.

How much is enough? How much money does one need to lead the most luxurious life? 50 crore taka? 100 crore or 200 crore taka? These people have more then that, still they want to plunder more. Who will doubt their mental illness?

A human being may fall physically or

mentally sick at any time. There is no shame in falling sick. Those who have an unbridled desire to get involved in unlimited corruption may secretly call on a psychiatrist to get rid of the mental disease, if they have a little love for their country.

The deep relationship between power and corruption in Bangladesh is responsible for all the dire problems we have been facing till now. Some of these problems are: our failure in eradicating poverty even in 36 years after achieving independence; tinkering now and then with the constitution of the country; making the lives of the general mass hell and, at the same time, sacrificing hundreds of human lives in the name of political movement.

"The goddess of politics " in Bangladesh has become so bloodthirsty that in the last political conflict at least 50 lives had to be sacrificed to appease her for the time being.

Corruption in Bangladesh has reached 150 to 200 %. in our country, a hundred crore-taka projects becomes a 250 to 300 crore-taka project. if we can pull or push down the percentage of corruption from the present level to 20/25%, then to achieve an annual economic growth rate to the tune of 12 to 14 % will be as easy as anything; and after ten to fifteen years none will be available in the country to receive Zakaat (religious dole money).

Enacting tough laws to free Bangladesh from corruption will not be enough for the purpose; because a big number of honest officials, and the determination to combat corruption on the part of the political leaders in power, will be needed to implement those laws. Where will we get so many of them, and that determination?

So, side by side with enacting tough anti-corruption laws, we need to put the truth to the conscience of the dishonest political leaders that, internationally, it is more prestigious and at the same time more self-satisfying to be a well-to-do prime minister or minister of a rich nation, than to be a fabulously wealthy prime minister or minister of a poor nation. And they should know that corruption is a mental disease, whether corruption charges can be proved or not in the court of law. Let them look into their private mirrors.

We want none but political leaders, elected in a free and fair election, to run our country. Political leaders who run the government have enormous power. By using this power they can transform a poor nation into a solvent nation in five to ten years.

The politician who uses his power for the wellbeing of his nation turns from a simple politician into a statesman. it may work if we beseech our political leaders incessantly, putting our knees on the ground: "You who have uncon-

trollable weakness for money and wealth, please have some compassion for your country and people and reduce your spree for corruption."

We bow to the politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, educationists and

intellectuals, who never succumb to corruption, and keep their heads always high.

Faruque Hasan is a freelance contributor to the Daily Star.