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The conspiracy theory
SENIOR Awami League leaders are convinced that there is an international conspiracy afoot, and that the World Bank (WB) cancellation of the Padma Bridge Project (PMB) funding and the Human Right Watch (HRW) report are well orchestrated part of that. The former they feel is designed to implement the Bank's "hidden agenda." They have not bothered to tell us what that might be.
In Bangladesh we are very fond of conspiracy theory and, quite like some countries in the West that are "addicted to the belief that the other nations of the earth are in a conspiracy to undervalue them," see behind every lamppost a conspirator, and behind every event that has gone wrong there is always the evil schemer hell-bent to put the spanner in the works. All governments in the past have been victims of this phantom.
The PMB, planned so meticulously to meet the growing need of the country, has been consigned to the closet, for the time being at least. Like everybody else 1 am hurt and disappointed, because not only has the project been scuttled and the nation smeared, but also because of the manner in which the government has gone about glorifying what must surely be a disaster for it on many fronts. What is inexplicable is the government's effort to make virtue out of necessity by hiding
behind the shield of national emotion. And just like misfortune never comes singly the WB missive was followed by the HRW report.
The government can be forgiven for smelling a rat because in recent times no government in Bangladesh had been served a bill of fare that it found unable to consume, let alone digest. And that is perhaps to do with the government's inept and callow handling of international organisations, and its unsuccessful attempt to defend the indefensible.
Let us consider the WB and its hidden agenda. It is difficult to under-
stand what the leading financer of the PMB project stands to gain by canceling the loan? The WB has been virtually hauled over the coals for canceling the funding and we are now being told how "corrupt" the Bank is in its own functioning. The cabinet has suggested that the government seek compensation for the delay the cancellation would impose on the project.
It is true that all international institutions are not epitomes of probity and there have been cases of corruption in those too, but that involved individuals and not the institutions per se. Since June 29 the Bank has
been subjected to verbal bombardment by ministers and AL party high ups who have been at pains to expose the so-called depth of corruption that the WB has been mired in since its inception. And yet we continue to have scores of WB projects running at this moment, to the tune of several billion USD. Criticism of the Bank cannot dilute the gravity of the allegations of corruption against senior functionaries of the government.
There would be nothing better than to reduce our dependence on IFIs and eventually disengage from them, but we should not overlook the fact that
the second and fourth largest economies in the world are the greatest borrowers from the WB. Self financing of the bridge is a good idea but would be difficult to implement, according to the finance minister himself. Emotions cannot build bridges. We need foreign currency for it.
We would like to believe that no corruption has taken place in this case. But it is for the government to prove the point. And in this matter Prof. Jamilur Reza Choudhury has been quoted out of context in garnering support for the government's stand in this matter. While the government may cry hoarse that no corrup-
tion has taken place (meaning that no money has changed hands) and resort to semantics and engage experts to redefine the term, we are well aware that both offering and soliciting bribe are equally culpable offences.
We also wonder why the government is now talking about it being pressured by the WB about a Chinese firm. And that is why we fail to understand the reluctance of the government to make public the WB correspondence in this matter because that would clarify all doubts.
As for the government's rubbishing the suggestion of possible corruption we have not got any response from the government to a Bangladesh weekly's report that money has indeed changed hands under the table. However, one hopes that many things would be clarified when the trial of the two SNC-Lavalin bosses starts next April in Canada
As a wise person has said, more things in politics happen because of stupidity and egotism than conspiracy. Conspiracy theory is a handy expedient to ward off criticisms and hide follies. But unfortunately, it is less helpful than a fig leaf. It is perhaps true also that a government that fails to deliver, and has run out of excuses to account for its actions, and has caused the country to run aground, feels that the entire world is conspiring to run it down, that others are in constant conspiracy against it. Instead of looking for conspiracy and conspirators some self-reflection might help.
The author is Editor, Oped & Defence & Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.