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The gangs of Bangladesh and our right NOT to vote

Rubaiya Farhana
ONCE there was a nation that was rich in not only resources but also culture, tradition, language, and talent. These treasures attracted a "civilised" group of people. They divided and conquered, making the people in power their puppets and teaching them to fulfil their greed above all else. The innocent, peace loving people knew they had enough and rose to fight for their beloved nation. But so divided had they become that victory would come at the cost of blood. Leaders pursuing their own agendas separated the people, based on religion, caste, money, etc.
The great nation then lay divided. Leaders of one nation squabbled and divided the people further. Lessons taught by the marauding horde could not be forgotten, and no matter what good intentions the new leaders had, they had to hang on to their beliefs at the cost of innocent people's lives.
Thus, we witnessed the birth of Bangladesh through war, bloodshed and unparallel struggle. Once again, leaders denied the people who had brought the struggle for freedom to a victorious fruition a place in the government. The nation again had to pay for a few "enlightened" people's mistakes through loss of more innocent lives. Yet, fate was not done with Bangladesh. A party was born, and to fulfil its requirement to grow bigger, it decided to change history forever. Wiped clean was the blood that was spilled for independence; wiped clean were the women who suffered humiliation worse than anything they could imagine; wiped clean were the millions who fled their homes, starved and became ill; wiped clean was the unprecedented horror that a group of people of the same country brought upon the innocent just because they demanded freedom.
Yes, we have been able to get rid of our national shame through the war crimes trials. Those who did not witness the struggle for independence but were force-fed lies now see the truth, no matter how many people deny it ever happened. But what has truly changed? Democracy is still in the hands of people who make a mockery out of it at the cost of innocent lives, worst of all of children.
No matter how much you appeal to those in power, pathetic squabbles and the fight for power and money amongst themselves never seem to stop. The civil elite, business community, social workers have lost their voices because nothing can be heard above the cacophony of corruption. The sane also seems to have become embroiled in the acts of these leaders and glorify their insanity. We are fighting over why the leaders' phone call was printed when we all have the right to know what they said.
We should be fighting for those lives lost in power struggles; we should be fighting for the lives lost in manmade disasters; we should be fighting for the rights of workers who are forced to work for wages that are not enough even for a plate of food; we should be fighting for the children toiling on roads, in unhealthy workplaces and homes, without education, and being humiliated, raped and tortured. It is a shame when we treat our children, our future, as garbage and leave them to die in the dumps. It is a shame for us when countries join forces to talk behind our backs about our state of affairs! It is a shame when our government does not look down on it, it is a shame that we go out of our way to satisfy them and "brief" them on our condition. Our martyrs are crying in heaven because we have stopped fighting for a great Bangladesh.
As one who is a part of the business community, I say enough is enough. Our glorious country has come a long way from the "basket case" scenario. All has been possible because talented people thought out of the box and opened businesses, NGOs, went abroad and struggled in a strange land, fearing neither hard work nor the insufferable, inhuman living conditions. Through all this, the successive governments helped but little. Migrant workers are neglected (whereas some countries like Nepal are fighting for the rights of their citizens in Qatar), and millions of innocent lives are at the mercy of death squads who should be studying rather than creating chaos and throwing cocktails. Is this what we plan to teach our children?
The moral degradation that started in the Zia times has magnified, and now it seems that we are too afraid to say what is right. We have leaders who have no qualities and who fight like little girls, and we still put them in power because we simply have no one to vote for. As the elites say: "We simply vote against the party in power." Why? Why can't our leaders change and why can't we change them? It seems that they have no love for Bangladesh, otherwise why are they treating this county as if it was their own backyard and they and their gangs need to defend their territories?
So how can we really change them? Have we everstopped to think what would happen if none of us voted for or against anyone? Isn’t it my right to vote "a no confidence" vote if I don't see anyone fit to run this country? If all of us boycotted the elections, would any party be able to win, and won't we have them at our mercy for a change? They will then see the power of the people, the power of democracy, and it is high time we taught them that.