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FILE PHOTO: RASHED SUMON
Given the politico-administrative culture of Bangladesh, it was quite refreshingly surprising to watch the Inspector General of Police (IGP) apologising to the citizens for the criminal excesses committed by the police during July-August mass uprising. He promised to bring the deviant police officials to book for their blatant criminal acts to meet the ends of justice. In fact, this is the minimum he must do to assuage the agonies of the near and dear ones of the victims who suffered immeasurably from the deaths and injuries caused by police action. The enormity of the casualties, numbering a thousand, and the injuries of several thousand shall remain an indelible shame on our national consciousness.
While the police force appears to be the visible principal offender in the indiscriminate loss of lives, a question arises as to whether other organs of the state that resorted to disproportionate use of lethal force have similarly apologised to the nation or, at the least, displayed some remorse or repentance. Then there are others at the policy level and at the strategic command position who are no less culpable in the deaths of scores of defenceless civilians during the uprising. Don’t they need to apologise, notwithstanding their corporate criminal liability? Specifically, shouldn’t our politicians, whose unbridled desire for power and single-minded pursuit of money have landed us in this mess, atone?
It is time for discerning citizens to ponder over the factors and circumstances that have brought us to this precarious condition. During the preceding years, particularly in the last 15, the establishment has subordinated the individual to the government so completely that, with few exceptions, the nation is now made up of one-dimensional human beings. The government has dwarfed its citizens so that they may be docile instruments, without realising that with small men, no great thing can really be accomplished.
We have devalued the judiciary, as we have devalued every other important institution. Instead of defending our judges against political pressures and threats, and instead of insisting upon integrity and impartiality in judicial appointments, we have deliberately allowed the executive to supersede judges of calibre and courage and appoint persons who “subscribe to the philosophy of the ruling party.” The underlying disease that has destroyed our democracy is moral, political, and constitutional, and to cure it, we must recognise it as such.
Our politicians need to appreciate that the tone of public life has reached an all-time low. We have been burdened with so-called democracy without meritocracy, wherein ignorance, incompetence, and dishonesty are no disqualifications for high public office. Sadly, persons have been appointed to such offices because they represent a group or belong to a particular region. The ethos of public service has been badly compromised, and many government officials have behaved and acted subserviently.
Our leaders need to apologise because they have not ventured beyond the safe provision of personal gratifications and have strengthened the autocrat by acting as sycophants and time-servers. History will apportion blame and responsibility among a wide spectrum of politicians who betrayed their trust. Their pretensions to infallibility will remain a sad chapter in our political existence.
It is no secret now that some of our prominent businessmen and bankers have fleeced the economy so comprehensively that it is becoming a mind-boggling exercise to put the house in order. Our kleptocrats had a field day while the nation bled. Don’t they need to apologise to the nation?
Our educators who are fondly addressed as the builders of the nation have largely failed to act as the moral supervisors. Quite disgracefully, many of them have been willing collaborators in the continuation of undemocratic dispensation, both within and outside academia. A number of senior teachers have jockeyed for key appointments in an unbecoming manner, creating unhealthy precedents. Don’t these educators need to apologise for their failings?
A segment of the media, the vital corrective institution aptly called the Fourth Estate, has been sadly and conspicuously biased and polarised in reporting and commenting on the state of public affairs. Some of them have towed official propaganda in the most unprofessional manner. The deviance in the media, no doubt, makes us look petty and small. Don’t the conscientious gentlemen and women in the media need to apologise?
It is an unfortunate fact of our public life that the majority of our leaders personify the arrogance of power—the exact opposite of the unfeigned humility of great souls. One might not be wrong to assume that we now have two sharply divided castes—the rulers and the ruled. The ruling caste too often displays a dangerous blend of unscrupulousness and plain wickedness. It is now time for them to apologise and atone to the ruled.
Our leaders need to apologise because they have not ventured beyond the safe provision of personal gratifications and have strengthened the autocrat by acting as sycophants and time-servers. History will apportion blame and responsibility among a wide spectrum of politicians who betrayed their trust. Their pretensions to infallibility will remain a sad chapter in our political existence.