Shafi Ahmed is sorely mistaken, and unhelpful, when he blames war criminals for the absence of merit and intellect in our politics (May 16). These are the views that win applause from the very same politicians whom he says are lacking merit and intellect! We are worse than we realise if the death of several hundred intelligent people on our campuses in 1971 explains the lack of merit and intellect in 2010! The fact is that we have a lot of brilliant people in Bangladesh today who cannot enter politics simply because they are unwanted, blocked, and attacked, by our political parties and politicians. Our politicians are responsible for our condition today — nobody else. Any argument that dilutes the responsibility of our politicians is an argument in support of the status quo. It is the politicians and political parties who nominate candidates for election — not the electorate. If the Awami League nominates a cow and BNP nominate a goat then either a cow or a goat will win the election and the public has no say in the matter. It's as simple as that.
Ezajur Rahman
Kuwait
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