Superb... Ah, here is your democracy, brother! Courtesy Daily star 23/2/10 A good number of "highly democracy-minded" talk-show experts should be feeling mighty happy to see the matinee show of democracy ... the free flow of blood in the free-for-all show that is going on all over the country. It's a blockbuster, indeed. So, here is your democracy, brother, that you have been waiting for and canvassing for, since the fall of the "un-democratic, autocratic government of General Ershad." So, you must be happy now! Democracy let loose at last. Democracy gone berserk. From parliament to robber-infested parks, democracy is being practiced in full gusto in this country. The deaths, you ask? Fallout of democracy, perhaps? You see, the more there is death, the more solid would democracy become. That is a popular notion here. It is the ladder made of dead bodies that takes politicians to the citadel of power, isn't it? So, some faceless people will have to die. No big deal. They would die anyway ... in road accidents .... in launch capsizes ... of tuberculosis. Then, why not for the party? The beauty of politics here is that people are made to believe that there is glamour in dying for a cause like democracy. It would earn them the short-lived status of a hero, with photos coming out in newspapers for a couple of days. And electronic channels would show interviews with their wailing parents for the city audience. All for democracy, brother. Our right to know is ensured. Come to think of it, in their oppressive and lacklustre life, violent death on the altar of politics is a big achievement. They get such massive coverage! But, wait a minute. Where was this beautiful, blood-spattering, all-problem-solving, all-disease-healing panacea called democracy all these years? Why didn't we have the opportunity of seeing those hand guns, knives, cutters, bamboo clubs, bricks and stones and the filmy-style action in real life fights and real deaths for some years? Oh, I remember now! There was a lull for two years when the "most villainous," "non-political," "corrupt," "inefficient," "opportunistic," "ambitious," and "illegal" caretaker government had ruled the country. They had the audacity to deny us our "democratic" rights and stop the wonderful and exciting shows; the real fights on the streets with blood-chilling calls to become "Gazi" or "Shahid" ... that we watched from the safe distance of our office windows. Today, the whole world looks on in amazement at the demonstration of Bangladeshi brand of democracy. We may brand it "DemoBangla" or "Banglacracy," if you agree. It is indeed unprecedented ... unparalleled ... unbelievable ... and unheard of. The entire world sitting around the coliseum cheers the show of brute courage as party supporters club opponents to death ... the spilling of blood ... the chase and counter-chase on campus by over-aged student leaders and their supporters ... the eviction of one group from student halls by another ... and so on. All so familiar! Don't these remind us of those democratic days that existed before the caretaker government? The days of exploding bombs in 64 districts ... blowing up courtrooms ... killing judges ... cracking skulls of opponents ... discovering Hindu-Islamic militants ... bricks and stones flying ... police batons breaking ribs ... mass arrests of ordinary workers going home ... and last but not least ... the inevitable "bibriti of Babor"? Oh! How we missed everything! Thank you, God, that you have listened to our prayers and given us our wonderful democracy back once again! We were kind of suffocating in the state of tranquillity ... in the state of no action ... no excitement during the caretaker government. They were such spoilsports, really. But now, after long 2-3 years, tendon cutters ... throat slitters ... suicide bombers ... black-marketers ... river grabbers .... graveyard robbers ... forest eaters ... toll collectors ... religion peddlers et al are back in business. Now why shouldn't students of public universities do all these? Many of the senior politicians, especially those who were in student politics, have been unabashed toll collectors ... or indirect extortionists ... collecting monthly chanda from industrialists of Tejgaon, Tongi and Narayanganj and from those in their localities. Chandabaji had started on day two after our independence and it continues today. These politicians and student leaders of yester-years were also great beer-buddies (Hotel Intercontinental later Sheraton, Ruchita, Nightingale, Chalet etc) of corrupt businessmen who made them drunk every night and then gave them bag-full of money to get an import licence for TCB, Tibet, BCIC, BADC, BTMC, BJMC quota/allotment. Those licences and quota/allotments used to be sold in the black market. Oh, sorry, you can't touch them because now they are big guns and big goons in some big political party ... hence above the reach of the very weak hands of law. Is the term "reform" in politics synonymous with "blasphemy" in this country? If religious edicts could undergo reforms, why can't stale, age-old political system do so for the good of the country? How long shall we remain hostage to this debilitating "politics"? To march forward in the 21st century along with other developed and developing nations of Shahnoor Wahid is a Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star. He can be contacted at shahnoorwahid@yahoo.co.uk.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
[ALOCHONA] Ah, here is your democracy, brother!
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