Govt needs to heed Justice Rahman's observations
JUSTICE Muhammad Habibur Rahman, a former chief justice and chief adviser to the 1996 caretaker government that oversaw the elections to the seventh Jatiya Sangsad, may have hit the nail right on the head with his characterisation of the state of governance under the Awami League-led administration. His caustic remarks, which look set to ruffle a few feathers in the ruling camp, actually gave voice to the simmering discontent in the public mind with the many misdeeds the government functionaries, the ruling party lawmakers and their cronies have perpetrated in the past 21 months or so since the AL-led government assumed office in January 2009. According to a report front-paged in New Age on Thursday, Justice Rahman, when launching a report on the 'State of Governance in Bangladesh', prepared by the Institute of Good Governance of the BRAC University, said Bangladesh seemed to be in the hands of manipulators—of tender, admission, recruitment to public offices, etc. While some people, especially the ones loyal or sympathetic to the ruling camp, may find his remarks harsh, his observations seem to aptly reflect the increasing anger and angst, fear and frustration of the ordinary citizens at the lawlessness in almost every area of public interest—civil administration, education, health, and what have you.
The irregularities and malpractices that Justice Rahman talked of, e.g. in admission to educational institutions, public tenders and recruitment to government offices, have become common knowledge these days as the leaders and activists of the ruling party and its associate organisations, and their cronies run riot for material gains. In some cases, for instance in the recent incident in Pabna, where leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League and the Juba League, student and youth fronts respectively of the Awami League, stormed the deputy commissioner's office, forcing cancellation of a recruitment test, even the government and the ruling party leadership were put in an awkward position. Regrettably, however, neither the government nor the ruling party has taken any decisive and demonstrative actions, legal or organisational, against the troublemakers although some senior leaders, including the prime minister herself, issued stringent warnings now and then. The troublemakers seem to have taken their inadequate action or inaction for indulgence and gone on to scale newer heights of criminality.
Worse still, the ruling party leadership seems to have become increasingly intolerant with criticism, let alone condemnation, of the performance and policies of the government, dismissing it as propaganda by the opposition and its sympathisers at best and harassing the critics at worst. While it remains to be seen to see how the government and the ruling party react to Justice Rahman's caustic remarks, it can be said without an iota doubt that they would not be able to take refuge in their clichéd 'anti-incumbent propaganda' excuse. After all, even the staunchest supporter of the ruling party or the diehard detractors of Justice Rahman will not be able to characterise him as sympathetic to the opposition.
Be that as it may, instead of ignoring his remarks, the government would do better to take his observations seriously, for he actually has articulated the concern of the ordinary citizens, whose patience may have been stretched to the limit because of the unbridled lawlessness spread about by the ruling party exponents.
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