[ALOCHONA] Honour of the few versus interest of the many

Honour' of the few versus interest of the many

Courtesy New Age 08/04/11

THE apparent unwillingness of the Awami League-Jatiya Party government to readily make public the report that a four-member committee, commissioned by the administration to look into the share market collapse in January, submitted to the finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Thursday, is indeed deplorable but not quite surprising. After all, hardly has any report of any inquiry commissioned by the government ever been made public in the recent past. The reports of the two committees that investigated the February 25-26, 2009 rebellion of soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles, since renamed Border Guards Bangladesh, one commissioned by the government and the other by the Bangladesh Army, are the most recent cases in point. There seems to be a pattern in all these, i.e. the government, whichever political party or alliance that it is headed by, is generally inclined to keeping in the dark the people, in whose interest such inquiries are supposedly commissioned and conducted.

The government's apparent hush-hush policy in respect of inquiry reports is especially frustrating for those sections of the media that are committed to upholding the people's right to information that affects their interest; for the media, both print and electronic, have to rely on secondary sources—e.g. comments of the committee chair and the finance minister in case of the probe report on share market debacle—to report and/or comment on the content of these reports. As for the report on the share market collapse in January, the committee, according to a report front-paged in New Age on Friday, has made certain intriguing findings and recommendations.

While it is apparent from what has been reported on the probe report thus far that fraudulent practices by individuals and institutions contributed first to irrational increase in share prices and then to inevitable bubble burst, these actions could hardly be called illegal; after all, according to the probe committee chair, `practices that led to the market debacle were approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.' It is also apparent from the press interview of the committee's chair that some political leaders, predominantly from the ruling party and also from the opposition, may have used their political clout to manipulate the market with the sole purpose of making undue financial gains.

While some individuals may have used their political links, the committee head categorically said no political motive had led to the market debacle, which debunks the claims of political machination by some key functionaries of the government. Anyway, it is in the public interest that the name of these individuals should be disclosed. Regrettably, however, the government has chosen to keep their names under wraps, which could very well reinforce their sense of impunity and embolden them to indulge in similar manipulation in the future.

Regrettably still, the report apparently sheds little light on the failure of the Bangladesh Bank and, most importantly, the finance ministry to either pre-empt or prevent the share market collapse. It has been reported in the media that the central bank initially looked the other way when financial institutions had started to invest heavily in the stock market, way beyond the limit and that when it eventually intervened, prompting the financial institutions to offload shares, it only speeded up the collapse.

The finance ministry, on the other hand, cannot shirk responsibility either; after all, it was politically responsible to keep an oversight on the share market. However, the finance minister's apparent eagerness to take credit when the share market was on an unbridled—and irrational, one must add—upward curve and public exhortations for people to invest more in the bourses have been attributed by many as one of the reasons behind the debacle.

Of course, as the probe committee has recommended, an immediate overhaul of the Securities and Exchange Commission is imperative. However, it is equally important that the individuals who have manipulated the market should be called to account for their immoral practices. The government's apparent reluctance to `embarrass' these `respectable' people tends to suggest that it is more concerned about the `honour' of the few than the interest of the many.

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[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
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