A ray of hope

Published : 20 Sept 2012, 12:51 PM
Updated : 20 Sept 2012, 12:51 PM

Whoever said experience in politics does not count for much in Bangladesh has just been proven grossly wrong. On the 14th day of September 2012 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decided to expand her cabinet by seven. In a regime where even resignation has become a taboo two veteran stalwarts invited to join the cabinet declined the offer gracefully. The Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon and Awami League veteran Tofail Ahmed doing justice to their political acumen showed the nation that politics in our country after all has some hope. Some might take a rather simplistic view of it by saying that both these individuals displayed an "abandon ship" syndrome where by declining to join the cabinet they have visibly dissociated themselves from the failures of the government.

Some might argue that these two senior politicians did not wish to be made scapegoats by being at the helm of ministries in the last year of the government's tenure, which finally led to their decision. Subsequently, Menon in a later press conference made it overtly clear that being a part of the alliance they have to shoulder the responsibility of the government's failures whether they want to or not. While Menon attributed his decision not to join the cabinet to his party, Tofail simply said he was not ready to be a minister mentally, socially and most importantly, politically.

Now let us look into the issue more deeply. Both Tofail and Menon at different junctures have been openly critical of the current government's actions or rather inactions on certain issues and also pointed fingers at individuals for such failures which brought the state to disrepute. It is also interesting to note that Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haq Inu and Awami League Presidium Member M. K. Alamgir have joined the cabinet as full ministers. Along with Tofail and Menon both these individuals were also quite active in expressing their views, which often questioned the government's intention and integrity. They were refreshingly a minority within the alliance who were acting as a conscience keeper of the government and emphasizing on accountability. Now accepting the reality that both Inu and Alamgir have joined the cabinet, automatically makes both Tofail and Menon part of a smaller and an ever shrinking minority.

Let us not forget that in the previous cabinet reshuffle the Awami League veterans Suranjit Sengupta and Obaidul Quader both succumbed to an invitation to become ministers whereas their acceptance of the offer preceded some heavy criticisms of the government on their part. Taking the fact into consideration that both Tofail and Menon were key players of student politics during the Liberation period and before, they appeared to have had an epiphany, where they seem to have realized that there is not much to achieve in their political career but to do the righteous thing and that is to take a visible stance on behalf of the people. Given the size of the government it is absolutely mind boggling to see how an act of defiance by just two individuals can resonate with the people.

It is rather irrelevant now to dwell on the political future of both Menon and Tofail. What is relevant is that they have seen the evolution of Bangladesh politics and eventually decided to take the right lesson from it. Experience teaches you to take the right decisions and in politics decisions taken out of self actualization is often the right one as opposed to the one guided by self preservation. Most of our politicians are, alarmingly, guided by the latter. Let us not forget in the earlier part of the government's tenure Tanjim Ahmed Sohel (Taj) resigned as a state minister and eventually proceeded to resign as a Member of Parliament. Although it is unknown what actually prompted such a measure on his part, there is no doubt about the fact that considering the current political scenario it took courage and integrity to leave at your own will. Such acts are a rarity no doubt but it shows that our politics has not reached absolute moral bankruptcy.

It would be interesting to see how our honourable prime minister decides to look at the implications of these leaders' refusal to join the cabinet. If she chooses to see it simply as an act of defiance it is safe to say that we will not see much qualitative change in governance in the remaining period of her tenure. However, if she decides to take it as a scope for self actualization things might take a turn for the better. With the magnitude of issues that the government is facing ranging from the Hallmark scam to Yunus, it will be an insurmountable task for the government to overcome these without self critiquing themselves and promoting tolerance. In that case the government needs to start listening to people like Tofail and Menon who is trying to tell the government something that might benefit them and prompt them to reassess some of their decisions be it political, economic or a mixture of both.

While our politics is becoming more confrontational and far centred around acquisition of power, acts of political sacrifice and courage often inspire us. Such actions often become symbolic and carry a much deeper meaning than a mere act of declining a cabinet post. It assures the people that they have representatives within the system, although a handful, who are willing to fight for them. That ray of hope is good enough to keep our core values of politics alive and enable people to have faith.

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Israfil Khosru is a businessman and runs a youth led think tank 'The Bangladeshi'