Political consciousness and democracy
Ahmed Adnan, on e- mail
I'm a Bangladeshi student completing my undergraduate degree in Economics and International Relations at the University of Toronto. I have taken it upon myself to check your newspaper on the internet every morning to keep myself updated on the political developments back home. While I am ecstatic over the recent crackdown on the corrupt politicians, it saddens me to point out that the CTG and those striving for a truly democratic free and fair election, whenever that might be, have failed to address an issue that is very important if they are to realize their goals - that of developing political consciousness among the poor, the disadvantaged and the uneducated. One has to consider himself or herself in the shoes of a destitute farmer, striving and struggling to put two square meals on the table for his family. It is quite obvious that the poor and uneducated do not and cannot in essence really care about who is running for elections to represent a constituency or who is going to serve his interests better, who is going to be corrupt and who is going to remain honest and maintain a certain degree of professionalism in carrying out his or duties as a politician. All politicians - BNP and AL lawmakers alike, stand to benefit from the economic disparity that prevails in our country. They understand and know very well that these poor citizens of our country can easily be bought over come election year, when they utilize a puny fraction of the vast wealth they have amassed through unfair means, to hand over a 'lungi' and a 'saree' and Tk 50 asking them for their votes in the next election. Having been given the false hope of a better future and being fed a bunch of lies, these poor people are left with no choice but to cast their votes for a politician who is very unlikely to even look over his shoulder and remember his promises, once he has won the election and settled into his office. After all, he has better things to do than address the plight of his constituents, say for example rigging a tender selection process. The concept of public service is non-existent in the minds of our elected representatives. One enters politics in Bangladesh in the hope of exploiting and abusing his or her power to amass a disgusting amount of wealth. While the CTG's efforts in what they have done so far are commendable, I hope that they have given some thought to raising public awareness about the importance of voting for someone who is educated and worthy of the responsibilities that come with the governance of a country as fragile as Bangladesh.
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