Let's get political
It is time for the NRB community to flex its political muscle, suggests Asif Saleh
With the expatriates getting direct voting rights for the next election, the time is ripe for them to exert more direct influence in policy making. Now that they can have a say on who gets to run for office in their own local constituencies, it will be a good chance for people to get involved on more hands on local issues. The key impediment in this case has been lack of information flow. While we are now getting up to the news on the national scene via internet and the electronic media, it is more or less impossible to get news on the local level for people who want to be more involved. A more fundamental question to ask is whether someone who has decided to migrate from their home constituency would have had enough engagement with the community to run for office to represent them. As evidenced from Bangladeshis forming their region-oriented Bangladesh organisations in the foreign land, their appetite for getting involved with local issues is limitless. They have been working to help build schools, mosques and hospitals in their villages. However, to change politics as we know it, there is no better way than to get directly involved. Expatriates who have lived under matured democracies and who have followed the democratic practices in the foreign land can lead by example by planting new ideas in Bangladeshi political scene by getting involved in politics. For that, however, a key logistical impediment remains in place as Bangladesh still bars dual passport holders to run for office. In this era of global migration, such discriminatory rules are counter-productive indeed. For those are who are not ready to get directly involved, the best way still is to get involved with the change makers in the local community and empowering them and partnering with them via the expatriate organisations. At the end of the day, expatriates have the geographical and financial independence which gives them a lot of leverage in pushing through their ideas. Hopefully, after years of aimless bickering, NRBs will be able to follow the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) example of contributing in key issues by becoming powerful and cohesive stakeholders. Until that happens, the global conversation that is now taking place between Bangladeshis worldwide on national issues through media outlets and internet is bound to open up new doors of opportunities and help shed the negative label that we have been associating with being political in Bangladesh. Asif Saleh is the founder of Drishtipat and a recent recipient of Bangladeshi-American Foundation's Our Pride award.
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