Mar 11, 2013

For a long time now, I've been theorizing that we've completely forgotten why we have a government. We've all gotten so used to paying our own way out of everything, that the 'government' is almost a group of entertainers who go on Sangsad TV and say the darnedest things. Accountability is a fairy tale creature, while Corruption is a way of life.

This freedom from responsibilities given to any Bangladesh government is too painfully clear at this stage of our lives in the backdrop of a few things - trials of war crimes/human rights violation of 1971, Awami League's indemnity due to being in power, the Shahbagh movement which is now called the 'Stage of Mass Awakening', and the violence we're witnessing across the country, especially outside Dhaka.

The way I, an ordinary working man and lunatic, see it, is that the war crimes trials would have taken massive planning to complete successfully. Especially, since if I am the party, then I've been lenient on criminals who work for me, and similarly, to war criminals who work for me, but I am happy to persecute the others. For success, in really wanting a successful rooting out of anti-liberation elements, I'd need to have either been fair to start with, or, planned way ahead using lots of intelligence gathering and precautions to avoid a violent situation, knowing very well that one particular opponent in the arena, have a knack for it just like me!

If I had security considerations, and knowing the violence-knacked-opponent, I also would not have allowed the Shahbagh to carry on, instead of using it to poke that violent beast and to put more ordinary people in harm's way.

BAL was never one to play down their 'party' identity even while holding the majority in parliament. Every hartal, we've seen their party members taking law into their own hands, right in front of the police. It is commonly alleged that the police is a force that was built largely using political leaning as a criteria. Even if it wasn't, they sure do let the BAL guys do what they want in front of them! In such times, when you hear the Queen mother ask us (the general people) to form 'defense committees' in every area, its everyone's guess that it would mean defense committeees comprising of these same BAL guys who have that knack. Whereas before,  I could say they were unlawful, now, its the Queen's calling!

The government has been given their rights by us the voters and taxpayers, and they usually have 'responsibilities' in most countries. Security in the wake of a 40 year late war crimes trial, combined with the criminals in question all being active in politics should've been of utmost importance. This should be counted in their tally of failures.

Note: The photo was the cover of a documentary titled My Architect, about Louis Isadore Kahn the architect. The film was created by his son.

Posted on Monday, March 11, 2013

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Mar 6, 2013

I hate it that I am inspired to write these long, meandering posts about politics, which lose meaning pretty quickly.

Posted on Wednesday, March 06, 2013

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