The Aam Admi Party Continues to Impress

Interesting point from the Aam Admi camp, the newest kid on the block in Indian politics. Their choice of the 'jharu' (a floor sweeping instrument that is brandished like a tennis swing to clean floors) for their party symbol! Their approach and vigilance is something our politicians (those few with any leftover good intentions) should note deeply.

Think Before you Vote! they urged on their twitter feed:

Think before you VOTE #KarnatakaWithAAP pic.twitter.com/RU5EKIiM6w
— Aarti (@aartic02) March 16, 2014

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Democrisis.

The west is adamant that the east should have Democracy. Sure! I say, its a good ideology. Starts with "by the People, for the People... " and other goodness. However, what we get here instead, is worse than what the west ended up when theirs mixed with capitalism and corporate interests.

Since we failed to have education that leads to a moral society, rule of law, and a justice system, we ended up with "By the politician (and their friends), for the politicians (and their friends), ..." and so on. This latter phrasing of what is usually toted as the principle of democracy was however nicked from an editorial piece by Abul Moksud. You may (and should) read it here.

The watchdogs from the international arenas have problems with many things we do, except this new found implementation of Democracy.

Related:
No Faith in Democracy

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Politicians by Humayun Azad

Cover by Somor Mojumdar

1998 was 15 years ago. 1998 was the year I started university. Before that, I remember long bouts of load-shedding during important exams, or short 3-4 hours of having electricity, and walking around the dark neighborhood at night when studying by the emergency lamps became a headache. Before that I remember walking about 30 minutes to a friend's house to play cricket in the afternoons, whereas I wouldn't walk that same distance to school since school was closed for security reasons. It was the time of the BAL's non-cooperation movement to get 'caretaker government' system in place (which they announced unconstitutional this year). Before that I remember a movement to oust Ershad from his presidency and enjoyed the satiric cartoons that were in Unmad and Cartoon.

As a teen in 1998, I was lightly aware of politics as it existed and it didn't really affect me. I wasn't a taxpayer or a voter. Now, is a different story.

In 1998, Humayun Azad (হুমায়ুন আজাদ) wrote a book titled Politicians (রাজনীতিবিদগণ), which as I read, I see that the bitterness I feel towards the idiosyncrasies I see in politics today, are nothing compared to what he penned down there. The book is satiric too, with fictitious names used to draw real characters and a landscape that reflects the continuing reality of politics in Bangladesh.

Here's what it reads like (going over a to-do list for politicians before an election):

নিম্নলিখিত জিনিসগুলি তাগো দ্যাখতে হইবো, নাইলে চলবো না:

(১) ক্যাডারভাইরা ঠিক আছে কি না, তাগো যন্ত্রপাতি ঠিক আছে কি না, তাগো আরো যন্ত্রপাতি লাগবো কি না, আরো নতুন ক্যাডারভাই লাগবো কি না; ক্যাডারভাইরা অন্য রাজবংশে চইল্যা যাইতে চাইছে কি না- এইটা খারাপ লক্ষণ, এমুন হইলে বোঝতে হইবো ওই রাজবংশই ক্ষেমতায় আসবো; খালি ঢাকা শহরের ক্যাডারভাইদের ঠিক রাখলে চলবোনা, দ্যাশ-এর প্রত্যেইক গ্রাম, প্রত্যেইক ইউনিয়ন, প্রত্যেইক থানার ক্যাডারভাইদের ঠিক রাকতে হইবো; ক্যাডারভাইরা দ্যাশের মূলশক্তি;
(২) ইনভার্সিটির হলগুলি দখলে আছে কি না; ইনভারসিটি দখলে থাকলে আল্লাহর রহমতে দ্যাশ দখল করনে অসুবিধা হইবো না; ইনভারসিটিই বাংলাদেশ, এইটা দখল রাখতে হইবো; এইজইন্যে দুই চাইরটা লাশ পরলেও ক্ষতি নাই;
(৩) নিজেগো রাজবংশ হইতে সুবিধাবাদী রাজপুরুষরা অন্য রাজবংশে চ'লে যাইতেছে কি না, চ'লে যাওনের পথ খোজ্তেছে কি না এইটা দ্যাকতে হইবো;
(৪) অন্য রাজবংশ হইতে ভালো ক্যান্ডিডেট ভাগাইয়া আনন যায় কি না, কারে কারে ভাগাইয়া  আনলে লাব হইবো; কয়টা জেনারেল ব্রিগেডিয়ার মেজর কর্নেল দলে যোগ দিতে চাইছে, কয়টা সেক্রেটারি দলে আসতে চাইছে, কয়টা ব্যাংক ডিফল্টার যোগ দিতে চাইছে, অন্য দলের কয়টা প্রাক্তন মন্ত্রী এমপি মেয়র দলে যোগ দিতে চাইছে, কয়টা নামকরা রাজাকার দলে যোগ দিতে চাইছে, কয়টা রজাকার ভাগাইয়া আনন যাইবো, রাজাকারগো অবস্থা আইজকাইল ভালো;
(৫) কন্ত্রিবিউটাররা ঠিক মতো চান্দা দিতেছে কি না; কে কে চান্দা দেওন বন্ধ করছে, আর কে কে নতুন চান্দা দিতেছে; নতুন কন্ত্রিবিউটার আসলে বোঝতে হইবো দল এইবার জিতবো; চান্দা বেশি কইরা তোলতে হইবো, বেশি চান্দা পাইলে বোঝতে হইবো দল জিতবো;
(৬) দ্যাকতে হইবো ব্যাংক ডিফল্টারগুলি ঠিক আছে কি না; তারা মোটা ট্যাকা দিতেছে কি না, আর কয় কোটি কইরা তাগো থিকা তোলন যাইব; তারা কোন বংশের দিক ঝোকতেছে সেইটা দ্যাকতে হইবো, তারা যেই দিকে ঝোকবো সেই দিকই ক্ষেমতায় আসবো; দ্যাকতে হইবো তাগো কারখানায় ক্যাডারভাই পাঠাইতে হইব কি না;
(৭) ক্যান্ডিডেটরা কে কয় কোটি ট্যাকা দিতে পারবো সেইটা দ্যাকতে হইবো, স্মাগলার পাইলে বোঝতে হইব ভাল মালপানি হাতে আছে, পাচদশ কোটি খসায়তে কস্ট হইব না, তাগো ক্যান্ডিডেট করনই ভালো হইব; আর দ্যাকতে হইব তারা নির্বাচনরে অবাধ নিরপেক্ষ রাইখা ভোটার ভাগাইতে পারবো কি না;
(৮) ডিছি, ওছি, এছ্পি, টএনওগুলিরে ঠিক রাকতে হইবো; অরা ঠিক থাকলে অবাধে ভোটের বাক্স বোঝাই হইবো, নিরপেক্ষতা রক্ষা পাইবো;
(৯) আরও বিবিধ রকম জিনিশ দ্যাকতে হইবো, সময় বুইঝ্যা কাম করতে হইবো|

There are more passages that I feel strongly to share or put out there, and maybe I will. Through his satire he just paints a picture that makes much more sense than what these 'leaders' would like us to believe.

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Did I wake up in the right country?

The government did a good job! Ask anyone in the government, they'll always claim they always do! Yes, they kept our (or my) heads (head) spinning like a top. I woke up every two days asking myself the question I placed as the title of this post.

When one day its 'Get lost World Bank! We don't need you!', the next would be 'We're still thinking about it, we'd like some dialog', and then followed up by 'We can do this, we don't need the world bank's money! Even little kids want to give up their lunch money... they called the Prime Minister and said so themselves!'. They had even set up policies for a special bank account where citizens can contribute for the bridge over river Padma (M is silent for all you non-bengali folks).

The citizens of course filled up with patriotic fervor, even after the rising oil prices, rising prices of goods and necessities, rising taxes and VATs. Though, some channels showed some people on the streets who were not filled up with fervor (almost the opposite).

The WB, to recap, had laid down a few conditions to releasing the money for building bridges approved. We fulfilled many of these, and were staunchly opposing a few others. The sensational of these was the point of removing Mr. Abul Hossain from the ministry while investigators made sure there were no premise for corruption in the execution of this very large project. The government really stood proud behind him and said 'No!'. At one time, they moved him from the Communications ministry to Information ministry to calm WB down, but refused to take him away completely. They loved him too much, even though as a Communications minister he made serious oversight.

There are a few parody newspapers out right now. I know of two - Dainik Motikontho, and Dainik Maghbazar. They had started putting absurd news titles and events surrounding actual events, which really reflected the lunacy of the overall situation. But in recent times, even when I read the real news, from the serious newspapers, I can't tell apart the real and the parodied.

But after months of news and parodies, reality checks and escapes, yesterday it was announced that he might be resigning. This, at the peak of our defiance of World Bank (and ADB).

MP Abul said yesterday:  "আমার শুভাকাঙ্ক্ষী এবং আমি যাঁদের শ্রদ্ধা করি তাঁরা বিভিন্ন সময় আমাকে বলেছেন, তদন্ত চলাকালে আমার মন্ত্রী পদে থাকা উচিত না। আমি সিদ্ধান্তটা নিয়েছি। কার্যকর ব্যবস্থাও নিয়ে ফেলেছি। আমি দায়িত্বে থাকব না।"
He also added: "আমি মন্ত্রী থাকব কি না, সবকিছুই আল্লাহর ইচ্ছে। আর দপ্তরবিহীন মন্ত্রী হওয়ার বিষয়ে আল্লাহ প্রধানমন্ত্রীকে ক্ষমতা দিয়েছেন। তিনিই এ বিষয়ে সিদ্ধান্ত নেবেন।"

These are from Prothom Alo.

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Conflict of Interest

So the fiasco goes on. Apparently today none from World Bank showed up at a Local Consultative Group meeting that takes place between the partners of the Padma Bridge project. Right about now, things are getting confusing. The high and highest government mouths have already spoken that the World Bank is out of the equation, unless they say 'Sorry', and so, why were we expecting them at the meeting? Oh well.

Well, now, the government's stance is that we'll pay for the bridge ourselves. One member has said if needed, we'll shop for groceries less, meaning we'll forfeit lunch maybe. Others are also coming up with ideas on how to get the chips out of the unsuspecting citizens. Some gov. office declared they will provide their day's salary for the bridge (you bribe taking fox, now licking the bottoms again!). On this note, I've found someone said something on Facebook that makes sense, he or she said, he or she doesn't want to pay a dime.

Heres why -

আমি পদ্মা সেতুতে টাকা দিবনা।

সুরঞ্জিত সেনগুপ্ত বললেন "মোবাইল ব্যাবহারকারিদের কাছ থেকে প্রতিদিন ২ টাকা তোলা হোক ", আজ মাননিয় স্পিকার বললেন ২৫ পয়সার কথা। নাসিম সাহেব বলেছিলেন "সরকারি সেবার উপর চার্জ বসানো হোক", সংসদ উপনেতা একবেলা বাজার করবেন না (তিনি কয় বেলা বাজার করেন?), গোলাম মাওলা রনি একধাপ এগিয়ে "প্রয়োজনে কিডনি বিক্...রি করবেন"। কেউ শেয়ার বাজার, কারো চোখ রেমিটেন্স এর দিকে - ইত্যাদি, ইত্যাদি, ইত্যাদি।

অথচ সরকার বা বিরোধী দলের কেউ বলেনা "শুল্কমুক্ত যে গাড়ি আমদানি তারা এতদিন করেছে তার শুল্ক এখন আদায় করা হোক, কিংবা এখন থেকে এই সুবিধা বাতিল করা হোক, এমপি-মন্ত্রীদের যে হাজার হাজার টাকা ফোনের বিল এখনও বকেয়া সেটা আদায় হোক", একজনও বলেনা শেয়ারবাজার থেকে যে বিশ হাজার কোটি টাকা লুট হল সেটা উদ্ধার করে পদ্মা সেতু হোক, বর্তমান-সাবেক মন্ত্রী আর তাদের এপিএসদের যে হাজার কোটি টাকার অবৈধ সম্পদ সেগুলো বাজেয়াপ্ত করে সেতু হোক, তাদের বেতন ভাতা, গাড়ি, বাড়ির সুবিধা কমিয়ে পদ্মা সেতু করা হোক, প্রতি অধিবেশনে প্রতি কার্জ দিবসে কোন রকম মুখ দেখানোর বিনিময়ে তারা যে ৫০০ টাকা পায় সেটা পদ্মা সেতুর ফান্ডে রাখা হোক, কেউ বলেনা যে সব সরকারেরই আমলে দুর্নীতির মাধ্যমে যে টাকা লুট হয়েছে সেটা উদ্ধার করা হোক, ঋণ খেলাপিদের ঋণ আদায় করে পদ্মা সেতু করা হোক।

শুধু জনগন দিবে? তারা সবাই মিলে মিশে খাবে আর আমরা খালি দিয়ে যাবো?

আমার যদি ১ টাকা দেয়ারও সামর্থ্য থাকে, আমি তাও দিবনা। (সংগ্রহীত)

I feel sad amidst all this, that my fellow citizens seem to be blind about the concept of 'conflict of interest'. Our PM and other Ms have mentioned that since the money wasn't transferred yet, how can there be corruption? However, a businessman like Abull Hossain in a position like Communications Ministry, gives rise to conflict of interest. A person like Shahajahan who has retained his supremacy in the bus owners' asssociation is a conflict of interest. Even if there wasn't an instance of corruption yet, these people are more likely to act for their own interests. Say what?

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World Bank, Wassssuuuuupppp!?

I picture my government dressed up like Ali G and crossing her hands in front of her in the hip-hop fashion and saying the above to World Bank who is standing across, ICE-T-ish in its stature and demeanor, with his hands crossed across his chest showing unflinching sternness.

This is historic though, at least I think it is! Has a poor country ever before lashed out at World Bank saying its corrupt? It would've been doubly historic and AWESOME if that same charge wasn't thrown at us first and had funds meant for us canceled based on those charges. So we wanted their money, they refused and now we're bad mouthing them in the parliament and the news. A-h-a. That has 'sore' written all over it. And 'Loser'. When we have such such low opinions of WB, why gun for their funds!? A-ha ... 'Cuz we need it! WB's pull out from the Padma bridge project also influenced the ADB (Asian Development Bank) to pull out too. Only our friends, the Japanese, are sticking around.

In most countries that are careful of the people's opinions, slight corruption charges and even a single instance of failure have inspired ministers and other government officials to resign to make way for fair investigations and to make way for better representation. This is something, Bangladeshis are deprived of. Amidst the first corruption alerts, we saw the minister being moved to a different ministry. Sahara Khatun, our state minister is another example, where a series of failures weren't good enough for her to step down. They can face reporters and deny with a straight face any failure.

Our PM has finally risen to the occassion last night on parliament, broadcast throughout the nation, and given her views. The World Bank is corrupt! So our governments' overall response is a "How dare you!" and a "Did you look at yourself?!". :) Merry!

PS, The PM also gave out a mobile phone number and an email address to receive corruption allegations against members of her family. She denied any of her family is corrupt first.
sheikhhasina@hotmail.com / 01711-520000 and 01819-260371

Ludicrous? I think so!


Related:
পদ্মা সেতু প্রকল্প: প্রয়োজনে নিজেদের অর্থেই পদ্মা সেতু
PM on phone to receive family graft allegation
PM trashes WB graft allegations
Commentary: Public interest sacrificed to protect one man

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"The Car is a Luxury Good"

Buses and Tempos

I used to travel by buses or "tempos" - which are three wheeled vehicles with a carrier at the back where people sit along the walls. Some bus services are government owned and their buses are standard, but by no means enough. The use of the word standard was to differentiate them from the privately owned services - where you'll see buses that wouldn't pass the 'fitness' standards of anywhere but third world countries - their front or back or all lights are either missing, or hanging by a wire, the seats inside are cramped to maximise the number of seats for maximum profit. Tempos have similar inhuman arrangements. Both of these services can be seen packing people to the brim where you might be standing indecently close to another sorry human being just trying to make his way to work or wherever. Apparently the bus owners' association is so strong that they are above the law. One member of that association is a minister. Conflict of interest anyone?

Taxis and Autorickshaws

These were introduced I suppose 10 or 15 years ago (autorickshaws existed long before, but not the variety we see on the roads today which run on CNG or Compressed Natural Gas) - when they were all new and used to run without any noise. That was true for about 2 years. They are fixed with meters that the drivers are not too happy about.

Everyone in the past 5 years have also grown weary and angry about these drivers constant refusal to go anywhere and their high fares when they do agree. They say they have to pay higher than the affixed charge to the people they lease the taxi from. Apparently this is a problem our law & order people cannot fix.

Cars
When I was able to get my hands on a car - be it an 86 model reconditioned car that was used before me for 16 years, boy was I glad. Glad to be above the mental torture that was trying to get on a bus or trying to speak out against their reckless driving when no one else would support me, or the hour spent trying to negotiate a taxi to get to work or back home! I was super glad, lets just say. However, running an old car is mighty expensive. After three years of having it, its become my main expense, especially for the last three months. As I was nearing saving enough to buy a fresher car - a reconditioned one from Japan maybe, since they are reliable enough to run for a good number of years, we have come close to another budget - and what have you - more taxes to be placed on cars. The reason he stated was what caused this downpour! They are luxury goods!? Really! In a country where public transport is allowed to reach such demeaning lows, how could you say that! If I visit neighboring Kolkata or Thailand, I find their sense of humanity is still reflected in their public transport systems. Buses in Thailand were wide, with enough leg-space and lots of place for standing commuters to be comfortable. They also have tempos which are the same way.


Cherry on Top: Tax-Free Rides for Ministers
An editorial yesterday went over the state of a provision that allows ministers to import cars duty free. This was put in place as an incentive for ministers serving remote areas. However, there are cases where they had just imported cars and sold them for profit! A civic sense if such existed might have denounced and punished these people. What exists instead is a sense that they deserve this. This is one issue that the feuding parties of our so-called democracy agree on and take advantage of.  Apparently, this governments term saw the most use of this providence. So, citizens, stay on the grass and just watch in awe as our lords and ladies continue to carry on this theater of governance and service. The editorial is linked below. The total amount of tax evaded through this provision is said to stand at Taka 280,00,00,000 (with current exchange rates, a little over 34 million US Dollars).

Related: 
ধনবান মন্ত্রী-সাংসদদের গাড়ি-ক্ষুধা (সোহরাব হাসান)
PERSONAL: Navigating through Dhaka (Sanday Chongo Kabange)

সহজিয়া কড়চা: তালিয়া বাজাও—জোরসে তালিয়া বাজাও (সৈয়দ আবুল মকসুদ)

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Love Thy Leader

In Bangladeshi Democracy, each party is like a lil' fan club of its figurehead. 

They wish him/her well, respect him/her, love him/her, and want to shower them with gifts of flowers, odes and Nobel prizes. I am shocked no one in the meeting mentioned a Booker, Nobel for Literature, or a Pullitzer.
 

'Poet-lyricist' Ershad relives gone-by days

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Recycle. Politics. The "Lorem Ipsum" of a Parliament

In publishing and designing websites, there is a paragraph of Latin that designers use to demonstrate a space where text should go, and how much. That paragraph could be:

Lorem Ipsum dolor sit amet mi id ligula amet morbi tellus sollicitudin dolor pellentesque. Morbi accumsan lacinia velit metus morbi ipsum sit sollicitudin consectetur. Ullamcorper viverra sollicitudin sit mauris posuere auctor praesent id lorem. Tortor elit facilisis sit ligula tellus ac sollicitudin facilisis sollicitudin.

There are supportive sites on the Internet where you could generate this amount of text depending on the space on your website or page you want to fill.

While watching our parliament session last night (and of course watching them in general), I wonder if they get trained in their own little academies on how to fill the time given to them to answer questions, with meaningless Latin. Of course Latin is not meaningless to those who understand, and I am not sure who is meant to be the audience for these politicians when they start with their filler speeches!

Last night, a question was put for the home ministry, an apt question considering the recent display of the audacity and the ineffectiveness of the police force. The question was not so well stated, due to what I think is the attempt (of all in parliament) to be theatrical. Since the home minister was not present (?), the second-in-command was asked to answer. That is what inspired this post.

The filler speech could be broken down to two things, and they have 2 or 3 minutes usually to fill:

1. - Draw attention to the failures of the past regime with lots of emotional appeals, hand gestures, pauses - things that will put many stage actors to shame. This works too, since our two major parties almost without fail have cyclically come to power and have found it enough time to take whatever it is they need to survive the years they are to be out of power
2. - Speak highly of the dreams, goals and steps taken by the founding father of the party.

I was happy when the law & order question was asked, since, I and many citizens believe that the home minister should have stepped down or been fired for her inadequacies. Even on the evening this question was posed, there was a report in all the morning papers of a policeman beating a judge outside a courthouse somewhere.

While the fillers were being delivered, I felt like laughing out loud (LOL) like the lunatic I am, and I did to some extent. I could not believe the answer I was getting! Then he also pointed out that they increased their salaries and so and so forth.

We have managed to really turn our heads from what is the root of a problem and just throw money around as if the problem was that they didn't have enough toys or enough to eat. He mentioned they bought pick up trucks too. An editorial was also published which asked if we need to spend even more money on them to get them to do their jobs! A lot of people say they have a tough job. I don't disagree, but I think, so does a farmer, a rickshawala, a thela-gariwala (men who transport heavy goods on pull carts) and so many other people who live on less than them. Who will rise up and put us in perspective? Thanks for asking the question at least MP Fazlul Azim. Don't know what kind of a person you really are, but thanks for the question last night indeed.

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Good Morning Bangladesh!

Related:

খালেদার দুর্নীতির বিচার না হলে অন্যদের করা যাবে না: হাসিনা
হাসিনা ও তাঁর পরিবারের সদস্যরা দুর্নীতিতে জড়িত, বিচার হবে: খালেদা

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Politics of Love

Three campaigners sit by a bar at the end of a day, and discuss how their campaign efforts are not working out. One of them says its always a politician's need to be loved that propels them to presidencies. Those that do not have that need, do not become presidents.

This is the scene out of a movie called Game Change, which is adapted from a book by the same name. The movie goes through the US Republican camp's desperate efforts to rise above the Obama-mania of the time by hiring the "mavericky" Sarah Palin.

I am very interested in the psyche of politicians, especially, being where I am, where every 5 years, the definitions of heroes and villains are almost drastically reversed. Like a bad soap opera, the drama never ends and couples are breaking up and then making out once again! That need to be loved, however rings true. And sometimes you see this aspect depicted in Disney movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs where the Queen takes the counsel of a magic mirror who assures her that she is in fact, the 'fairest' of them all. One time that mirror said she was not, the queen was ready to go to the point of murder, to get her position back.

Not so much a fairy tale.

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Govt's Bright Ideas

Or, Things that make you ummmmmm.....

Crackdown on internet users in Bangladesh

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what a Nobel thing to do.

Yesterday in class, we were asked who won the nobel prize for literature. No one knew except the professor since it was announced just minutes ago and he was the one who checked it. I for one didn't know the Nobel prizes were being announced. Then he asked us who we would suggest for this category. At first I couldn't think of anyone, but later managed to remember one name - Arundhati Roy. Then now I remember I would also like to nominate Percival Everett. That would be two authors, from whom I have read more than one book (=2). Oh, that would also bring in Robert Ludlum and John Grisham in the race. Frankly, I should not be asked such a question.

Anyway, just minutes ago I also found out that the Nobel Peace prize was announced and its Dr. Younus and his Grameen Bank who are the winners! That is mighty nice to know. Good intentions should always be acknowledged.

Meanwhile, via email, i received a report on the corrupt millionaire ministers of the land - You may read it here.

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