Opinion
Three years of alliance govt: More blemish than bliss
Rashid Askari
Three years have passed since the present alliance government came to power. Although the henchmen are tirelessly chanting the glory of the government, there is perhaps no denying the fact that the government's credibility is declining. If we believe in the half of what is reported in the press and on television (excluding BTV) and three-fourths of what we see with our own eyes, we can hardly disagree with the fact that after these three years we are left with a sloppily run country. Law and order has proved to be a total failure as a result of which corruption, terrorism, hooliganism, extortion, kidnaping, rape, murder, acid throwing and the like have grown rampant. Hardly a day passes when we do not see the reports of the above incidents appearing in the local and national papers. We have been dubbed as the people of the corrupt most country on earth. Our country has been described as dysfunctional by many. This defamation is so grounded on facts that we cannot erase the blame. In fact, almost all sectors of the government have more or less plunged into corruption. The trend of terrorism is so dreadfully rising that we have had to experience a new tragedy in August. The investigation measure like in many others is perhaps going to be futile. This breakdown in law and order may lead to more atrocious acts of brutality in future. The existence of so-called 'Bangla Bhai' bore the testimony to the fact. Who is to blame? Quite arguably, the party or the alliance in power cannot escape the charge of failure in keeping a tight rein on terrorism. Even the order of the Prime Minister went unheeded. It is they who can naturally be held responsible for the wrongs done in the country during their regime. The present alliance government is, of course, doubly blame worthy. In the first instance, it is denying space the opposition to bring up the misdeeds of the government. Secondly it seems not being able to do away with those elements. Terrorism begets terrorism and the terrorists need to be supported by extortion. So terrorism and extortion are geometrically increasing on the vantage of the government's opposition policy. The most embarrassing of all that the peace-loving and law-abiding people are facing is the highhandedness of the ruling parties and their student wings. The unruly cadres are taking control of the highest seats of learning by muscle power even at the cost of their closure sine die. There is discontent even among the supporters of the major ruling party BNP at its present gesture of reactionary stream conversely turning away the quasi-progressive one. This has become a big cause of concern for the true lovers of our hard earned independence. What I, as a member of the civil society, am more concerned about is the dismay caused by the rise of the fundamentalist elements by which our most coveted liberalism and secularism may be threatened with extinction. The defenceless women, the vulnerable widows and even the minor girls fall prey to rapists. If we turn the pages of the newspapers, we cannot but see the horrendous report of atrocious homicide by diabolic means. After such ghastly occurrences, when we naturally fall back upon the law enforcement agencies, we feel utterly frustrated. The police cannot take any appropriate measures to stop these atrocities. Extremely disappointed with the law enforcers, the general people at times are turning into irresistible mob and beating allegedly potential criminals to death. At this juncture, I beg to remind the ruling parties of their high sounding electoral pledges, which now seem preposterous. Things they promised to do have reduced to mere lip service and things they vowed to do away with have ironically been multiplied. Sorry, we could not outright congratulate them on the occasion. Rashid Askari is associate professor and Chairman of the Department of English, Islamic University, Kushtia.
| 
