Indeed, there is nothing more dangerous to public welfare than the apathy of a citizen in a democracy. There is no doubt that a bad government is the inevitable consequence of an indifferent electorate. Politics will never be cleaner, and our economic future will never be brighter, unless and until our citizens are willing to give of themselves to the land which gave them birth.

The foundations of our constitution have been shaken by the folly of the people, the corruption of our politicians, and the negligence of the elite. As a test case, can we find out how many of the nearly one thousand members of our parliament between 1991-2006 have taken advantage of the privilege of duty-free car import, and how many of them have utilised the same facility for their own convenience and comfort as stipulated?

The suspicion, consequent upon some recent media reports in this regard, is that many of those duty-free cars have been sold to private persons, thus enabling the sellers to obtain a hefty sum of money as profit and, thus, depriving the national exchequer of substantial revenues.

If the above reports turn out to be largely factual, then anyone can justifiably question the morality of our politician-legislators and reasonably demand that such legislators, who violated the conditions of duty-free import, be barred from contesting the next parliamentary election. Will this be achievable, even if one is ready to excuse the legislators for the unusual and untenable privilege of enjoying the waiver from payment of statutory duties that are compulsorily imposed on ordinary citizens?

Simultaneously, can we think of discontinuance of this much abused privilege as part of the house-cleaning? The needful, in order to be effective, may turn out to be extremely painful. Let us not forget that the majority of our legislators personify the arrogance of power, which is the exact opposite of unfeigned humility.

Since January 11, there appears to have been a sharp awakening of the political conscience of the nation. A realisation has dawned on the people that they are the only keepers of the constitution. However, politicians will not admit that. In the very recent past, many of them were wearing the nasty garb of constitutionalism only to cover their arbitrary exercise of power.

Many amongst our politicians do not realise that a democracy without discipline has no future. Similarly, undisciplined trade unionism is as dangerous as undisciplined capitalism, and undisciplined demagogy is as dangerous as undisciplined student power.

Many well-meaning, decent citizens, along with a sizable segment of the continually suffering common folk of our country, have often wondered about the unpalatable but stable relationship of a large number of our politicians with the rogue elements of society.

While the well-informed can deliberate effectively and convincingly on the dynamics of such a liaison, the not-so-informed may need to be informed of this unwholesome part of our body politic. This aspect acquires increasing significance, as the need to cleanse our public life brooks no further delay.

Political activities, partly on account of historical factors, have assumed a dominant confrontational character. Over the years, since after liberation and more particularly during the anti-autocracy movement in the eighties, leading to the fall of the military dictatorial regime in December 1990, political protests demanded crude physical courage from the field-level activists of the political movement.

As the dictatorial regime primarily depended on brute power and looked towards non-political quarters for its sustenance, it did not bother about the excessive use of force by the state apparatus. It had no qualms in utilising dangerous goons to intimidate, and if necessary liquidate, political party workers and leaders.

All in all, the political scenario became so desperate and menacing that only the very physically brave and intensely committed workers could dare to take to the streets to face the insensitive actions of a despotic government nearly bordering on megalomania.

The sad and bitter memory left behind by the anti-autocracy movement was one of a government or authority that did not care a bit about legality and civility, and the anaesthetising conviction that organised violent counter-action, with readiness to sacrifice life and property, was the only alternative to effect political change.

It does not take a discerning observer of the socio-political scene to be convinced that, under the circumstances as narrated above, it is quite difficult for the saner and more sensible elements of the young population to join movements for social change.

Since nature abhors a vacuum, it is only practical that vacancies resulting from the unwillingness of the desired lot are automatically filled in by the ill-motivated desperados. The situation turned vicious, and the training ground for constitutional politics witnessed detestable wheeling-dealing. Brawn took precedence over brain in the formative years.

No wonder, therefore, that our national level politics has been afflicted by this syndrome. It will be very difficult and painful to bring sanity in the political process.

The influence, positive or negative, of students and labour on national life is felt by all. There is, thus, a desperate effort to rise and cling to positions of authority in student and labour organisations. This is natural, as these two outfits are found to be frontal and instrumental in achieving the so-called political objectives through confrontationist and violent postures and actions. In such a scheme, and in the situation obtaining in our environment, rash and indiscreet elements would obviously receive preference over sober and saner elements. It will be difficult to reverse the process.

We now see student leaders who are more known for their knowledge and application of the use and misuse of fire-arms, and are adept at negotiating the niceties of the tendering process and maintaining liaison with shady non-students. There is virtually no effort to discourage such immoral practices and, in course of time, these tainted youngsters turn into promoters/distributors of illegal favours, and mature as politicians. The required winds of change will be hard to come by.

Our labour leaders and the transport owners relish the reality that they can bring the government to its knees, and are never found wanting in flexing their muscles, howsoever detrimental that could be to public interests. There is an unseemly scramble for leadership in the transport sector, and there is preponderance of doubtful persons in transport operations. On account of its leverage in terms of money and organised manpower, with impact on mainstream political and economic activities, politicians have resorted to unethical and irregular practices to retain control here. The politician-goon connection is perhaps at its peak in this area. It will, indeed, be difficult to restore normalcy in this sector.

It is a sad commentary on our political reality that howsoever eloquent we may be on the subject of freedom of speech, assembly and movement, we can be the worst of autocrats when, under a clear democratic dispensation, the government of the day would not allow assembly and protest gatherings of the opposition political party to venture beyond the immediate confines of the party office.

The untenable scenario is that the government would not issue prohibitory orders restricting or banning assembly of persons, but would transmit verbal orders to embarrassed law enforcement personnel to virtually quarantine the opposition elements within a limited space.

In such an exasperating situation, there is a desperate and frantic bid to defy the authorities, and such defiance requires lot of raw physical courage and endurance, in addition to willingness to bear hardship. Clearly, such functions can be effectively performed by those who have a greater gift of the brawn. These may sound funny, but are actually ground realities with which the political operatives are grappling. Breaking the ban, or being able to defy the quarantine, is considered a very important achievement. The goons are no small players in this game.

The question is, how will we be able to bring propriety in our political behaviour? This is no easy task.

All mature societies are characterised by enduring principles like compassion of the strong towards the weak, and the suppression of immediate gratification for the more rewarding goals of national glory and progress. However, in Bangladesh we are witnessing the arrogance of the kleptocrats in the national political scene. Riff-raffs who have risen from rags to unbelievable riches are posing as guardians of public morals.

Nobody seriously objects to the unacceptable use of political power as a medium to acquire riches.

It will, indeed, be difficult and painful to effect large-scale changes in the attitude and action of the officials of the regulatory and financial institutions who actively helped the corrupt politicians to plunder the nation's resources. Without their connivance and abetment the malfeasance of the political leaders would not have assumed the gigantic proportion that it has now, particularly during the last five years.

The question is, how many such officials shall be booked under the penal law of the land, and how many of the lesser delinquents shall be disciplined? The task is very unpleasant, and painful too.

We have to admit that the past political governments did not possess the required social capital, that is, they did not really enjoy the trust and cooperation of different segments of our society, which are so vital in ensuring the legitimacy of such government. In other words, the foundation of their moral authority and honesty was open to question. Bringing back, or restoring, legitimacy to our governments, howsoever representative they may be, shall be a painfully difficult task.

The ostentatious living and the conspicuous consumption of our arrogant new rich does neither raise an eyebrow nor does it prick anyone's conscience, not to speak of energising the regulatory and financial state apparatus to identify unearned wealth. The proud display of BMW or Volvo cars that attracts charmed onlookers tells volumes about the nasty contour of corruption.

The question is, how complex and time-consuming would it be to bring such filthy rich in the clutches of the law? It would indeed be difficult to prove Oscar Wilde who said "I can resist everything but temptation," wrong.

It is no secret that more than a million individuals in Bangladesh are still not within the reach of the tax net. The question is how quickly shall we able to compel a large part of our population to pay their social debt? It is not going to be an easy task.

We must not expect the anti-corruption drive to achieve wonders, because it would be less than pragmatic to think that our substantially corroded officialdom would be suddenly inspired by honesty and fear of God. The need is to exhort and encourage proper leadership in all organs of the state, and different sectors of national life, in order to obviate the myopic reliance on the Anti-Corruption Commission only to fight the major ills of our society.

It would also be patently wrong to assume that catching the big fish only would be salutary, because in believing so we would be, willy-nilly, fixing a permissible limit to corrupt practices. How can we be oblivious of the fact that quite a few of our kleptocrats and dons were petty thieves in the not-too-distant past, and how government patronage has turned them into despicable predators in the quickest of time?

The all-pervasive corruption has to be fought on several fronts in order to bring it down to a bearable state. The sectors catering to the basic needs of security, justice, education and health, amongst others, demand priority in the anti-corruption drive.

It has to be ensured that people's faith in the foundation of the society is not lost.

Exemplary deterrent actions in regulatory sectors will have a favourable impact. Stolen and criminally plundered national resources must be brought back.

Proper use of political power will be the guarantee for the return of fairness and a sense of service for others. Corruption will be controlled and contained in such an environment.

Muhammad Nurul Huda is a DS columnist.