The intents are good and upfront. But by saying so the learned citizens are unwittingly admitting the fact that what has been happening in the country in the name of politics is slinging of lot of filth around. They believe that politics is but a realm where corrupt people grab power and loot the public coffers without shame or qualm. And that is why they do not want Dr. Yunus to fall into that garbage pit.

What does that mean? Does that mean the political stable should remain uncleaned so that parasites can keep multiplying? Does that mean no one should try to come forward, clean the filth and open the vents so that fresh air can come in? Does that mean, telling Yunus, you have made it so why bother to dirty your hands? No, someone has to stand up and say point blank, enough is enough, it's time to bring about changes, it's time to set certain things in their correct perspective, it's time to rescue democracy from the unholy grip of thugs and looters. It's time to crush the parasites once and for all.

And who else is there at the moment but Dr. Yunus to show the courage and stand up tall?

Dr. Yunus is no magician, neither he has a magic bullet to right the wrongs overnight. He is aware of his ability as well as limitations. But one has to acknowledge that first and foremost he is a visionary and a doer. He dares to dream and then dares to take steps to implement his dreams. Grameen Bank was not built in a day. He had to work hard for over twenty years.

How many of us have that tenacity? Most of us even do not dare to dream! We remain happy with the crumbs offered by the corrupt governments of the day and retreat to our bedrooms to live happily ever after. That's why we are afraid to see any disruption in the system where crumbs are found in abundance. We prefer the status quo situation.

Going back to Grameen Bank it may be said that his critics wanted to see him do miracles with his micro-credit theory. They spend valuable hours and money to tell us how many of the poor people have been benefited and how many have not by borrowing money from his bank. But the question remains: How old is micro-credit in Bangladesh? And how perennial is poverty in Bangladesh? Can a thousand year old systemic socio-economic ill be cured in twenty plus years? Then how do the learned scholars expect micro-credit to remove poverty in such a short time? By some acts of miracle? But in hard reality there is no room for miracles.

Micro-credit is the modern day cousin of dadon (money lenders) of the olden days that provided working capital for the rural poor. Fishermen, small farmers, fishing net makers, small tools makers, seasonal vegetable growers all benefited from borrowing working capital from the rural moneylenders. They made profit by investing the money and returned the capital along with the accrued interest to the lenders within the stipulated time. This system has been going on since the need for working capital became a necessity.

Now coming back to Dr. Yunus and his politics. No one expects him and his newly formed party to enjoy a landslide victory in the upcoming election or maybe in the one to be held five years after. What will happen then? Will he be obliterated from the realm of politics? No. His political party having the full support of a large chunk of the saner section in society will act as a very powerful pressure group. This pressure group will keep the government of the day on its toes and take it on a roller coaster ride if it does something unconstitutional or something against the will of the people.

Come to think of it, the new political party, sitting in the opposition bench in parliament and keeping a vigil on the doings of the treasury bench. It would be quite intimidating for the latter because by that time the present caretaker government and the people of the country will have some principles implanted in the political system through bringing about the reforms within the political parties and in the system of governance.

Also, don't forget that the judiciary will not be there anymore at the beck and call of the political parties and their corrupt leaders. No judge will ever stop any hearing of a case that concerns serious political matters or allow bail to a murderer on political consideration. And no more government officials will go to Uttara at night to wine and dine with some petty politician. Because, by that time they will have their self-respect back. There will be no such thing as a partisan government official in the country. By that time no police official will be used by an MP or ward commissioner or son of an MP to throw opponents in prison.

Sounds idealistic? Sounds utopian? Well, just have the courage to change your mindset and you will see it sounds plausible and doable. What we need to have is the right amount of courage to think that it can be made possible. And it will be possible once the entire canvas is wiped clean and new and bright colour is applied on it to paint the picture of a positive Bangladesh. We must have a vision and a larger than life leader to implement it. There is an acute crisis of courageous leaders in the country at the moment. We have one in the personality of Dr. Yunus, so let us give him a chance. Let us dare to dream. Let him dare to implement our dream.

Shahnoor Wahid is a Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.