Hiren Pandit: Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the greatest Bengali of a thousand years, the father of the nation, the architect of the great independence war, used to collect rice from his family and neighbours to provide education to poor and helpless students. He has provided the education expenses of many students. He was imprisoned numerous times from his student days until the country became independent. He never deviated from his ideals and the great vow of the welfare of the people of the country. But today, many opportunists who do politics in the name of Bangabandhu’s ideals now isolate themselves from the people. The party and activists came to the media doing various misdeeds, the government was embarrassed, and the country and the nation were embarrassed.:
Everyone hopes that the misguided leaders and activists will refrain from such actions. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s entire life was devoted to the welfare of the country and the country, where there was no luxury, no greed for money, no jealousy and hatred. There was only a huge heart full of love and striving to do good for the country and mass people. Therefore, Mujib’s ideology should be established not only in words but through actions like Bangabandhu’s various welfare-oriented works during his lifetime. Awami League and all the organizations of Awami League will be the carriers of the ideals of the father of the Bengali nation, the leaders, supporters and the youth of the country regardless of party affiliation.
They will work selflessly for a country like Bangabandhu, will be free of arrogance, and will build Bangladesh of harmony by ensuring the peaceful coexistence of people of all religions without discriminating between people. The leaders, workers and supporters of our Awami League and organizations, from the very top to the village level, some leaders and workers do not understand the speech of the statesman Sheikh Hasina properly, or even if they understand, they follow their wisdom. For which it can be seen that many people are not doing what the party or government needs to do. There is a lack of tendency among leaders and workers to follow the ideals of Bangabandhu.
It’s like being busy with themselves. Bangabandhu single-handedly built this big political party from a small party. After many obstacles, Bangabandhu gave us an independent country. He had to sacrifice a lot. Had to go to jail. He could not give time to his family and to do politics, it has to be done more or less by everyone. Idealist politics stumbles sometimes, if you want to be a soldier of Bangabandhu, you must not deviate from the ideals. Everyone has to work on the path idealized by Bangabandhu under Sheikh Hasina’s instructions. Meeting leaders and talking to them is not an indicator of feeling blessed.
However, many leaders of the Awami League do not keep track of the development activities of the government and sometimes engage in embarrassing activities. Those who are in the leadership of the Awami League or the organization will implement the philosophy of the leader, the philosophy of Bangabandhu. The leader will tell the people about the work he has done and will take a place in the hearts of the people through the work. Bangabandhu used to think about our student society and he used to say “Every member of student and youth should be developed as an ideal human being. They will become an ideal force. By this ideal man, he means such a person, who will have good human qualities and will be followed by others. In other words, everything that is socially good, noble and beneficial will be in every member of the student body. To be an ideal person, the qualities that everyone should have include honesty, devotion, hardworking and benevolent attitude, compassion, compassion, humility and courage.
Bangabandhu himself was an idealistic man. The liberation of the exploited and oppressed people of Bengal was the main goal and ideal of his life. The goal he has struggled to achieve throughout his life. Chhatra League has played a leading role in the democratic movement to realize Bangabandhu’s dream. Bangladesh Chhatra League’s role in the anti-dictatorship movement is commendable. The Bangladesh Chhatra League has played a leading role in the movement for democratic rights and is still playing a leading role in the struggle to build a war crime-free Bangladesh. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, all the leaders and activists of the Chhatra League have played a brave role in the streets intending to transform Bangladesh into an economically prosperous and developed state.
Just as thousands of qualified leaders have been born in the history of the Chhatra League, several unqualified leaders and workers have also been born. Several opportunists and a handful of misguided supporters of the Chhatra League, Jubo League, and Awami League are getting involved in negative activities. All these are unwanted and unintended. This fills our optimism with despair. Student politics, especially in higher educational institutions, the activities of BCL deviants are directly disputing their positive activities.
In the past too, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took a strict stand to rein in such unrest and announced a zero-tolerance policy against anyone involved in misdeeds. It was thought that through this, the deviants would attain self-realization and the leaders and workers of the organization would free themselves from all negative activities and participate in the implementation of the Prime Minister’s promise to build Bangabandhu’s dream of Sonar Bangla. But regrettably, the deviants remain where they were and the controversy seems to be branching out. As a result, while the government has won the praise of many countries and organizations in the world by moving the country forward in many development indicators, at the same time, the image of the party and the government is being tarnished due to several deviants.
Negative news headlines are constantly in the media. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been working tirelessly in the last 15 years to lead the country towards development and achieve Vision 2041 or Smart Bangladesh after achieving Vision 2021. She has mentioned in her speech on different occasions that criminals have only one identity, they are criminals. They need to be brought under the law and the mischief of some immoral people, who personally identify the beneficiaries and bring them to book, has become necessary. Through this, many good works of the Prime Minister and her government are being suppressed, about which the self-interested people are not worried at all.
Suddenly, heinous crimes including murder, rape, and kidnapping have increased all over the country. Officials in charge of the police headquarters also acknowledged the issue and expressed concern. It is said that all the concerned units of the police have been instructed to quickly bring those involved in such heinous crimes to justice. To prevent serious crime from happening in any area, various suggestions have been given from the headquarters, including the vigilance of the Superintendents of Police. Besides, it has been warned that the police superintendents will be brought under accountability if it is not possible to unravel the mystery of any incident and bring the accused under the law.
According to the report that reviewed the incidents published in the media, most of those who are involved in these heinous crimes are the leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League and their various organizations looking for opportunities. Most of the arrested accused are also associated with party politics. Experts have attributed the increase in these incidents to social unrest, the entry of dishonest people into politics and the dominance of power under the political umbrella. District Superintendents of Police have also been given necessary advice and instructions to prevent any heinous crime from taking place. The police administration has also warned that if a heinous crime occurs in a district if the mystery is not revealed and those involved are not brought under the law, the SP of the district will be brought under accountability.
When asked about the reasons behind the increase in heinous crimes, sociologists and criminologists point out that social instability is not the direct cause of the increase in heinous crimes; rather, it is related to power. We are currently going through very turbulent times. Here the way of life has changed due to the direct influence of many things including sky culture, the use of technology, and social media including Facebook and YouTube. Money has come to us, economic development has taken place; As a result, we are in a kind of fantasy.
Many things are intruding on our transition from traditional society to modern society. They are having an effect. Economic competition and greed increased among people. Drugs also have a major impact on crime. Now everyone has become Awami League opportunity seekers. The dedicated are on the back foot, so if a major elimination is not carried out within the political party, the situation may take a turn for the worse. Many people have entered the Awami League who are not political activists; they are opportunists and beneficiaries. They are doing politics through flattery and patronage of particular individuals or classes. Failure to identify them and restrict their movements could lead to worse situations ahead. The reason for the increase in these crimes is the arrogance of power and the political affiliation of the criminals. However, according to experts, its analysis is not possible on a limited scale.
The Prime Minister warned the leaders in a meeting that bad people are entering the party behind the bad name of the grass-roots Awami League and Chhatra League. In a meeting, she said, that since Awami League is in power, many ‘non-dignified’ people are entering the party and committing crimes and bringing the party into disrepute. She also asked everyone to be more careful about the reality of the negative news that comes in the media about the ruling Awami League. It is a matter of party reputation. While doing party politics, we should be careful not to bring a bad reputation, bad reputation of the party, bad reputation for the country. Sheikh Hasina urged the leaders and workers to carry on the ideals of Bangabandhu and said, “If you rise above the will and power and make sacrifices, you can develop yourself as a proper leader, but if you chase after money and wealth like the flow of money, that money has to be washed away.”
There is no ability to lead, nothing can be given to the country, neither can it be given to the people. Currently, an unprecedented unity has been created among people on the issue of Smart Bangladesh. Digital Bangladesh has been achieved. Access to technology should be harnessed to create jobs. This economic transformation also requires a transformation in the education system. Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina said that among the leaders and workers, there will be honesty, devotion, hard work and philanthropic attitude, compassion-sympathy, humility-non-arrogance and courage. Bangabandhu himself was an idealistic man. Everyone hopes that everyone will play a leading role in the streets by adopting the ideals of Bangabandhu and working under the leadership and guidance of Sheikh Hasina to make Bangladesh a smart Bangladesh by 2041.
Hiren Pandit is a columnist and a researcher