Crisis of democracy will not end unless our educated people are committed to democracy. Not to have democracy in a country is a shame for the educated people.
The ordinary people give blood for the democracy but our educated people as a class are happy and unconcerned as long as their self-interest served better.
Now this paper is opposed to general public will struggle and suffer for democracy only to be betrayed by the political leaders. They will be defeated through the joint conspiracy of political leaders and educated people to whom job security is more important than democracy. They have to change their master and servant attitude under dictatorship.
After the fall of Ershad’s dictatorship a joint declaration was made by the political leaders to work for ensuring democracy on December 6, 1990. But killing of democracy for the greed of power and riches has been easily pursuing by political leaders. It is because of sycophancy of sections of our educated people who are too eager to serve any undemocratic governments as long as their self-interest is protected.
The people are to suffer and give blood for the country but the country belongs to the politicians. That is the arrogance of our politicians, because our educated ones are so docile and so craven to keep them going against the people safe and sound.
Another problem is that lies easily prevail if the government so wants. In 1971, all leaders of brave words remained safe by leaving the country. They were not by the side of the people when Pakistan army moved in. Bangabandhu asked the leaders not to go to India for help. Our helpless and unarmed people were butchered. They became heroes again when they came back in independent Bangladesh. It was not told our liberation war would be India’s war to free us. India won the war and freed the land from Pakistan, and we lost democracy to enjoy freedom.
If our educated people were committed to the cause of liberation war then in Bangladesh democracy would not have been so easy a prey. The journalists and eminent elements joined first to prove our slavishly shyness. Democracy was uprooted root.
So we do not see any future for democracy as long as long as our educated people will have no sense of dignity to live in democracy. Dictatorship is no shame for those educated ones who are ready to serve unopposed any government.
When Bangabandhu was killed our brave politicians were nowhere. So lesson to be learnt is when political leaders talk big just watch them. No compromise is impossible to them. The people’s cause is no cause to them. To be a political leader he must have good grounding in the values of politics and his aspiration must not be a fat rich with public money.
A news report on Sunday said that different political parties and socio-cultural organisations have taken up programmes to observe the day as the Democracy Day. Please have shame and do not talk about fighting for democracy only to use people to come to power. The educated bureaucrats and unscrupulous political leaders had no difficulty in forgetting the cause of the liberation war. Democracy and free election were banished amidst jubilation.
A new generation of nation building leaders must emerge and that should be our prayer and hope.
