Editorial Desk :
That the thuggery of politicians has reached their height can be best illustrated by the incident that took place recently in Rajshahi where an MP, Omor Faruk Chowdhury, at his office allegedly assaulted a college principal, Salim Reza, who along with other principals came to greet him. When media and the conscious section of society were raising their voice against the MP from the Rajshahi-1 constituency, for beating the principal of Rajbari Degree College and demanding his punishment, it is the principal himself Thursday, at a press conference sitting next to the MP, told the reporters that he was not beaten by him.
Before, the media reported that the MP had assaulted the principal when, on July 7, he along with other principals went to Omor Theme Plaza, the MP’s office. At the press conference, the principal also repeated what Omor had said the day before to his defence: it was the MP who had tried to stop the fight in which some places of his body were bruised. Before the journalists, an emboldened Omor had asked the media people to give him back the reputation he had lost because of the assault allegations.
Surely, the principal cowered and changed his position and made the media appear to be spreading falsehood about the MP at the press conference. It is now fashionable for politicians to blame the media for spreading fake news! But what happened in Rajshahi was beyond one’s imagination.
Should the media now blame the principal for defending the MP who assaulted him? Not really. It is obvious that the principal must have received threats from the MP so much so that he was forced to compromise his social dignity. The principal is weak, but the MP is powerful. Therefore, he decided not to go further against the MP fearing more harm from him.
However, the MP’s action of beating the principal did not surprise us as muscle politics have spread its tentacles everywhere in society. Members of parliament are respectfully called lawmakers for their role in articulating, vetting and passing a law in parliament, but most MPs of our country unfortunately have no interest in this solemn duty of theirs and are more eager to receive funds from the government to do ‘development’ work in their locality such as construction of roads, bridge and culverts that give them opportunities for making money. And not long ago we had a law, by which they could become ex officio head of the governing body of the non-government educational institutions. Though this law does not exist now, MPs’ clout over the educational institutions remains intact.
MPs are also known to issue Demi Official letters in their clients’ favour in exchange for money. This is how, by corruption in development work, manpower recruitment in schools and colleges, selling DO letters, etc., they fetch the money they spend as investment for becoming nominated and then elected as MP. To become an MP is a matter of business for them.
However, for the principal who was assaulted by the MP, the story might be over, but not for the media and for the law enforcing agencies of the country. They must now delve deeper to unearth what actually happened that made the principal change his mind. The people also want to know clearly why the MP beat the principal in the first place. We urge the National University authorities to go ahead with their probe team that they formed earlier to find out what actually happened.
The bottom line is: If politics of thuggery and undue money making cannot be changed with the concerted efforts of all, our dream to create a democratic state with the supremacy of rule of law will never be true.
That the thuggery of politicians has reached their height can be best illustrated by the incident that took place recently in Rajshahi where an MP, Omor Faruk Chowdhury, at his office allegedly assaulted a college principal, Salim Reza, who along with other principals came to greet him. When media and the conscious section of society were raising their voice against the MP from the Rajshahi-1 constituency, for beating the principal of Rajbari Degree College and demanding his punishment, it is the principal himself Thursday, at a press conference sitting next to the MP, told the reporters that he was not beaten by him.
Before, the media reported that the MP had assaulted the principal when, on July 7, he along with other principals went to Omor Theme Plaza, the MP’s office. At the press conference, the principal also repeated what Omor had said the day before to his defence: it was the MP who had tried to stop the fight in which some places of his body were bruised. Before the journalists, an emboldened Omor had asked the media people to give him back the reputation he had lost because of the assault allegations.
Surely, the principal cowered and changed his position and made the media appear to be spreading falsehood about the MP at the press conference. It is now fashionable for politicians to blame the media for spreading fake news! But what happened in Rajshahi was beyond one’s imagination.
Should the media now blame the principal for defending the MP who assaulted him? Not really. It is obvious that the principal must have received threats from the MP so much so that he was forced to compromise his social dignity. The principal is weak, but the MP is powerful. Therefore, he decided not to go further against the MP fearing more harm from him.
However, the MP’s action of beating the principal did not surprise us as muscle politics have spread its tentacles everywhere in society. Members of parliament are respectfully called lawmakers for their role in articulating, vetting and passing a law in parliament, but most MPs of our country unfortunately have no interest in this solemn duty of theirs and are more eager to receive funds from the government to do ‘development’ work in their locality such as construction of roads, bridge and culverts that give them opportunities for making money. And not long ago we had a law, by which they could become ex officio head of the governing body of the non-government educational institutions. Though this law does not exist now, MPs’ clout over the educational institutions remains intact.
MPs are also known to issue Demi Official letters in their clients’ favour in exchange for money. This is how, by corruption in development work, manpower recruitment in schools and colleges, selling DO letters, etc., they fetch the money they spend as investment for becoming nominated and then elected as MP. To become an MP is a matter of business for them.
However, for the principal who was assaulted by the MP, the story might be over, but not for the media and for the law enforcing agencies of the country. They must now delve deeper to unearth what actually happened that made the principal change his mind. The people also want to know clearly why the MP beat the principal in the first place. We urge the National University authorities to go ahead with their probe team that they formed earlier to find out what actually happened.
The bottom line is: If politics of thuggery and undue money making cannot be changed with the concerted efforts of all, our dream to create a democratic state with the supremacy of rule of law will never be true.
