Mohshin Habib :
On 12 May, an ‘International Anti-Corruption Summit’ held in London where some heads of state, ministers and diplomats vowed to open up corporate records, quash money laundering and end bribery in a bid to stamp out corruption. In the summit, British Prime Minister David Cameron said, “corruption is the cancer at the heart of so many problems we need to tackle in our world.” He said, “For too long there has been a taboo tackling the issue head on. The summit will change that. Together we will push the fight against corruption to the top of the international agenda where it belongs.” Speaking at Buckingham Palace reception, before the summit, David Cameron referred to Nigeria and Afghanistan as possibly two of the most corrupt countries in the world. He labelled both the countries as “Fantastically Corrupt”. However, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani have both promised, during the summit, to curb corruption in their respective countries. At the summit, Mr. Cameron announced that about 100,000 property owners in England and Wales would be forced to disclose their identities.
More than 40 countries attended the summit which was the first of its kind to bring together the leaders at least to show intentions to fight against corruption. Six countries, including Afghanistan, Kenya and Nigeria, signed up to publish registries of who owns and controls companies and six more agreed to work to explore doing so.
The Western media did not take the summit so seriously. Moreover, they criticized the summit by saying that it was poorly organized, meaning attendance was thinner than the hosts would have liked. 40 among the invited nations sent representatives, only 11 of whom were heads of states or governments. But the event was not completely ineffective. Many discussions took place including intelligence-sharing, asset recovery in cross-border corruption probes and mutual legal assistance.
Unfortunately, Bangladesh was missing from the participation. I asked Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) boss Iftekaruzzaman over cell phone why Bangladesh did not join the event. The gentleman explained that Prime Minister David Cameron has chosen the participating countries with his personal choice. “We were expecting a warm invitation for Bangladesh. It is even inexplicable why Bangladesh has not been invited to the event,” he added.
It was obviously an impolitic decision by British Premiere not to invite Bangladesh in the event. It has been internationally known that corruption is the first and foremost obstacle for the country’s walking ahead. Bangladesh was rewarded top position by TIB for corruption in the consecutive years. So the intention of British Prime Minister is not yet clear why and how he ignored Bangladesh. Corruption is not only a customary practice here, but also it has a deep root that related with British rule in India. Once an English ICS wrote back to his superiors to Great Britain that “Ghush(bribe) is a delicious food in India.” I recall an interesting memoirs ‘The Last Guardian’ written by Stephen Hatch-Barnwell, the last English ICS of Bengal. He wrote, “On one occasion when I was a Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO), a newly rich businessman of the Subdivision, one Abdul Gani, brought along the regulation basket of fruit containing also one bottle of champagne and two of whisky. This I felt was going much too far. So as tactfully as I could, I explained to the merchant that I could not accept the bottles and why.”
On the other hand, there had been many British corrupt officials in India. When Robert Clive returned to England in 1767, he faced a parliamentary inquiry over allegation of corruption. His successor Warren Hasting’s corruption was so wicked that the British government ordered his impeachment. According to Jawaharlal Neheru, loot was the only objective of early British colonials. Corruption, cruelty, callousness and a complete disregard of public welfare flourished and poisoned the air. Mohammed Ali Jinnah also mentioned about the corruption in his 11th August constituent assembly speech.
There is no problem if Mr. Cameron having no knowledge of the history of British-Bengal corruption. But the Prime Minister, being the host of global anti-corruption movement, ought to consider the current situation we are having. Anyway, whatever the British Prime Minister thinks, it is true that we have to fight our own battles. To wipe out corruption, one cannot fight for another. International community would never be helpful to eliminate corruption, if we do not correct us.
In Bangladesh, corruption occurs in a variety of forms including bribery, embezzlement, cronyism, nepotism, favoring and so on. It is mentioned above that corruption is not a new phenomenon. But now, unfortunately, it has got a new momentum in our country as economic activities are flourishing. Though Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina trying her best (we do believe) to tackle corruption, yet it has become the biggest threat to our development. Cronyism has culturally been established, nepotism is now a ‘right’for the politicians; looting public assets, money laundering, bank defaulting going on in every nook and corner of the country. Above all, people from all walk of life are contaminated with virus of corruption. Even a CNG Auto Rickshaw driver demanding extra-charge for fare outside legal meter rate.We mean, almost the entire society across the country has been rotten due to the corruption generated by the politicians and bureaucrats.
This atmosphere in our beloved country made by the politicians who have been trying to make their powers and wealth unhindered. Secondly, political corruption is the use of powers by government officials for their private gain. On the other hand, political instability also jeopardizing country’s overall progress. It is a new hope for us that the Anti-corruption Commission, led by the Commission’s new Chairman, has tightened its grip. However, we should remember that the Commission needs government’s full cooperation. The government should remember too that this is the high time to tackle corruption. It is now or never for us. We know that previously there were some obligations and embarrassments to stand against corruption. It is also true that the salary structures for the government stuffs had been so poor and incoherent in the past. But now they are getting fleshy salary to maintain their family expenditures. So, it is our humble request to the policy makers to try their best to make a kleptocrats-free administration. In doing so, you policymakers need nothing but willingness. If not, the vision of a developed Bangladesh would not make sense. We repeat, it is not inevitable to join any international forum to wipe out corruption from our country. Willingness of policy makers could help us to fulfil our dream of a corruption free civilized land.
(Mohshin Habib is a writer and Journalist. He can be reached at: [email protected])
