A MILLIONAIRE ‘cobbler’ who was once a peon at a small shoemaking factory and is now possessor of a large village on around 300 bighas of land in Gazipur was arrested by police yesterday afternoon. Widely known as Cobbler Jasim in the area, he was also accused in 17 criminal cases but police did not dare to touch him due to close connection with the administrative high-ups.
Newspaper reports said he grabbed 300 bighas of forest land by applying muscle power. He also maintained a hoodlum group. If anybody wanted to protest his misdeeds he ultimately became a victim of harassment and repression. None, even the government officials, were safe in the area.
Local people alleged that he was at first a “source” of police and used this opportunity to make his fortune. He started to blackmail people by threatening to implicate them in murder cases after the killing of former Upazila Awami Jubo League president Rafiqul Islam. He threatened to send people to jail if anybody refused to pay him a fat amount of money. As per his plan, police started a massive manhunt in the area and arrested a huge number of people. Cobbler Jasim was made a ‘negotiator’ between the detainees’ family members and police. And money started to come to his pocket.
We don’t object if anyone becomes a millionaire while coming from a very poor social condition. Any person can change his social and financial condition by hard work and using his talent. It is appreciable. But what we see is that the rise of Cobbler Jasim was not usual. He followed the dark path of corruption to make his fortune. Obviously, Cobbler Jasim is a symbol of corruption and misrule in our society. But he is not alone. There are several “Jasims” in the country. They are nourished by corrupt politicians with the support of local law enforcement agencies. It is impossible to stay untouched for a long time doing wrongs without the support of politicians and police.
When corruption is a common feature in our socio-economic culture, ordinary people should come forward to expose corrupt politicians so that they will be punished electorally.
Newspaper reports said he grabbed 300 bighas of forest land by applying muscle power. He also maintained a hoodlum group. If anybody wanted to protest his misdeeds he ultimately became a victim of harassment and repression. None, even the government officials, were safe in the area.
Local people alleged that he was at first a “source” of police and used this opportunity to make his fortune. He started to blackmail people by threatening to implicate them in murder cases after the killing of former Upazila Awami Jubo League president Rafiqul Islam. He threatened to send people to jail if anybody refused to pay him a fat amount of money. As per his plan, police started a massive manhunt in the area and arrested a huge number of people. Cobbler Jasim was made a ‘negotiator’ between the detainees’ family members and police. And money started to come to his pocket.
We don’t object if anyone becomes a millionaire while coming from a very poor social condition. Any person can change his social and financial condition by hard work and using his talent. It is appreciable. But what we see is that the rise of Cobbler Jasim was not usual. He followed the dark path of corruption to make his fortune. Obviously, Cobbler Jasim is a symbol of corruption and misrule in our society. But he is not alone. There are several “Jasims” in the country. They are nourished by corrupt politicians with the support of local law enforcement agencies. It is impossible to stay untouched for a long time doing wrongs without the support of politicians and police.
When corruption is a common feature in our socio-economic culture, ordinary people should come forward to expose corrupt politicians so that they will be punished electorally.
