Zahurul Alam :
There are always genuine reasons for whatever happens. It would be naïve to imagine that something happened by chance or by means of luck. All noble things happened because people made those happen. Likewise all bad incidences took place as because those were always created by some people. They used the situations to make those happen. Or they just did not perform their duties instigating harmful things to happen. A good system through investigations identifies the reasons and the people behind harmful incidences and undertakes measures that eliminate or reduce those reasons or causes. The causes are eliminated once the people responsible for harmful incidences are punished. This is a simple explanation of the need for rule of law, which is one of the most important cornerstones of good governance. Rule of law reduces the probability of repetitions of similar crimes, offences and inefficiencies.
The culture of impunity that flourished during decades was introduced by the authoritarian regimes following the 1975 killings. Indemnity to the killers of Bangabandhu and other martyrs prompted widespread impunity for crimes in the society and the tradition of cultivation of terrorism and corruption by the power capturers. Intrusion of terrorists in politics made ‘politics difficult for the politicians’.
All above and many others, have made the bureaucratic machine of the state an inefficient tool that had overwhelmingly been used by the civil servants as a comfortable platform for living comfortably or accumulating resources at the expense of people’s melancholies.
We could free ourselves from some of the obscureacnes of our history and life, but the vested interests of the developed coteries have rooted themselves so deeply and the culture of ‘not working and taking benefits’ has become so common a feature that it has become a real challenge for the government to uproot the evils overnight. The beneficiaries of misrule and injustice have now become advocates for good governance and are out in politics, in the media and propaganda machinery to undermine judicious decisions wherever they may be taken.
The death of Jiad, a four year child in a WASA pipeline yesterday is yet another demonstration of lack of accountability, responsibility and responsiveness of those working in the government offices and also reflect the culture of ‘doing nothing and grabbing everything’. To make this point simpler, we may pose a simple question to the WASA authorities: can a 600 feet deep tube well pipe under the ground be kept open for months or years in a place where children play, people walk, students go to their schools, and housewives carry their children! Does that imply that the organization has any accountability to the people? Can that organization claim in any manner,that it works for the fulfillment of the aspirations of the people?
Next question the people have the right to ask is whether or not anyone will be found responsible for this incidence and punished as the society wants or law suggests? Certainly there will be an Investigation Committee and a report will be submitted with vague findings and recommendations. There may be some departmental actions which will only mean that the concerned persons will be transferred to another spot, where they will continue to behave in the same manner, and thus it will go on and on… Let us make ourselves clear about one very simple thing. This death is a result of negligence of duty for months together. This is not an accident. This has happened as a result of inviting an innocent four year child to the death trap created by the employees of concerned organization. That open 600 feet deep pipe was supposed to be maintained in a safe manner. The people, including the father and family of Jiad also paid for the maintenance of that death trap in terms of their contribution as tax in advance. The WASA people received their salaries and benefits in time and without any disruption. The issue of doubling the salaries and benefits of the public servants has already come up. Father of the dead child and his relatives will pay taxes to ensure increased packages for the public servants, including the WASA employees. They and all other citizens-tax payers of this country can certainly call for a good explanation from the concerned department, ministry and the employees, whether or not they could justify their action and as well such increment! People will pay for good services, not for bad ones.
(Zahurul Alam Ph.D is President, Governance and Rights Centre (GRC), E-mail: [email protected])
