NEWS media reported that field-level officials at the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) are worried over their security as they are often threatened and even attacked by middlemen backed by ruling party activists. Their concerns rose further following an attack on an official of Bogura passport office allegedly by a group affiliated with the ruling Awami League activists for not allowing brokers to manage passports. The blow on an honest officer, not a rare case though, will discourage public officials to be honest in service delivery, the most corrupt arena. Five suspects, including the kingpin, so far were arrested but we doubt whether the local administration would be able to take action against them.
When corruption becomes pervasive in every layer of public service delivery in absence of internal accountability due to an unholy nexus between politics and bureaucrats, and external accountability is nonexistent due to the demise of credible elections, the heinous attack and impunity to the thugs emit a message that rights-based society is a far cry.
There are allegations against many officials at DIP but those who want to keep their image clean are being made into victims in different ways, triggering the poor delivery of services to the public. The middlemen, backed by ruling party leaders and activists, and local powerful quarters often demand undue services– like not checking submitted documents properly and exert pressure in case of poor response. In Cox’s Bazar, the local administration allowed several organizations to prepare documents and formalities for the applicants. The situation went from bad to worse in Bogura when a group of ruling party activists loyal to town Juba League office secretary Mostakim Rahman on March 29 chased DIP’s regional Assistant Director Shahjahan Kabir when he was on his way to get a bus.
Those who want to fight corruption in the government offices face the similar threat as the bureaucrats who are the top in the administrative service may be corrupt, with exceptions. The country’s uplift from the ditch of corruption would be impossible unless the corrupt political high-ups are caught red-handed or the ruling party high-ups take strong action against them. Mysteriously, the entire society is now living in intimidation and people are not coming out to protest the thugs as the law enforcers at the end take the side of perpetrators and innocent people have to suffer.
This cannot be continued in public service delivery for an uncertain period. We ask the government to take stern action against the culprits.
