PEOPLE should get united and speak up against unfair practices and corruption to build a society in line with the core values of independence, a conference of Transparency International Bangladesh’s (TIB) citizen group was told last week. Rights activist Sultana Kamal, who spoke at the event, added it was the responsibility of every citizen to create and uphold moral and ethical values in society, as per a report of a local daily.
She made the remarks at the inaugural session of the “Sonak-YES Jatiyo Sommelon 2016”, the Eighth National Conference of TIB’s citizen members, who work towards good governance in their localities. Sultana, Chairperson of TIB, talked about the lack of accountability existing in the country. Even the organisations, responsible for bringing these criminals to book, do not carry out their duty responsibly and sincerely, she alleged.
About 3,000 members of the Committee of Concerned Citizens (CCC), Youth Engagement Support (YES), Shojon, and YES Friends, all working for TIB, from all over the country joined the daylong conference at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital. Noted writer Selina Hossain, also General Secretary of the Trustee Board of TIB, called upon people to create a social movement against corruption in education and health sectors. She said any blow against the country’s culture and tradition including the Ekushey Book Fair should be resisted.
In his welcome speech, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of TIB, said criticisms from powerful quarters must be considered part of the profession. At an open discussion on the theme of the conference “Jagroto Bibek, Durjoy Tarunnya Durniti Rukhbei” (conscience and the invincible youth will resist corruption), the citizen members said TIB should introduce the “honesty” prize to award less-corrupt individuals and organisations.
While it is true that corruption and a lack of accountability have reached epidemic proportions it is the responsibility of civil society to point out the flaws inherent in the system of governance. There can be many flaws inherent in our administrative organisations which can be corrected through electing a government through an impartial election so that they can correct the system from within. This is the only way, with the exception of open revolution or mass civil protests, such as that which took place in 1990, by which the way in which we are governed can be changed .
Creating a social movement against the social ills such as corruption can start with the individual who decides to contribute to society by earning a honest income for an honest days work. This simple axiom, if followed by most people in our public service sector, can do the most to reduce or eliminate corruption. For this, however, merely creating awareness is not enough. Strengthening our economy is also a must – because people only indulge in corruption when they can’t maintain a certain standard of living. So adequate remuneration along with awareness is also a must. The practice has become so entrenched within society that tremendous effort is needed to weed it out completely.
