Our Feeble Nation Builders | PD ANGIADESH is observing Beis sve independence. Indepen- dence has bestowed on. the nation the authority of self rule, the scope of ‘seating on the throne’ (Ref: Sheikh Mujb's his toric 7th March speech contained this term signifying failure of the Bangalees in accessing to the throne even after winiag the elec- tion in. 1954), of heading the armed forces and of being the bosses in all national fields of importance, which was impossi- ble in the Pakistan days. But til bad dreams ae halting the nation, every now and then. ‘The nation still lacks the accept- able ‘standards’ of measuring its success and filut, in different- ating the best and the worst and even identifying the truth and evilsome times! ‘Annation can realize its dream by the agency of abe leadership. ‘The USSR was formed and devel oped by the firm leadership of VE Lenin, Tutkey was developed by Kamal Ataturk and the modem Malaysia has seen the rapid ddovelopment‘at the hand Of Dr. | Mahathir Mohammad, | Bangladesh is. still lagging behind due to thefact that hsil- fated nation has not been biessed with strong and able leadership. Rather we have got many feeble leaders. The fragility of character of its elected, self-declared or appointed leaders in almost every field is letting us down, 1 am speaking of all types leaders- Political, administrative and judi- ial * [fam tempted to cite few exam- | ples of the fragile personality of | some of our apparently great leaders. Everybody knows if there | vas no Shen Mui inthe then | East Bengal, we are not sure if | Bangladesh could still achieve freedom from the shackles of out- | side intimidation and rule. Mu was gigantic igure both in piys- ical stature and courage. It was Sheikh Mujib who could success fully organize the people towards freedom, But after returning to the independent Bangladesh (that he dreamt for long) fom Pakistani Jal, the same Sheikh ‘Mujib was diminishingin size day by day, He didnot have any time to listen to the frst Prime Minis | ter Tajuddin’s version of the war of independence, rather the | leader’ put his ears wide open to | what Khandaker Mustaque was | telling Why did this happent fam almost sure that Muji feared that MAS Molla theintligent and knowedgeab: “ojuddin would gain some ure (could that be Over Mui hie self) if he is given due impo) tance, There ate quite good evi dence that when Miso was mala, ing the government Presidential (irom te Parliamentary form Tajudin talked to him oie the red. telephone negating this ‘wrong decision, but Mua by this time, was so diminished ‘hat he could disown his long time om anion Tejuddin's minister ship father than following his goo advice. Tome this she fallof the Suu from the orbit So the inevitable bappened August 15 and on the Sed day of November in 1875, We los both democracy and our gest tional leaders because of the lack of Integrity in character of Bangt- ~ bandh aimee : ‘Aer the sad demise of Presi dent Ziaur Rahman, wwe bad 00d elected President in [961.1 fim speaking of the Presidency of Justice Abdus Satan. He was ding te essential reforms tothe government functionaries. This Tustice President had no cldren, that i, none to pull him back ot stop him even ithe would pro- ceed towards ambitious and dar~ Jing adventures. But he yielded to General Ersha'd simple threat! It Justice Satar did not bow down to Ershad's threats, what could happen? I think nothing. Ershad ‘would not shoot the siting Pres dent. Even if he eld that to fll his lst for power, Ershad would fall to govern the country for more than few months and democratic norms could be reestablished much earlier than in 991, Sowe ost democracy due to the personal fragility of ustice Abdus Sattar, ‘AMterabout 20 yeas of unstable democratic pr Tongetime quast- niltary rules, Bangledesh politics turned to a democratic one almost overnight in 1991. Sudden changes are not good forthe soc ety; social processes proceed hav- ing the due natural course. Per- haps, ths Is one reason why’ the nation is yet to. consolidate democracy and tesch 4 stable state, Anyway I give some more instances of feble leadership. ust before the 1996 general election, Dr. Hadruddoza Choved- hhury was In the helm of BNP's electioneering process. na tele: vision interview this otherwise very good and. knowledgeable leader was asked what would BNP do ifthe party were in the oppost tion, The leader falled even to imagine that his party could bag fow votes less than the Awami League. That is Dr. Chowahury's rather weak character could not contain the imagination of being defeated inthe election. This isto ae jas ike falling of « star from the sky! Everybody knows, BNP could notformthe govemmentin 1896 after the general election, tather the part had to sit on the ‘Opposition benches in the Parla Now we have’ renowned uni sefsicy profesor as our Honor- President, we have 1wo jus- Tices heading the ind} Anti-coruption Commission TACG) and the Constitutional Body Election Commission. We have a famous. professor of Botany as the Chatman of the Public Service Commission. We have respectable professors as VCs of various universities. {ast year was attending & con- ference of an academic subject group. The respected VC ofa uni- “ersity was present inthe confer- ence. The wife ofa state minister Wwas approaching him. The respected VC was standing to show respect to.the lady having xo portiolo at al. However, the generous lady requested the VC {0 be seated. The VC's standing was not tb eecelve the lady with respectable gesture but 10 show hrerextra respect so that he can be in the good book ofthe state mine ister himsel. I thought to myself ifthe VC had the backbone bro- en of he turned to an invert. trate animal forthe time being! ‘The President ofthe county is the highest institution of the Republic. Hispostis aneutralone and incase of any national eis ior example dispute among dit ferent parties on some national Issues) he should be the last "esor for every body. The oppost- tion didnot attend the parla ‘ment sessions for months togeth er, there were a stalemate among the government party and the opposition for quite a long time. But we saw no initiative from the President to resolve that. Thee fore, evenif the incumbent Pres detthas been leading the govern. ment smoothly, his presence as the Head of State is never fel. (Our Chief Election Coma sioner is @ Justice and we car expect that his personal integrity would be unquestionable. But ‘what the nation bad to observe recently was simply unfortunate He was atmitied to the hospital for treatment of deadly disease. But he left the hospital at night. ‘The reason isstll unknown tothe general mass. However, the tion understood wel that his admission into the hospital was ‘ore to avoid a meeting with for ig delegates than to have reat- | ment for diseases, What the nation can expect from. such a feeble ‘leader? We have another justice chair ing the newly established IAC This very Chairman sometimes boastully utters that ‘this and that would be done in a week or two; but no substantial work is done. Then how can the people be assured that they would be relieved of the injustice done (0 them due to corruption of some bigwigs? ‘The Public Service Commis sion (PSC) is a Constitutional body consisting ofthe Chairman and the Members. Apart from proven qualifications and intel Jeet, these persons must have unquestionable integrity ofchar~ acter. The PSC selects the govt officers through. series of tests Under the name Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Examination. The deserving qualified candidates had full confidence on the objec- tive assessment and_ selection rade by the PSC even during the autocratic regimes. But asi ck would have it, our democratic regimes beginning from 1991 onwards usually choose. the chairman according tthe ‘colo? (bite, blue or pink) that he'she could display during the univers- fy days or during their serving elsewhere. For reasons unknown, the BCS question papers are being leaked outsever- ales. Butte Charman always says. “‘there was. no. leakage Sometimes he/she isto admit the truth but the present chairman is being found as an ‘iron lady” as regards defending her position. Butif the position itself is wrong and unfounded then iron-like hardness signifies fimaness in committing erimes as the mut- derers are very sting in convie- tion to commit the murder The nation deserves some frm and able leadership in place of the present generation of ‘men tally retarded’ feeble leaders ‘Where are the true leaders hiber: nating now? Can Dr. Yunus’ sig nal awaken them? that happens the vulnerable leadership in administration may also turn 10 stronger ones! 3