B Chowdhury and the need of a third force in politics

The performance of the two major political parties of the country is far behind people's expectation. Due to their failure, the problems are increasing day by day. Politicians or political parties in the developed world work for the development of their people. But the political culture in Bangladesh is totally different. Though we are supposedly ruled by a democratically elected government, yet there is a severe lack of democratic norms and sprit in our political culture.

The parliament is the symbol of our national pride and dignity. It is very sad that the citadel of our democracy and freedom is seemingly abdicating its sacred responsibilities to the hubris of a handful of lawmakers.

In such a tumultuous political situation, ex-president B Chowdhury has opened his mouth at last and stepped into the lime-light over the last few days. People want this type of person in politics but there is no room for good people in our political arena and that is our misfortune. In the back drop our conventional politics, the emergence of a third force is necessary. The majority of the people will definitely welcome any move in that direction.

I had been going through the reports published in your esteemed Daily and few others covering Prof. Chowdhury 's recent statement to the media covering the subject. My random reaction has been, what prompted the venerable Professor to "come out of the woods " all too suddenly. The motive behind such an action appears to be among others" fishing in troubled waters". When the Professor says, in response to a related question something to the effect that, he may consider floating yet another Political Party if the people want him to do so, I am rather curious. What does he mean by people?

To the best of my knowledge irrespective of what one may or may not say, the truth is, there is hardly any Political Leader in the country who has any real contact with the people at large. The so-called contact with the people by a Political Leader today is based on coercion, intimidation, terrorism and muscle flexing.

I do not hold brief for any of the political parties, simply because, if anything, collectively they have inflicted grievous injuries to this country, more so to the teeming millions belonging to the lower middle class (now a vanishing class) including the abject poor and the disadvantaged.

On the contrary I have good memories of Prof. Chowdhury when he was a practising Physician. I have a hard time believing that he would consider being a Politician as more rewarding than being a Physician. As Physician he can still continue to be "of service to the people" more as against a Political Leader. He may have held high positions in BNP and was one who held the country's highest office at one time but then this is entirely a new ball game!

Shamsher Chowdhury, Dhaka

B Chowdhury is not only famous as a physician, but was also a respected figure in the political arena for his distinctive qualities. After all, he is one of the few gentlemen in the existing political field. He always had his own stand regarding political matters -- his opinions were sometimes different from his party BNP and he has paid for that.

Even though we live in a so-called democratic society, political parties seldom practice democracy. Party chiefs take the ultimate decisions and they are never elected democratically. And practice definitely frustrates the intellectuals who are actively involved in politics. As a result, the educated people are losing interest in the party. Nonetheless, B Chowdhury is a true example of a tragic hero who is receiving harsh treatment from his countrymen for whom he did a lot.

The BNP should have been more tolerant towards B Chowdhury. However, Dr Badrudduza should also show restraint and refrain from overly provocative comments. Obviously, he has the right to think of a third party, and the BNP must uphold freedom of expression and association in a democratic society where opposite views are accepted.

Oli Md Abdullah Chowdhury, Gulshan, Dhaka

I would like to reply to the criticisms by Shahjahan Ahmed put forward on 16 Nov on the emergence of Dr. B Chowdhury.

The writer criticised the veteran leader on having failed to rectify the national errors while being a "senior member" of BNP. What I would like to point out is that the current political parties in Bangladesh hardly runs in an internal democratic manner that the writer is assuming. It is quite immature to expect that too many opinions of "senior leaders" other than the prime ministers themselves will be taken into account, if they do not satisfy the "ambitions" of the party. And we have seen over the last twelve years that however the pledges and ambitions of our two main stream party lawmakers, they have remarkably failed to serve the goals of our nation, and "coincidentally" none of them has left the parliament any the poorer.

In such a circumstance, senior politicians like Dr. BC would find any good intentions for the country very hard to implement. Our current system resembles an utter chaos of security, bureaucracy and financial status; where anyone in the system is unable to change it, and only ends up getting "moulded" into it.

The only way to rectify such a situation is to clean it up from the head of the governance, and in that we need someone with sufficient good reputation and experience.

The only person in the country who owns the credentials to command such a respect from the people and other well-intended highly ranked civilians is Dr. B. C. It was about time, that someone like him would stand up and give the people some respite from the two "bad and worse" choices that they were currently constrained to.

My concluding message is that we are now in a situation of the "Wild Wild West" in US two hundred years back, and we should come to appreciate a thin lining of hope that we can see now in order to truly realise a "democracy" in our nation.

Saad Kabir, On e-mail

Recently, some newspapers have published the news that a new third-front in the political arena is going to be formed under the leadership of some veteran politicians. We appreciate their initiative. We are disappointed with the activities of the two main political parties. The people of Bangladesh have seen the regimes of the AL and BNP. They are not concerned about the welfare of the society, rather they support corruption, terrorism and nepotism.

During the election campaigns, they promise many things to the voters. When the come to rule, they forget their promises. Now the situation of Bangladesh is very frustrating. Many people of North Bengal are passing days without food, many are killed by the assailants. I find no improvement in the law and order situation. I think both the AL and BNP have failed to perform their duties in the parliament. In this situation, if a new party is formed under the leadership of some prominent politicians, and if their objective is to serve the people, we welcome them.

Topon Kumar Paul, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba, Japan

The present political, economic and social condition of our country of is quite grave. If we do not resolve it now then the coming generations will suffer more than we are suffering now. Mr. B Chowdhury is a person who commands the respect of everyone in Bangladesh. I am sure that he is the leader we need now. The political parties have disappointed the commoners like us.

There is no security in society now. Much of it is the result of the conflict between the political parties and the unabated crime committed by the party-men from different parties.

If we continue to suffer like this, the corruption, poverty and crime in the country will increase and we will continue to be crowned as the most corrupt nation.

It is my firm belief that a civil revolution or I may call it Bengoli Renessaince, has to happen now. In that case B Chowdhury is the ideal person to lead us.

Reaz Mohiuddin, B.Sc.Engg, Sher-e-Bangla Hall, BUET