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Finance minister's food for thought

13 November 2003, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By AH Dewan, Dhaka
13 November 2003, 18:00 PM
The DS news report of November 8, followed by another on November 9, on the arrest and release at Khulna of the listed notorious smuggler Shamsul Azam by the Khulna thana OC, was a dazzling matter. A racket involving three lakh taka kickback was exposed in this saga. The OC and a Khulna BNP leader were allegedly involved. This speaks of the magnitude of corruption we have sunken ourselves into. Few day earlier, four Khilgaon thana cops were arrested for mugging two lakh taka from two jute traders. After all these exposures, does our finance minister still refute the TI report that ranked Bangladesh as the most corrupt country?

Most amazing however is the probe committee report relating to the Khulna incident that found only the OC guilty of delinquency and had him closed. The committee comprised of senior police officials. Thus the dictum "nothing ever happens to wrongdoers who can investigate themselves" is ringing true once again.

As the news reports unveiled, the OC acted deliberately at the behest of a BNP leader. Moreover, a Khulna BNP law-maker was also reported to have dictated the committee 'not to be rigid'. Hence no trace of the huge amount gulled and no mention of the BNP leader involved. Well, who dare ring the bell?

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If a law-maker could pull the wires to alter the course of action, how could you expect the rule of law to follow. No wonder good governance remains a mirage?