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Remilking the cow

9 July 2004, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Alif Zabr, Dhaka
9 July 2004, 18:00 PM
A foreign Muslim analyst pointed out (as a visitor to Saudi Arabia; see DS June 28) that the fundamentalist institutions in the Arab world were 'remilking the cow.' He was referring to the inability of the clerics to come out of the pages of the holy books and market practical tools and gadgets for the unity and revival of Islam, now mistakenly credited to the terrorists, who are dubbed as Muslims fighting against Western imperialism and materialism.

To a local citizen in Dhaka, it appears that our political leaders are also milking the cow in the field of political culture. Result: premature or still-born regimes who cannot mature into adulthood, and are unable to grapple with the problems of the new nation. Ironically, most of these problems are created by the politicians themselves; but they hide in lofty sermons, which go above the head of most of the citizens.

One generation has been ruined, and the second generation is being groomed in the wrong way. The price of poor leadership is very high, and lingering. The systems losses in politics is costing the nation dearly, but the leaders continue to remilk the cow. The resulting cobweb has entangled flies of many types. This is an analogy for the vicious circle of the aloof, rich and the mighty. The political wisdom displayed is as dense as the number of people per sq km (above 1,000, one of the highest in the world).

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Whatever is the name tagged to this malady, the cure is not in sight. First protect the citizens, or the nincompoop leaders?