Whose transparency are we talking about?

I am concerned particularly about the comment made by our finance minister when he said, "It is true that there is no such instance of giving immunity to the World Bank. But it is also true that there is no incident of issuing fatwa or filing case against the World Bank, except in Bangladesh." I have a question for the honourable minister, "By saying this do you want to imply that no one can raise an eye-brow against the big brother WB? If being a Bangladeshi I can't file a case against any misdeeds of anyone, no matter whether this is any international Big Brother, then please tell me how can I exercise my constitutional right as a citizen of a sovereign country?

I am also concerned about our civil society initiative to raise voice in this regard. The Shaptahik 2000 some time ago organised a roundtable on this immunity issue in which many respectable intellectuals participated. But going through the names of our intellectuals so far I have not seen representatives of any leading human rights organisations like Transparency International, ASK or BLAST who could come forward to raise their voice on this issue (I would be happy to withdraw this comment if someone inform me that these agencies have already protested). Where are our eminent lawyers now to raise their voices?

Moreover, so far I know WB enjoys immunity in the countries where it had signed the Establishment Agreement, but it has no such agreement in Bangladesh or in any country in South Asia. So, the World Bank is not entitled to enjoy the immunity.

It is really funny when the donors like WB always pressurise the government for transparency and accountability. Asking for immunity raises serious concern about the donors' own transparency. Are the issues of good governance, accountability only to be followed by the weak and poor while being rich and strong WB will enjoy the privilege to do whatever they like to do?