Rendezvous with corruption

The news media in Bangladesh, the national newspapers in particular, had published some parts of the report with different thought-provoking headlines. Some took it for a dampening slur and malevolent insult. Some tried to trace the link in ugly notorious vendetta of politics. Some conveyed embarrassment of the Anti-corruption Commission over the report. And there was a half-hearted reaction of the communication minister stating that the government would protest to the Transparency International (Prothom Alo, Oct 19/05).

Some of the leaders in the party in power loudly thought that the newspapers in Bangladesh were used to publish 'untrue' news taking undue advantage of the 'unfettered freedom of press'. They considered such sources or feedbacks as the unholy bases on which TI framed their report in collusion with some vested interest within the country active in soiling the image of the 4-party alliance government. Such efforts on their part at digging out a sort of imaginary linkage of the 'vested interest' to defile the present government proffered no pull with the general public. In this context it may be recalled that a powerful member of the cabinet held the journalists responsible for spreading seditious news upon our achieving the 'championship' last year. He made a full-throated protest and even went to the extent of lodging formal rejoinder with Transparency International Headquarters in Berlin, Germany. The Daily Star quoted the honourable minister in its October 20, 2005 issue as saying that if there was proper investigation the name of Bangladesh would not be even in the listed 50 topmost corrupt countries of the world. He did however think that only a concerted endeavour of all the strata of the society could contain corruption once for all.

Assuming that the comments or observations so far made by some of the stalwarts in the cabinet echo the position of the government as a whole, we may look at the wholesale accusation against the journalists or for that matter, the newspapers at large. In fact, the readers of newspapers get only a very insignificant part of the whole story on corruption. Everyone is aware of the vast magnitude of corrupt practices obtaining in the country. Only a very small part of it is covered in the daily newspapers. If, however, the contention of the government as to the alleged concoction by the journalists and the newspapers is taken to be true, the people would naturally like to see that proper legal action against the offending journalists and the newspapers was taken. In reality, we are yet to see such proceedings notwithstanding the massive publicity we have had across the world by now. There is no doubt that TI report has no political influence, it is based on specific findings of five different organisations. Curiously enough the newspaper organisations do not comprise the stated five. And that belies the accusation of the ministers.

Abuse of government power for personal aggrandisement has been the central criterion based on which Transparency International had worked out its report. Such a weird criterion TI holds to have been the major factor that breeds corruption unbridled. In logical sequence, therefore, those in power -- the ministers, state ministers, ranking party leaders -- will have to share large-scale abuse of power. And with their direct or indirect patronage a sizeable part of the bureaucracy at different tiers has its own contribution to massive corruption in the country. Here, there is no scope to hold people belonging to other strata of the society responsible in the least. Nor the government and the parties in power can escape public censure by repeating the old, stale and utterly ineffective accusation against a "particular (unnamed though) circle or vested interest that manipulated" the TI report. The pointer was evidently to the major opposition party Awami League who too earned the disgraceful thorny laurel once in its tenure.

Irrespective of the most usual mud-slinging between the position and the opposition, the truth remains that over the past five years (including one year during AL regime) nothing worthy of mention has been done by the governments to stop or punish corruption or corrupt people. On the contrary, they (those with power) kept on their joyous ride in the vile stream. In recent times some of the donors and the World Bank in particular have recorded their serious objection with the government on corrupt practices. Early this month the World Bank asked for refund of around 10.25 lakh US dollars provided by it for implementation of three projects -- one in the local government sector and two in the health sector on grounds of corruption. The World Bank authority has alluded to specific irregularities in government procurement of tenders for the three projects.

Parallel to our part of the 'ignominious glory' on corruption we can have an instant look at the front page news in the local dailies of November 08. It conveyed to the readers a very intriguing report on the alleged scandal in Iraq about an oil deal in which the UN body claimed to have found enough proof to impute the present Indian Foreign Minister Natobar Singh and the Indian Congress. The US investigator Paul Volecar arraigned as many as 2200 companies and eminent personalities in the political arena across the world (including Natobar Singh) in the oil for food programme of the United Nations. Specifically Natobar Singh and his Congress Party were reported to have bribed the Iraqi government during Saddam's era through an Iraqi agency. And pending a full range judicial enquiry to be conducted by a commission headed by a former Chief Justice of India S Pathak Mr Natobar Singh had displayed a unique moral guts to request Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to relieve him from the position of Foreign Minister.

The example of Natobar Singh can be booster for the parallel ones here to rouse them up from the abysmal dungeon of moral turpitude. An immediate, meaningful and objective purging of the rightly imputed criminals ever active at minting money exploiting their power bases is most urgently called for. How long the Prime Minister or for that matter, the authority that matters will take to make a positive intervention to save national prestige in the international arena? At least, this writer for one, believes that none on earth is indispensable. So also the ministers and/or the party leaders par se. So, go for the action now or never. Be determined not to receive the second hattrick.

In the first step the head of the government can keep the imputed ministers, bureaucrats, party leaders away from the power centre. Make thorough, honest and unprejudiced probe in the accusations against them through a former Chief Justice. The process may continue without any interference, not even by the Prime Minister till such time as the so-called independent anti-corruption commission gets out of its present utterly disorganised state. Let us remember the great saying: "A moribund society produces its own morbid grave diggers."

Kazi Alauddin Ahmed is a management consultant.