Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
It was 1969, which was the regime of the colonial rulers. Dictator Ayub was running the government in a cruel way. The mass movement of that time and the role of the then student community led to a turbulent mass awakening in the country. After 55 years, history repeated itself.
History was like a burning fire waiting to complete its accomplishments at the right time. Environmental conditions play an important determinant for any revolutionary change.
Some stories of incidents are being accumulated in the corner of my mind. So, in the preface of this article, I have tried to summarize some of the events in a short form that took place during the regime of the last government. I have been doing freelance journalism, editing and publishing a monthly magazine since 2018 after my retirement from government service.
So far, I have written more than 500 issue-based features in English and Bengali national dailies. Due to the pressure and threats of the government on the media line, it was difficult to reveal the truth in many cases.
But I never retreated from logical analysis. With the introduction of the Digital Security Act, a dark cloud descended on the world of journalism and relevant publication activities. Thanks to the pen, for the role it had played in the awareness development activities of the people.
During the anti-discrimination student movement, two articles were published in the daily Bengali and English newspapers on the Benazir/ Aziz issue and question paper leakage of PSC and corruption, which expedited the movement one step forward. Besides, one secretary, whom I knew was appointed contractually three times even after completion of his service tenure.
This was the case with the ministry of housing and public works. Bribery, irregularities and corruption scandals were rampant and published in the daily newspaper as reports. When it was published in the media, the very secretary tactfully stopped it.
It was known through sources that the secretary concerned had his underhand action of bribery for the ousted Prime Minister’s sister Sheikh Rehana not in hundreds but in thousands of crores for the three-term contracts. I hope that the current government will take them into account and will take necessary action.
Now I skip to the proposals for the formation of modern Bangladesh along with an introductory phase. Bangladesh got independence in 1971.
Although we got geographical independence, we did not get economic emancipation. 53 years of independence have passed; no change is yet to be achieved. We are tied to the vicious circle of exploitation.
The month of July 2024 was a month of historical plot-change for the Bengali nation. As a result of the anti-discrimination movement, a new Bangladesh free from long-term oppression and corruption has come to an end. It would not be wrong to call it more of a second freedom.
The student movement was a historical movement. In this movement, the exploitation, torture and oppression of the dictatorial ruler has come to an end, but is the nation still free from conspiracy? When will public relief and peace come?
However, the bad game of the Hasina government is finished. Emancipation has apparently disappeared from the tyranny of dictatorial rule. But the time has come to embrace this awakening of freedom and become patriots and focus on the service of the motherland and her reconstruction.
On the last 08/08/2024, an interim government was formed under the leadership of Dr. Mohammad Yunus and he was appointed as the chief adviser for the new government. He is indeed an experienced and learned man.
He is a wise man with modern ideas. From the collection of his ideas, an idea is given as quoted here, “Job is a wrong idea. Don’t ever look for a job, always tell yourself that I’m a job creator, I’m not a job seeker” Following this historic speech of Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the nation must move forward despite many challenges.
The government has to take the responsibility of nation building work by taking some practical and well planned reforms.
In this context, I am suggesting the following recommendations based on practical programs with the aim of building an ideal nation state. The recommendations include:
Local Government Reorganization and Reform
Under this program, a National Security Council may be formed first.
The District Governor may be appointed in each district. Various cadre based posts and appointments like DC and ADC may be confirmed in the district administration.
In other words, all the officials in the district administration should be kept in mind so that they are not posted from the administration cadre only.
The post of Deputy Commissioner should be rotated from time to time by appointing qualified officers from other cadres. The same is applicable to upazilas – which can be considered as administrative reforms.
Villages need to undergo as a form of local government-which will be called Palli Panchayat Every village committee should have honest, devoted and dignified people.
The various committees are namely Village Security Parishad, Environment Parishad, Village Education Parishad, Village Health Parishad, Rural Sports and Cultural Parishad. The National Security Council will manage, oversee and monitor all the activities of these Parishads.
Public administration should reduce bureaucratic dependency.
The bureaucratic system needs to be overhauled. Appointment of bureaucrats must be confirmed through competitive promotion examination.
A high powered National Education Commission should be constituted Initially, the existing committees of all public and private schools and colleges should be dissolved and the upazila officials should fulfill the responsibility of forming the management board of the schools and colleges, which in turn will ensure discrimination free education system.
In the light of the proposed vision 2050, the mission of the Bangladesh state should be “Achieving respect, self-reliance and prosperity” which will be known as three-s (3-S). To achieve this vision and mission, let us be inspired by the concept of humanity, patriotism, love and vow to build a beautiful and modern Bangladesh by implementing the above mentioned 21 recommendations.
The Interim Government will be committed to the role of nation building by taking into consideration the proposal of Model 2050 as a guideline to build Bangladesh and fulfill the dreams of Generation-Z.
(The author is a former Deputy Director General, Bangladesh Ansar and VDP; columnist and researcher. )
