Officials have to maintain their own honour

NEWS report circulated in the national dailies on Thursday said ruling party lawmaker from Cox’s Bazar-4 constituency Abdur Rahman Bodi has physically assaulted a Upazila engineer of the Local Government Engineering Division (LGED) for failing to attend a meeting he attended as a local lawmaker. This is not for the first time he roughed a government official. News report said he has assaulted at least 19 officers and government employees including police and forest officers so far and he continues to be beyond correction. The lawmaker is reportedly terrorizing and his notorious link with various crime gangs is an open secret bringing embarrassment to the ruling party. Moreover news of roughing government officials and teachers at educational institutions by ruling party men often flash out in the media but what is surprising is that the government is not visibly disciplining them to stop such incidents again.  
Lawmakers sit on the Upazila monthly development coordination committee as an adviser chaired by the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO). The meeting at Ukhia Upazila on Wednesday was called to review the post flood situation and Abdur Rahman Bodi wanted to hear from the LGED engineer on the local situation. The absence of the engineer made him angry; he walked to his office and roughed him in presence of others. The engineer said the meeting started early, but it can’t be denied that the discipline at many government offices has almost collapsed for lack of accountability.
But the question is that even if the engineer had neglected to attend the meeting in time he could have been asked to show cause as to why he was absent and departmental action could have been taken against him.
Local government officials said they have informed the matter to the higher authorities. Our present members of the parliament are specially chosen persons so they have been chosen for what they are. The officials made a mistake and we shall not be surprised if some of them are officially punished for the audacity to complain.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) exonerated lawmaker Mr Bodi from the charge of ill-gotten wealth. There are widespread allegations published in newspapers about his link with human trafficking. But he is with the power and so powerful that he can claim to be feared.
As the people’s representatives are not accountable, so we have no right to complain but suffer silently. But what is to be said for the good of the government is that by antagonizing officials and everybody no government of any kind can expect to feel safe to govern. It is no surprise that there is chaos everywhere.
Let the government officials preserve their own respectability and honour and not be slavish. Only then they will be treated with respect.