Sir Frank Peters

If corruption were a mineral and a blessing from God, Bangladesh would be custodian to one of the greatest natural resources on earth and the most blessed nation.

Bangladesh is rich in corruption, which is the single biggest threat and drawback to it ever achieving Sonar Bangla status.

So rife is corruption (now assuredly in temporary hibernation, waiting to resume), one suspects WASA adds it to the water supply and its become integrated in the nation’s DNA.

I had often wondered about the horrific dead-rat smell I got when I turned on the water tap. Now I suspect it’s the smell of corruption.

There’s no shortage of corruption in the country. If it were possible to bottle, package, or produce it in pill form, Bangladesh would rank high among the world’s top producers and possibly exporters.

It’s literally everywhere... the police... passport office... post office... the taxation department.... you name it. It’s difficult to impossible to name an area that’s free of corruption.

For instance, how many times do the taxpayers of Bangladesh have to pay for the roads and streets to be surfaced properly before they are properly resurfaced?

The corrupt authorities responsible for the upkeep of the roads and pathways, seemingly, have patented a method that makes the roads look good for six-months (or less), then the inferior quality material disintegrates, and more money is required to re-do the job all over again. That sordid practice has to end.

Scandalous behaviour during Ramadan

Scandalously, too, during the holy month of Ramadan ­the holiest month of the year – one sees the cost of food skyrocket beyond the reach of most, at a time when there is no food shortage and it should be at its cheapest, even if only to help spread the blessings of Allah among the poor and downtrodden.

Low-income earners and poor people especially, suffer immensely and just cannot afford to buy proper wholesome food to feed themselves and their families. And most of this, allegedly is shamefully attributable to greedy, corrupt, mafia-in-uniform police and corrupt local politicians who behave like highway robbers and extract unlawful tolls from the delivery truck drivers en route with the Allah-given, life-sustaining farm produce.

Bangladesh must prepare now to prevent this scandalous injustice from happening in 2025 and onwards. Corruption must cease on all levels if the entire population of Bangladesh is to benefit and not just an elitist group of shameless compassion less crooks.

Through the noble actions of the Anti Quota Movement Bangladesh has been blessed by Allah and given another chance at wiping the blackboard of skulduggery and despair clean; rebuilding Bangladesh properly, and this time getting it right. Impossible if corruption is not eliminated on all levels.

Moving forward

As we move forward into what everyone hopes will be an exciting new era (and not a repetition of the past) it is of the utmost importance we wipe the slate clean; we leave all the errors and mistakes of the past behind, and focus on creating a nation that we would all want to embrace in heart, soul, and mind and proudly pass on to our children.

Installing a new government will only be half of the battle won. The real victory lies in installing a new government that is competent, can be infinitely trusted, that’s totally free of corruption, that resurrects, dusts off, and brings to life the immortal words spoken by President Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg: “government of the people, by the people, for the people”. Anything less than those principles is fake democracy, a falsehood, and not worth pursuing.

The people of Bangladesh have suffered long enough. Countless have given their limbs and lives in pursuit of a better life, not for the rich to get richer and the majority of the people continue to be enslaved by poverty.

In that regard, there’s an important lesson for the opposition party in Bangladesh to learn from Australia.

“We’re here to keep the bastards honest” was how in 1980 Australian political leader Don Chipp, described their role in opposition.

I propose the Anti Quota Movement reinvents itself into becoming an Anti Corruption Movement, and play an active role in the noble task that affects and benefits everyone, individually and collectively.

Thank you Anti Quota Movement

Before moving forward in making any beneficial change to the nation itself, however, we need to pause and thank Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, and their thousands of young esteemed colleagues of the Anti Quota Movement – the new breed of freedom fighters – for putting their lives at risk in bringing about this monumental change for the greater benefit of all. The nation owes them an enormous debt, which may never be repaid.

We especially need to thank and pray for those brave young patriots who died during the bloody struggle. Inna lillahe Wa inna Elahe Razeon. May they now be in paradise with Allah.

The greatest honour we can bestow upon those of 1971 and 2024 posthumously is to build a nation that would make them proud and worthy of their sacrifice, rather than cause them to turn in their graves in abject disappointment, horror, and disgust as many after the 1971 war of independence no doubt did.

The writer is a former newspaper and magazine publisher and editor, a humanitarian, human rights activist, Honorary Member of the Bangladesh Freedom Fighters, and a foreign friend of Bangladesh.