Wives and relatives are more powerful than ministers

Year 1998. The Awami League is in charge of running the country. Zillur Rahman is simultaneously the Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives and also the general secretary of the Awami League. His wife Ivy Rahman is a popular leader of Awami League. I went to Zillur Rahman's office for an interview. We were fixing the camera lights. At that time Ivy Rahman entered the minister's room with one or two other leaders. After arranging Ivy Rahman to sit, the minister went to the small room inside. Suddenly the red phone on the minister's table rang. Considering it important, I asked Ivy Rahman to pick up the phone but she did not. Later the minister found out that the phone had come from the Prime Minister's Office. Zillur Rahman called and spoke very briefly. I was just about to leave after the interview, then suddenly Ivy Rahman said to me, ‘Listen, it’s the red phone, no one has the authority to receive it except him. After so many years, I understood the significance of this word of Ivy Rahman. After so many years, seeing the power grab of the 9-month-old marital partner of the Railway Minister, I understood the significance of this word of Ivy Rahman. Ivy Rahman was a popular face in the Awami League. She had her own identity. But even then she did not pick up the minister's red phone. But the railway minister has been married to his new wife for only 9 months. Yet she made the railway ministry restless by showing her husband's power. Prior to the suspension of the TTE, however, the general public did not know much about the powers of the newlyweds. In 9 months of marriage, she has made not only her husband but also the Ministry of Railways a part of her family. Now there is news in the media as ‘minister's wife's syndicate’. I don’t want to debate on whether the minister's wife is involved in contracting, ticketing or other business. I will not ask whether the Railway Minister knew all this or not. However, the railway minister told is a news conference that, ‘I have been married to her for 9 months. She still has a lot to understand.’ To put it bluntly, the minister's wife is still an ‘Ignorant Bride’. The various embarrassing situations and dangers of ignorant brides can be known only by reading Bengali literature. The issue is coming up in the media in such a way that it seems like only the railway minister’s wife is probably ‘powerful’. But that is not the reality. The railway minister’s wife came to the discussion in the wake of an incident. But the people of the ministry have been feeling the heat of her power for months. Again, the way in which the wife and relatives of the Railway Minister have shown their power is not a very uncommon thing. The power of the family of many ministers can be heard in thin ears. Important decisions of many ministries are taken by the people close to the ministers. Not every incident come to the media like TTE Shafiqul’s did. But the grip of their power can be heard as soon as the ear is thin.

A minister’s son has taken a separate office in an elite area. Contractors go there regularly. They negotiate. The minister's son sees the government's confidential file. The Minister signed the file on the words of his son. The minister’s wife oversees the ministry's projects. Assistant Private Secretary to the Minister is present as the representative of the Minister. The minister does not sign any file without APS. Things are this are happening all around us. When ministers are in power, it is normal for their relatives to taste the honey. Ordinary people have accepted it. Those who are not in the tender trade of the ministry are traveling abroad. How can bureaucrats and subordinates sit quietly when ministers are having a little pleasure and traveling abroad with relatives. I saw a tour list in New York recently. Huge fleet of 55 people. The list includes two personal officials of one state minister. I did some research to find out what this 'personal officer' thing was. It turned out that the personal officer was actually a servant. Make tea for them, ready their clothes, polish their shoes. That’s a huge task and a lot of responsibilities I must say. So a state minister will travel abroad with two private officials, why so surprised? It’s totally normal. When the state minister is taking away two servants (private officers), but not his mother and sisters, it will surely create a domestic dispute. So what to do about that? The state minister is smart. He has taken his mother and sister as his traveling companions. The state minister is quite focused on keeping his family members happy. So the subordinates must follow him otherwise it would be disobedience. So the managing director of a project in this ministry has accompanied his wife and daughter. If the state ministers accompany his whole family, the MPs can’t go abroad and accept the loneliness. That will be unfair. So the MP on the tour list has also accompanied his wife. Being a Member of Parliament means not only men, but also women are now becoming Members of Parliament. Now the matter will become heavily patriarchal if only the male members gets to accompany their wife on tour. So the female MP is also taking her husband. Leaving her husband alone is not safe at all. Thus, it has now become a custom to go abroad with family members on governments money. A state minister in a ministry has widened the family circle in foreign travel. The state minister is going to Switzerland. A Beautiful country. Going to such a country alone is a heinous act. So, the state minister did not exclude anyone close to him. The daughter of the state minister, daughter-in-law and even the cousin of the state minister are traveling companions. Following in the footsteps of the state minister, three officials of the ministry have also taken his wife and children as companions. The arbitrary travel of the ministers and the government officials didn't slip the eye of Prime minister. On Wednesday, the finance minister said the prime minister had instructed to stop the unnecessary travels abroad. But will our ministers feel the significance of this directive of the Prime Minister? Relatives of ministers who are not in the ministry, no travel companion, there is no reason for them to be sorry either. They have their area. Ministers are now being cloned. Ministers and state ministers are running the ministry and their brothers and sisters are roaming the area. The brothers of the ministers are more powerful in their area then the minister himself. A minister who does not trust his bothers have made his wife a candidate in the local elections and made her win. The administration does whatever they tell them to do.

A few days ago, the brother of a former minister was arrested. He was more powerful in the area than the minister. He has made thousands of crores of money through corruption. He is being talked about after his arrest. No one has ever said a word about him before. Now the words about the brothers of the ministers are everywhere. The brother of a minister has become the owner of land by occupying the river. The news of trying sell those lands to the government by artificially increasing the price has spread to the court. But the brothers of some ministers are very clever. They work in silence, in secrecy. The wives of many ministers are also widely discussed in the area. The wives of some of the ministers have started campaigning in the constituencies of the ministers. Their husband will a hold higher position than minister in future. They won’t participate elections in their area. They are the candidate of the future. Such announcements are also heard somewhere. It does not matter whether these are true or false because negative ideas are being created among the people and these ideas are contagious. Many members of the current cabinet have created negative perceptions among the Awami League leaders. Nowadays the leaders of Awami League are saying that some ministers are embarrassing the government. Although the leaders and workers of Awami League are ashamed of the minister and his wife, are the ministers ashamed of his relatives? These 'lucky' ministers of the Awami League laments the names of Bangabandhu and Sheikh Hasina. But how much do you follow the ideals and way of life of the father of the nation? Bangamata, the wife of the father of the nation, lived a simple life. Nowadays, when you see the wives of some ministers at VIP wedding ceremonies, it seems as if they are wrapped in a whole gold shop. Bangamata never interfered in state affairs. He was the forerunner of the bad times. She took the helm of the party when the party was in turmoil and Bangabandhu was imprisoned. But did not take any position. It is not possible for anyone to go to the height of Bangamata. But the life style of Sheikh Hasina is not unknown to the ministers. In 1996, Sheikh Hasina became the Prime Minister for the first time. Her husband Dr. Wazed Mia was then working in the Atomic Energy Commission. Wazed Mia retires after finishing his job. Sheikh Hasina did not even appoint him on contract basis. This is the ideal of Sheikh Hasina. How many foreign trips did Wazed Mia accompany Sheikh Hasina from 1996 to 2001? As the husband of the Prime Minister, he was entitled to a government car. But Wazed Mia never used the protocol car of the Prime Minister. In 2009, Sheikh Hasina became the Prime Minister for the second time in her second term. He died a few days later (in May 2009). Other members of Sheikh Hasina's family have never emerged as 'powerful'. Never did any member display prime minister’s power. I would like to give an example in this context. The Prime Minister's daughter Saima Wazed works on autism. Not only in Bangladesh, but in the whole world, she has gained a reputation as an autism specialist. Bangladesh has also given importance to autism because of the hard work of Saima Wazed. The Ministry of Health has an autism cell. Subhash Chandra Sarkar was in charge of that cell as an additional secretary. But he had a dispute with the minister. At one point the minister recommended him to the Ministry of Public Administration for transfer to another ministry. At the request of the Minister, Subhash Chandra Sarkar was transferred to another ministry. At the time of transfer, Saima Wazed came to give a speech as an expert in a program. Subhash Chandra Sarkar himself was telling me about this incident one day. After the ceremony, while drinking tea, Saima Wazed came to know that Subhash had been transferred elsewhere. She was saddened to hear this. She said, ‘I will miss your work’. Subhash said ‘Can you tell them a little bit to keep me here?’ Saima Wazed replied ‘sorry. I can't do it. Mom doesn't like it at all.’  The Prime Minister's daughter does not lobby to stop the transfer of a person who has done a good job in her sector. However, in the cabinet of that prime minister, the wives and relatives of many ministers have made the transfer and recruitment business a regular occupation.

Nepotism of those in power in the politics of Bangladesh started in 1997. Those who came to power after August 15, 1975, used it as an opportunity to enjoy. At various times in the media of Bangladesh, various attempts were made to portray Ziaur Rahman as honest. Showing the broken suitcase and torn vest after Zia’s death, it is now well established. But there is no honest research on how honest Zia and his family were. I will probably write more about this in future. But I want to give a little information in this article. Zia has since become self-proclaimed president. On June 6, 1977, Zia traveled to London to attend the Commonwealth Summit. With his wife Begum Khaleda Zia and his two sons. After eight days, Zia returned home alone. His wife and sons spent months in London. Wastes state money. There was a lot of criticism about it in the government at that time. But everyone was afraid to talk about it in public. India's popular weekly 'India Today' published a short report on this. Zia confiscated that number from India Today. India Today was banned in Bangladesh during Zia's lifetime. Zia's reign was a dark time. Frustrating time. People knew very little information at that time. A lot of information was kept captive, like a pleasure trip to London. In Ershad's time, the wall of blocked information cracked. Many stories of Ershad's entertainment, his girlfriends and his wives started appearing in foreign media at that time. Mosharraf Hossain was the chairman of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation at that time. He later joined BNP politics. During Ershad’s reign, his wife's dominance was everywhere. This, of course, is not due to her husband in government service. Because of Ershad, Jinat became very powerful in the government. After the fall of Ershad, Begum Zia came to power. And in her hands nepotism got institutionalized. Begum Zia's siblings became the most powerful. Begum Zia became the Prime Minister for the second time in 2001. The Zia family, like the family of the present King of Sri Lanka, became the omnipotent ruler of the state. In Begum Zia's second term, her son Tareq Rahman became the undeclared Prime Minister. One of Begum Zia's brothers became the head of the army's trading syndicate. Biman went bankrupt in the hands of the younger brother of the minister. The youngest son, Arafat Rahman, took over the telecom and advertising business. He also became the head of the cricket control board. Readers, look at the situation in Sri Lanka, which is exactly the situation that was created in Bangladesh during the BNP-Jamaat coalition government. The Zia family had all the power. What is happening in Sri Lanka today happened in Bangladesh in 2006. This power-hungry disorder has now infected some of the Awami League ministers. A good sign is that the disease has been identified. Now it needs cure.