Bureaucrats know all, can do all

I was watching Asia Cup match between Bangladesh vs Afghanistan. Our batsmen were more busy coming and going than staying on the crease. I was upset. At this time, a friend called. He asked me, what are you doing? 'Watching the game' I said nonchalantly. My friend is famous for many innovative ideas. He said, do you know what is the real problem of the Bangladesh cricket team? I got a little excited. I asked, what? In reply, my friend said, the real problem is that we do not have any bureaucrats in our cricket. Bureaucrats are wise. They know everything and can do everything. They are in every sector except sports. Why is the government spending so much money bringing Sriram, Jamie Siddons? Instead, some retired bureaucrats would have been rehabilitated if they were given responsibility. Foreign exchange would have been saved too. Sports fans like you would not be disappointed anymore. I was somewhat amused by his hidden humor. After hanging up the phone, I gave it some thought. And there is no doubt that Bureaucrats have now become a rare creature roaming everywhere. I started playing question and answer with myself alone.

Question: Who is the most discussed writer in Bangladesh now?

A bureaucrat. His name is Nabirul Islam. He is an Additional Secretary. He has written 29 books before even becoming a secretary. Ministry of Public Administration has taken the initiative to buy books worth about 10 crore rupees to increase knowledge and study habits of government officials. A list was also prepared for this. The list selected 29 books by the famous author in hiding. Wicked journalists don’t study. They don’t even touch the books. They unnecessarily made a fuss about it. As a result, the Ministry of Public Administration canceled the entire list of book purchases. But so what? Writer Nabirul's name has spread widely. He is the most discussed writer of this time. 

Question: Who's words are causing a stir in Bangladesh at the moment?

A former bureaucrat. The election is still one and a half years away. Suddenly he announced One fifty-One fifty formula. That's it! Everyone gets evolved. A war of words began. And does the political war stay in words? Never. The war now spills over into the streets. Awami League-BNP clashes are being reported every day. I am talking about our Chief Election Commissioner. Since assuming office, it seems as if he has taken the great responsibility of rousing the nation, instead of election. He is energizing the slumbering nation with one word after another. In the electoral history of Bangladesh, there has never been such a tense face-to-face war situation a year and a half before the election. We have to thank the former bureaucrat-turned Chief Election Commissioner for this. If there is no political heat in the country, how does it work? Ex-bureaucrat Kazi Habibul Awal is constantly working hard to keep the people in a spontaneous state of mind. 

Question: Who is the biggest defender of human rights in Bangladesh?

Of course, a former bureaucrat. The Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission is a former bureaucrat. This institution has been completely taken over by bureaucrats. The organization has been so successful that 'human rights' have now become a national issue. Not only a national issue, 'human rights' are now considered as a potential export product in Bangladesh. There have also been reports of forgery of UN certificates. Everyone is talking about human rights, except the bureaucrat controlled commission. Did anyone bring human rights to the footlights in this way? 

Question: Who owns the most money in the country?

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) of course. And the chairman of BPC is a running bureaucrat. He is also a secretary. When bureaucrats are the head of an organization, they run it like private property. So the owner of BPC is bureaucrat. Keeping more than 40,000 crore fixed deposits in various banks, the BPC chairman often laments about financial difficulties lately. In this question-answer game, I saw that everything is now in the hands of the bureaucrats. Respected bureaucrats have also occupied some share of the absolute reign of praying by the Imams and Maulanas. Padma Bridge Inauguration Day special prayers were not read by Khatib of Baitul Mukarram or Pesh Imam of Bangabhaban. It was read by the sweetheart of the bureaucrats. There is no such thing as a press wing of the government now. The Prime Minister's message is not delivered by his press secretary but the bureaucrats. Just a few days ago, the Prime Minister held a meeting with the tea garden owners regarding the salary and wages of the tea workers. At the end of the meeting, the Chief Secretary gave a speech. Several ministers were present in that meeting. But they did not speak to the media. 

The bureaucrats have taken over the entire banking sector of Bangladesh. Bureaucrats reign the district administration. Even in the upazila, the bureaucrats rule. Almost all government institutions have now become retirement clubs for the bureaucrats. Some bureaucrats now get reborn after retirement. With new initiatives they enter somewhere in the government.  They participate in a biscuit race after retirement to at least get the position of chairman of a bank if they don’t get any position anywhere else. This growth of bureaucrats has been going on for an age. The salaries of bureaucrats are now enviable and lucrative. There is no reason to think that corruption has decreased after salary increases. The success stories of the bureaucrats have spread abroad. The mountain of wealth of "honest bureaucrats" Canada, United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates is head-turning. A group of intelligent bureaucrats move to air-conditioned countries after retirement. Come to the country occasionally. The development path of bureaucrats is very clear and straightforward. Right after entering the service, various privileges, both legal and illegal, are spread like a net. The level of facilities is now so much that a fierce competition to become a bureaucrat has started in the country. Passing the public service examination seem to be the only goal behind the education style, dedication, anxiety of public university students. BCS examination has now emerged as a terrible disease for the education system of the country. When we studied in university, Dhaka University Library, public library was the place to acquire knowledge. I used to spend two full days a week in the library. Our Dhaka University library is full of various interesting books, not only law books. A few days ago, while attending a seminar, I entered the library of life and was shocked. It has now become a reading room for BCS examinees. Now the main dream of most of the students of the country's public universities is to become a bureaucrat. Not just ordinary students, doctors and engineers too are no longer interested in their profession. They also want to be bureaucrats now. A medical student studying in a government medical college costs the state Tk2-2.5 crore. A medical student studying in government medical college pays Tk9 tuition fee per month and Tk10 hall seat rent per month. For admission, one has to pay one time 10 to 15 thousand taka only. But admission in private medical college requires 20 to 25 lakh taka. Other expenses are several times higher than government medical colleges. Government medical college students are studying with common people's money. The state is giving this huge subsidy out of an expectation. After the education they will treat the people. People will not go abroad for treatment. They will each be like Professor Nurul Islam, Professor ABM Abdullah or Deen Mohammad. But now they are changing profession. The same is the case with engineering university students. Most of them do not want to be like Jamilur Reza Chowdhury or Ainun Nishat now. They want to be a bureaucrat. Analyzing the results of the last five public service examinations, it can be seen that out of 1,980 officers in the administration, foreign affairs and police cadres, 387 are engineers and doctors. The question is, why do students of engineering and medical science want to become bureaucrats? Benefits in government jobs are same for all cadres. Engineers or doctors can earn a decent amount of money in legitimate ways in their profession. Yet they want to be bureaucrats. Why? The reason is ‘Power’. Bureaucrats are now more powerful than any other profession. That's why everyone wants to be a bureaucrat now. Unfortunately, neither doctors nor engineers were keen to join the administration cadre. Doctor's promotion is like crossing the stormy sea. When the best talented student enters the cadre allocated for him from BUET or any engineering university, they get whipped by those who passed from History or Bangla after failing to get admission in any university. On the other hand, promotion in administration cadre is only a matter of time. They gradually get promoted to Additional Secretary. Unless their dear friends or elders make them BNP-Jamaat. Once they enter the administration cadre, they rise above law and justice. If a junior officer in the administration cadre commits corruption in the asylum scheme, his punishment will be a transfer. If Deputy Commissioner is involved in a sex scandal and his offending video goes viral on social media, his maximum punishment is demotion. If a bureaucrat holds a court in the middle of the night and beats up a journalist, takes him out of his house and files a drug case, then his maximum punishment will be suspension of salary for two years. But there is no reason to be afraid of this. He will be exempted from this punishment by the power of the President. If a foreign cadre is dealing marijuana abroad, he cannot be prosecuted under existing laws. He has to face a departmental inquiry. That's it! Later, he will be posted again when the matter is hidden from the public eye. So much for the crime of small and medium bureaucrats. In the case of big bureaucrats, these punishments do not matter. Everyone knows about Shahed scandal during Corona. He is in jail. But no one could do anything about him under whose patronage Shahed had become the darling of the administration. Health ministry secretary's room was like Shahed’s own house where used to give various orders. The former Director General of the Department of Health has been accused in Shahed's case. And the secretary exits safely and is now spending time in intensive retirement. What is the difference between the two crimes? One is health cadre officer. That is why he is still walking around the court balcony. Another is an administration cadre officer, so he sleeps peacefully. And the one who made 'Shahed' a fraud with affection is out of touch. The bureaucrats are now so overpowered that they do not obey even the instructions of the Prime Minister. A year ago, the prime minister ordered the bureaucrats to submit an account of their assets. But that directive has not been implemented till date. Bangladesh has entered into a vicious cycle of terrible bureaucracy. Now bureaucrats have become bigger politicians than politicians. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has given a historic verdict recently to overcome this situation. The bureaucrats cleverly got the government to amend an unconstitutional law to exonerate themselves. According to that law, the prior permission of the authorities was provided for the arrest of government officials and employees. On August 25, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh gave a historic verdict. In that judgment, Section 41(1) of the Public Service Act was declared invalid as inconsistent with several articles of the Constitution. The judgment was announced by the Division Bench of the High Court Comprising Justice Md Mujibur Rahman Mia and Justice Qazi Md Izarul Haque Akand. This judgment is a milestone in establishing good governance and ensuring justice in the country. As a result, it will be possible to bring the bureaucrats under accountability. This judgment will go a long way in curbing rampant bureaucratic aggression. But I am disappointed that the Minister of State for Public Administration said in the National Parliament that the government will appeal against this verdict. In other cases, ministers talk but do not act. In this case, the speedy action of the state minister Bahadur is worth seeing. The government approached the Appellate Division to save the bureaucrats on September 1 within seven days of the High Court verdict. The chamber court stayed the High Court verdict till October 23. Why is the government taking responsibility for the misdeeds of some bureaucrats? Why the rogues cannot be caught or touched. Bureaucrats are above the constitution? A small bureaucratic group is formed during all governments. They please the government with flattery. Fails the good initiatives of the government. Misleads the government with wrong information. It takes no time to change their volume after the plot is changed. In 1975, bureaucrats who used to zikr the name of Bangabandhu did not take the time to become the obedient slave of Mushtaq the murderer or Zia. The bureaucrat who wrote his PhD thesis praising the Zia Canal cutting revolution soon became the policy maker of Awami League. The bureaucrats who were enlightened by Ershad's Raj Sabha became Minister-MPs on BNP tickets soon after Ershad's fall. During the Awami League period, Bangabandhu's memorable bureaucrats turned into Zia soldiers when BNP came to power. Bureaucrats are like chameleons. Color changes as time changes. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's real strength is the marginalized people of this country. Sheikh Hasina has repeatedly proved that she is not dependent on anyone in running the country for more than 18 years. No bureaucrat has a permanent address in the Prime Minister's office. Even before the 2018 elections, bureaucrat, who considered himself the Deputy Prime Minister, is now a 'Nobody'. No one is indispensable to Sheikh Hasina. 

Some bureaucrats are doing a lot of damage to the country for personal gain. Many government institutions are being destroyed by the greed of salary, house and car after retirement. Now is the time to get rid of them. The High Court judgment has created that opportunity for the government.

I started this article with the cricket story of my friend. The end of his story is like this: I asked him what would be the benefit of giving the responsibility of cricket to the bureaucrats? In reply, the friend said, Bangladesh would not have even played against Afghanistan. If bureaucrats took control of Bangladesh Cricket, you would see Bangladesh playing against Nepal, Hong Kong, Kenya, Zimbabwe. Lose less, win more. That's it! Bureaucrats would then explain their success of our cricket with statistics. Get awards for making outstanding contribution to cricket development. While we will play Dugdugi and sing 'Aha ki Ananda'.