ePaper_2nd Edition_October 12, 2016

22
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016
DT
Opinion
Our dead young politicians
Young politicians in our country are often killed before their time
Our politics cannot be separated from bureaucracy and violence
These young politicians who are getting killed wanted to serve their
country and compatriots as well in their own ways. Noble enough
causes, but what was the point, given that their lives were cut so short?
• Faruque Hasan
I
was sitting in the office of my
friend’s garments processing
and dyeing plant in Mirpur,
speaking to him. The security
guard appeared at the door, and
told my friend that a young man
would like to see him. “OK, let him
come in,” my friend replied.
In a minute, a rickety-looking
young man, most likely in his early
20s, came into the room. My friend
asked him to have a seat. He did
so, and then introduced himself
as the cultural secretary of the
student union of a nearby college,
not forgetting to mention that
he was also the president of the
local unit of the student wing of a
political party.
My friend wanted to know the
purpose of his visit. The young
man asked for Tk5,000 as a
donation for a cultural program
that was to be organised by the
student union of his college.
Without any further talk, my
BIGSTOCK
friend told his accountant to give
the boy the sum he asked for and
then resumed the conversation we
were having. A few minutes later,
the accountant came back with the
money and gave it to the boy. The
boy took the money and got up to
leave. “Please pray for me; I start
my political career today,” the boy
asked of us.
We didn’t care much for his
request.
I started to ruminate: What
did he mean by “I start my
political career today”? When I
inquired, my friend said: “You
know, this is the first time that
boy has collected ‘chanda’ from
a businessman -- he thinks that’s
politics.”
I did not pray for the boy for
his success in politics -- doing
him a favour. Nowadays, the lives
of politicians, especially young
ones, in Bangladesh are mired
in conflict. If we go through the
pages of daily newspapers, we
see how most such young men
and women are not only getting
killed in inter-party conflicts, but
in intra-party conflicts as well.
These days, inter-party conflict in
our politics is a thing of the past,
while factional infighting is now
the most decisive killer of young
politicians.
Let’s go through some old
issues off of our national dailies.
On August 8, a local youth
leader was hacked to death
by miscreants at Jamirakanda
village in Purbadhola upazila of
Netrakona district. On August 13, a
youth leader was hacked to death
by unidentified miscreants at
Balaishpur village of Lakshmipur
Sadar upazila.
On August 31, a local student
leader was hacked to death in
Khulna. On September 10, a
ward-level youth leader was shot
dead by some unknown assailants
in Kanchana union of Satkania
upazila. On September 21, a local
student leader was found dead in
Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila.
There are at least 10 more
instances of such deaths that I
could have listed here for dramatic
effect, but I hope I’ve gotten the
severity of the situation through.
These young politicians who are
getting killed wanted to serve their
country and compatriots as well
in their own ways. Noble enough
causes, but what was the point,
given that their lives were cut so
short? How could I have given that
young man my blessings knowing
his probable fate?
The lives of our youths matter.
To save our budding politicians’
lives, we need to root out the
causes of such killings. The
politicisation of various highlylucrative
businesses such as
the admission business, room
allotment at student dormitory
business, tender manipulation,
sand lifting, land grabbing, etc,
could be a few possible avenues
that we can explore.
Our nation’s bigger political
parties must reach a consensus
to stop this politicisation, or shut
down the branches of their parties,
youth wings, and student wings
at each and every village, ward,
and mahalla of the country. Many
of our youth and student leaders
flock to politics, attracted by those
lucrative businesses. The trend of
killing of young politicians, if not
stopped, will only get worse as
time progresses. •
Faruque Hasan is a freelance
contributor.