Fazlur R Chowdhury
If I am a real patriot and I want to serve my country and the people then it is not necessary for me to join a political party or to become a minister. There are many different ways to achieve my goal. A farmer or a fisherman can also serve the nation by doing his job with honesty and sincerity. The doctors, engineers, lawyers and accountants can all serve their nation by playing their respective roles in the society.
There are professional bodies in the shape of institutes or associations. They are supposed to provide a forum for the professional people to be in touch with each other and share new updates in respective professional field. This is how professional institutes work for the betterment of the society and the nation as a whole. Traditionally these institutes held their annual conference or get-together in a grand fashion inviting the President of the Republic or the Prime Minister or at least a relevant minister to grace the occasion as the chief guest. The selection of the chief guest had nothing to do with any political party but only with the State and the Government as the professional institutes normally kept themselves free of any political ideology or party. This was the norm until a few years back.
In recent days it all changed. The professional bodies and institutes are now divided – divided on the basis of party affiliation. They are either Pro-AL or Pro-BNP. Every individual has a right to support or vote for a particular party or person. However, such individual action should not become a collective action when it comes to the question of professional body or institute. As a matter of fact such bodies should not discuss politics in their own meetings. They should remain above party politics. If I were a member of such an institute I would not even discuss or divulge which party I vote for because that is my own private democratic right. I should be proud of my profession and loyal to my institute and my personal political philosophy has no room there. If I happen to be also a party official then I shall do my job with clear distinction between the two different fields.
In Bangladesh the professionals want to be identified under the shadow of an influential political party. What a disgrace! While they became followers of their political masters, they destroyed their unity and integrity. They lost the strength to speak with one voice. They can neither join hands in hands for any development work nor can undertake any constructive criticism. In simple words they lose their capability to contribute anything good for the country. They cannot play their patriotic role.
In Britain it is quite a common practice for the Government to set up commissions to review various matters and then take into consideration the suggestions made by such committees. The committee or commission normally include representatives from professional institutes or trade unions so that they can also make their input. I wonder in Bangladesh if the Government is to form such a commission then who will represent the unions or institutes. Most probably there would not be any representative of any union or institute. The Government will take full advantage of their political division to ignore them all together; and the professional people will have no chance to make any contribution.
We all know that secondary legislations are made under enabling powers of the primary legislation. In the UK, it is a bit more than that. The Secretary of State (relevant minister) has a legal obligation to consult all public bodies, professional institutes and trade unions; and in the pre-amble of the rules/ regulations it is duly stated that the Secretary of State in exercise of the enabling powers under section xxx and having consulted all concerned is now satisfied to make the following rules/ regulations. Such rules shall remain on the bench of the parliament for 30 days before entering into force (provided no objection is raised within that period). Once again there is a big question – in Bangladesh if the Government is required to undertake such public consultation then who are they going to consult with?
By virtue of my profession, I travelled very widely all over the world. I have not seen professional bodies being divided and grouped with political parties in any country – certainly not in the UK, USA or other developed country. I hope I made the point clear. Whereas everyone has a right to exercise his democratic role, no one has a right to drag a professional body with a political party.
I call up on all doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers and other professionals to have self respect. Be proud of your job and profession. You have a role to play. Stay united. Cooperate in good ventures and resist everything that is wrong and immoral. Through our job and profession and through its body or institute we can play our role. The nation expects us to provide that inspiration. Let us not fail.
Mr Chowdhury,
How can you demand that profession should be proud of their profession without joining or having secret link with a political party? If they do so, wherefrom they can get money to buy cars, houses and enough money to send their children to foreign countries for education and after retirement, get settled in USA, Canada or UK? Wasterferullah, you have suggested something un-Islamic, your advice would stop them even to perform Hajj with their families and friends. It is sad that you don’t even understand that earning money by any means is HALAL and one gets rid of all sins by performing Hajj. Even the PM, leader of the opposition, military officers etc go to Hajj, some many times, to get rid of their own sins, their fathers’ and even for their grand fathers’ sins. It is as simple as that, Mr Chowdhury.
It is sad that we live in a country where political parties rulling everything. We should follow the developed world and we should confined our politics within the parliament.