Prothom Alo
The heading of today’s column, ‘let them eat cake’ is basically attributed to Marie Antoinette. During the 1789 French Revolution, this Marie Antoinette was the extremely powerful queen and wife of France’s King Louis XVI. From before the revolution, France had been facing an acute food shortage. When she was told that the peasants were not able to get bread to eat, she is said to have infamously remarked, “Let them eat cake!”
There is dispute over whether Marie Antoinette actually uttered those words or not, but later these words took on such social, political and economic significance that it now stands like this – only those who have no thinking about the sufferings, the pain, the anger, frustrations of the people, who have no empathy or sympathy, can say, “So what if you don’t have rice to eat, have biryani instead.”
Let the garment factories run and the owners make profit. We are quite happy with the dollars coming in. Expatriate workers drown and die when their boats capsize in the Bay of Bengal. They survive on grass and leaves in the jungles of Malaysia and Thailand, suffer in the Libyan deserts
2.
In the first wave of coronavirus, the readymade garment factories had been shut down. In a short time the workers were told to come back quickly because the factories were being reopened. Thousands of the workers thronged the various routes, some walking, some crowded on rickshaw vans, crammed into auto-rickshaws, pushing and shoving at the ferry terminals. We simply watched on television what sufferings they went through to make their way back to their workplaces in Ashulia, Savar.
We have seen the same scenes repeatedly after that. We saw this all over again on 31 July. Over the past few days the government had a single announcement – shops will remain closed, factories will remain closed, offices will remain closed. We repeatedly heard about the strictest restrictions. Then like the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, we heard the magic words ‘abracadabra!’ On 1 August all the readymade garment factories opened up. Perhaps some of the owners might say, “Who asked them to walk or come by van? They could have caught a flight!”
Have we stepped into a new age of Marie Antoinette? Could not 200 or 300 or even 500 buses be arranged for two days to pick the workers up from the ferry terminals and take them to Ashulia and Savar?
We are producing more young boys and girls who will slog as labourers abroad. Since studies are finished, they will have no alternative but physical labour overseas. Then again, so what? Dollars are increasing! There will be no dearth of funds to implement multi-billion taka projects
3.
I have said before and repeat, this poor soul has no Facebook account and I don’t look into other people’s Facebook accounts either. Even if I wanted to, I can’t because of faltering eyesight. So I just speak about what I hear. High and mighty leaders have Facebook accounts. Some of them are very active too. They regularly post dozens of pictures, pictures of themselves in all sorts of poses. Marie Antoinette is said to have also spent huge amounts on extravagant and costly clothes. Critics say the cost of her clothes even put a strain on the treasury of the French empire. And today I hear it takes Tk 50,000 just to tailor a man’s suit in Dhaka.
Let the garment factories run and the owners make profit. We are quite happy with the dollars coming in. Expatriate workers drown and die when their boats capsize in the Bay of Bengal. They survive on grass and leaves in the jungles of Malaysia and Thailand, suffer in the Libyan deserts. It hardly makes a difference to us.
Workers from our country meet their death in the Mediterranean Ocean, our women workers are raped and abused in many countries. So what? The remittance still comes in. We, who busy ourselves with such calculations, are elated to no end in recent times. All the remittance now comes in mostly through Bikash, Nagad and the banking channels. Hundi has almost come to a complete halt. Bangladesh Bank may even hit a half century soon if our reserves mount to 50 billion dollars.
There will naturally be a bit of sadness and suffering amid all this good news. People will die without treatment for coronavirus. Schools and colleges have been closed for over 500 days. We are producing more young boys and girls who will slog as labourers abroad. Since studies are finished, they will have no alternative but physical labour overseas. Then again, so what? Dollars are increasing! There will be no dearth of funds to implement multi-billion taka projects. Even in these corona times, the number of bank accounts with over Tk 10 million in deposit has increased by over 11,000.
4.
Coronavirus and its related problems are new, extensive and alarming. But many countries have managed small scale solutions or are proceeding towards a solution. We are into lockups and lockdowns, shut up and shut down, and now that new term, ‘stimulus package’. I have failed to make head or tail of what ‘stimulus package’ entails. But what can be easily discerned is that thousands and thousands of poor people are becoming ultra poor and there is suffering all around.
There was need to discuss with everyone and work towards a solution. The problem is new and has afflicted the entire world, so one head or five heads is not enough to find a solution. We must proceed ahead with thoughts, reasoning and solutions all together. It will not do to declare ‘down’ at night and ‘up’ in the morning.
All this, of course, is futile hope. Cracks have shown up in many houses of the prime minister’s Asrayan project, the walls are caving in. All this is reported in the media regularly. There has been no accountability, other than forming inquiry committees. Medical equipment worth millions are wasted. And the results, as seen in the media, is the same. In other words, inquiries are being carried out.
Let’s go back to the beginning. Circumstances change, but by then a handful of people become used to eating cake. However, the people without bread or rice at one point lose all patience. And so I sincerely pray that a system of accountability soon starts in this country. Due measures must be taken against those who are making the suffering people suffer even more.
* Shahdeen Malik is a lawyer of Bangladesh Supreme Court and teacher of law at Gono Biswabidyalay
* This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir
