Everyone seems to have an opinion nowadays regarding saving the nation from tyrants, or saving the religion which is being strangled by non-believers. No one is ready to give up their position for the sake of the countrymen and their troubles. People are dying in numbers unwarranted, while the real culprits are absconding.
What does freedom mean in the eyes of the common man? It is probably a regular day without hartals and oborodhs where he can earn his daily living without any extra hassle, a day when he doesn’t need to worry about his daughter going to school safely, or his son returning home from college safely. A regular three meals a day, and occasional family gatherings without any sort of external disruption is enough. It is this simple. However, sadly, the people of our country are unable to even achieve this little bit of peace without interference.
Every mother has to think twice before their children’s exams regarding how to commute to school safely. Every father has to worry about his son being checked on the roads and mistakenly being taken to jail for scrutiny. Is this democracy?
If any of the political parties and their constituents are asked about the unwarranted intrusion, they would simply blame each other. Meanwhile, the regular people are counting losses each day as their business products are rotting laden on trucks. In certain cases, they are burning because miscreants decided to set ablaze the entire carriage.
Our beloved motherland is on fire because political parties cannot make up their minds. They cannot compromise due to intense rivalry between themselves. The common man does not care about who the ruling party is or who the opponent is; they only care about peace and sovereignty.
Every five years before the election time, the same chaos and feud resumes, the same fight for power continues until the stronger force takes the throne. This is not what was supposed to be, this does not denote democracy in any sense. Maybe we have forgotten what the real essence of democracy is in the first place. It is a government selected by the people, for the welfare of the people.
Patients are dying on the roads unable to reach the city for enhanced treatment. People are unable to attend to their regular work in a country already suffering from unemployment. Schools have been given early vacations to maintain the safety of the young ones.
Public examination candidates are praying for safety on the roads while attending the compulsory examinations. The nation’s balance of payments is steadily increasing on the negative side. Tension resides in every household regarding the future, businesses are counting losses daily and watching rising interest rates.
Banks are wary of the eroding reserves because of consumer agitation and removal of cash. Every single sector is affected negatively because major political parties cannot or do not want to come to any compromise. This cannot be the result of democracy. This cannot be the result of a long nine months’ war to give birth to an independent and proud nation called Bangladesh.
The common people want democracy back in their beloved country. They want leaders who do not simply want a piece of the throne, but someone who will unite the country back into one nation following true democracy and immediately put a stop to this current insanity that is going on in the name of democracy.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
