Where there’s a human, there’s a mind. There exists a relationship between humans and their minds. And a person’s mindset is dependent on their mind, which can be either good or bad. That’s why we often hear about people with good hearts and those with evil intentions. A good heart fosters a positive mindset, while an evil heart gives birth to a negative one.
We use this mindset or heart to manage our own lives, our families, our society, our workplaces, and our nations. A family is governed by the mindset of its head, and a nation is governed by policies, laws, and regulations. And it is the political parties that govern these nations. And the people who are in these political parties or who lead them are also humans.
Since politics is a volatile subject, but it’s individuals who lead, there is a need for a mind here as well – good or bad. And there is also a need for the reformation of that mind.
Creating enlightened people means creating people with good mind and mentality and creating patriotism and human values in them. And if it is possible to do it, then it is possible to change the country positively by keeping oneself involved in the work and development of the country. However, in this case, people should be given the opportunity to work without discrimination. BR Ambedkar, the founder of India’s constitution, was considered a low caste and discriminated against in his childhood education. As a low caste, he had to sit in the outside balcony to take class, so that the high caste people would not be impure. Such a mindset can never be beneficial. But because BR Ambedkar himself had a positive attitude, he overcame all kinds of discrimination and obstacles and was able to involve himself in nation building. In 2012, he was voted the best Indian by the votes of Indians in a special event organized by History TV 18. Now he is an acceptable personality to everyone. Now if we talk about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh. Bangabandhu is a man of respect among most people except a few; Although the nation’s statesmen will have their faults, no one is above forgetting. Although Bangabandhu is a respected person, he has recently been belittled. According to many, Bangabandhu became younger because of his daughter Sheikh Hasina. Moreover, there has been a dispute over Major Ziaur Rahman as the promulgator of independence for many years. There is no denying that Major Zia is a herald of independence. But Awami League does not want to accept. Anyway, I hope to write about this later.
It’s not right to think that everyone will become B.R. Ambedkar, Bangabandhu, Maulana Bhasani, or Major Zia. Therefore, wherever there is discrimination, there is a need for a change in mindset. For example, class discrimination still exists in our country. It has been a prevalent custom for ages. From this concept, we talk about the lower class, middle class, and upper class, and sometimes in the case of Hindus, we say minority, etc. We need to consider whether this class division has come from an exploitative mentality. But I think these attitudes first come from the mind and then are practiced at the family, social, and state levels. However, one thing to remember is that in this society, money and power are more important than qualifications. Such a class classification is never helpful in changing the mindset in a society. At one time, black people in South Africa, a country of racial discrimination, were victims of discrimination and deprivation. Under white supremacy, blacks were deprived of civil rights. Those in the country who don’t think about racism will all say that whites are still at the top. The economy is still run by them. They have relatively more influence in politics and the media. They still get good houses and most of the good jobs. While all this may seem true at first glance, it’s not the only picture. On the other side of it is the picture of white poverty, which makes one thing clear: their position is deteriorating day by day.
The word “discrimination” was used less frequently in the past. But in recent times, the word “discrimination” is now on everyone’s lips. Not only that, from the top of the country to the world; whatever we say, whatever we write, if those for whom we write do not see or read it, then our writing has no significance. Bangladesh is a democratic country. This country gained independence in exchange for many lives. A democratic state will be governed through a democratic process by electing a political party through elections. But since independence, we have seen that whoever is the protector, they play the role of the devourer and become like a banana tree grown from a finger. But why? I say there is a need for a mind and mentality there. But that mind and mentality should be good, white, silver, transparent, empathetic, sympathetic behavior that will not lead to an expression of revenge, there will be no violence. There will be political ideologies, so revenge and taking revenge through violence is not democracy. Another thing we must remember is that if a political party remains in power for a long time, it misuses power, when humanity decreases in society and all kinds of misdeeds increase, that society cannot be called healthy and normal. We are going through such an unhealthy time. Thanks to science, the economy has developed rapidly, and now, wherever it is in the world, a situation has been created where people can eat and survive. But human qualities and values have declined significantly. It doesn’t seem like there will be a complete recovery. It will happen gradually. Problems need to be identified. Then an acceptable solution must be found for everyone.
Anyway, it is everyone’s expectation that a beautiful, transparent, accountable political party should form the government to get a beautiful state. Same for me. But before that there should be a dialogue with the political parties, although on August 31, the chief adviser held a meeting with all the political parties except the Awami League. We hope that political dialogue will lead to reforms and elections. There is no alternative to the cooperation of the political parties in implementing the mature system of free and fair elections. Reforms must be carried out to ensure that no more authoritarian governments emerge in the future. The interim government should organize elections as soon as possible.
Shamsuzzaman Dudu, vice chairman of BNP, said, “Establishment of democracy requires a change in everyone’s mindset: He said, it is impossible to establish democracy without voting.” Therefore, to return to the democratic system as soon as possible, according to the constitution, the nation must face the election. I agree with his words and say that democracy cannot be established without voting in the establishment of a democratic state. In this case, the political people have to change their mentality as well as reform their minds. Besides, political parties also need to be reformed along with changing the mindset of politicians. Villages have traditional customs such as floods, epidemics, calamities to correct people. There have been many cataclysms, many political crises, disasters in the political history of Bangladesh from which political persons and parties have been reformed. Now is the time again for political parties and politicians to reform. In 2011, I was writing a column about the two words of Awami League leader Suranjin Sen Gupta and BNP leader Salah Uddin Quader Chowdhury – ‘It is important to reform politicians’. Even after 14 years, it is necessary to say again that politicians need to be reformed. That is because the responsibility of running a democratic state is in the hands of political parties and politicians. That is why they should have patriotism first, their mind should be white, their accountability will tell that they are transparent in running the state. A mere change of name does not constitute a solution, amendment or reformation. For example, if BDR changes from BGB, will the mind change? Changing the clothes of the police will change the mind, changing the clothes of the BGB will change the mind? Therefore, it is understood that first of all, the mind must be changed or reformed.
Recently, TIB presented 55 recommendations in a ceremony. Although implementation of those recommendations will not happen overnight, implementation is necessary even if it takes time. During the long rule of the previous government, the information of various crimes including irregularities and corruption, money laundering, disappearances and murders is gradually coming out. This is not only during the Awami government period, but the political parties that were in the government in the past year also committed more or less corruption and irregularities. It is hoped that a fair investigation and justice will be instituted in these misdeeds after the interim government assumes power. Our experience is that political parties gradually become arbitrary after assuming power. It is necessary to take proper action plan from now to prevent this trend. The TIB made 55 recommendations for the formation of a new Bangladesh. In this, various suggestions have been given including the formation of a task force to prevent money laundering. The most notable among these recommendations is not to keep anyone as Prime Minister for more than two terms. It has also been recommended that the same person should not be the prime minister, party leader and leader of the parliament, and introduce an interim government system during elections to keep the parliamentary elections free of questions. Apart from this, other notable recommendations include – To ensure exemplary punishment of the directors-officers of Bangladesh Bank and commercial banks involved in loan fraud, all types of fraud and irregularities-corruption in the banking sector; Abolition of capacity charges in power sector; introducing a parliamentary system of proportional representation in the National Assembly; Removal of public no-confidence against elected parliamentarians and public representatives in applicable cases and organizing new elections in that area. Apart from this, the process of appointment and removal of judges in the High Court, freeing the law enforcement and administration from party influence, updating the Public Service Act-2018 and Public Servants (Code of Conduct) 1979, ensuring transparency of all financial transactions at home and abroad, human rights in the Cyber Security Act 2023. Amending or repealing conflicting clauses. We believe that most will play an important role in consolidating democracy. However, to implement these recommendations, there is a need to sit and discuss with all political parties, stakeholders. Political parties should also take initiative in formulating a framework to ensure internal democratic processes, transparency and accountability. Notably, it is important not only to separate the executive and the judiciary in the management of the state, but also to keep them free from influence. In that case, the recommendation of setting up a full-fledged secretariat of the judiciary to establish the rule of law and human rights in the judicial department, if it is implemented, it will definitely be beneficial. Implementation of the recommendations is not easy, but it will take time. Along with that, it is important to list some issues that need to be implemented on a priority basis. In that case, we think that the Election Commission, Human Rights Commission and Anti-Corruption Commission should be kept at the top of the priority list.
No matter what I write or try to say, the mind is at the root of all this, the mind must be fixed first. What do I do, what do I want to do, what is my main purpose? What to do, it is a good or bad thing? Whether it is for public welfare or self-interest, whether someone else will be hurt by my words and actions, etc. To get the full benefits of a democratic state, those who will run the country must perform their duties with the attitude of servants and not rulers. They have to adopt all kinds of action plans keeping in mind the public welfare. It must not be forgotten that the people are the source of all power, although this is limited to paper and meeting seminars. Regrettably, whoever is in power cannot remember this. As a result, people sometimes have to be reminded of it. Now whoever forms the government should remember; The state must be well run, free from corruption, transparent and accountable. It should also be remembered that violence is not beneficial to anyone, there will always be opponents. For him, wasting resources, plundering resources, vandalism, violence is not the solution. This is why a change in mindset is needed. The question may come, why do you need reform of the mind? Mind is above all, there is no denying it. For example, Awami League was in government for many years, it was criticized for various reasons including dictatorship, one-party national elections, many people could not vote. By no means was a good election held. Added to this are some other things. All in all, the manifestation of the coup. For this all things need to be reformed. After the reform of the mind, the second step is the reform of politics. Because under the banner of a political party, power is being misused by showing political power. For this, political persons demand reform time. Because long-term political parties like Awami League are maintaining the position of dominance, abuse of power, not only that, but also the leaders who have given up are not being evaluated.
Ultimately, a society cannot be considered healthy or normal when human compassion decreases and various forms of misconduct increase. We are going through such an unhealthy time. Thanks to advancements in science, there has been a significant improvement in the economy, creating a situation where people all over the world can at least eat and survive. However, human qualities and values have largely disappeared. It doesn’t seem like there will be a complete turnaround. It will happen gradually. We need to identify the problems. Then we need to find a solution that is acceptable to all. Since human anger, affection, and resentment all come from the mind, we must first fix our minds and change our mindset. Only then will politics, political parties, offices, courts, and the state change. If every person on Earth were compassionate towards each other, the world would truly become a beautiful place. But spreading compassion worldwide is quite a difficult task. Nevertheless, in these difficult times, political parties should start with compassion. Practicing this quality will be a true ‘virtue’, the path to compromise will be smooth, the country will be protected, lives will be saved, and the country’s resources will be protected. Let us be compassionate and extend a hand of sympathy.
