Towards National Unity

We have been closely watching what had occurred in recent few months and what is happening until today. To mention but a few of them are heavy -handed dealings with the Opposition, oppressive behavior in some cases, ill-intended effort of imposing extremely secular education policy devoid of religious values on the nation, promoting immorality In the educational institutions and mass media ,politicizing the new appointments, influencing the judiciary system , and weakening the country's defense capabilities and unjustly sacking highly efficient officers simply on the basis of so-called affiliation with the opposition and subservient attitude to a neighboring country in affairs some of which surely have an impact on our national security and sovereignty.

These all have been done after having forsaken all the promises given to the people prior to the last parliament election. The most important of which was that, if they were voted to power they would not pass any law that contradicts Shariah. Now, it seems to us that it was merely some sort of cheating or making the people fool.

We definitely know that Bangladesh gained its place as an independent and sovereign country in the world map after paying a huge price and that too with blood. How about people's aspirations and expectations? Were they realized ? Unfortunately, an emphasized 'no' is the only answer.

Much of nation's wealth and resource has been drained into to political conflicts, internal strife and grabbing the power. Is not it a short-sightedness to exhaust the rest of resources in issues that do not carry the weight of an atom? The people have waited for long four decades to see the light of decent living, prosperity, security etc. There are some South Asian nations who have been able to join with rich and developed club although they began the march to the progress only two or three decades ago. Why did they succeed in moving forward and we fail? The question arises itself. Of course, accurate answer can and should be given by those who were in power in the past. To accuse each other is not a solution nor is removing or installing certain names in public buildings the solution. It is not going to help any issue nor is it going to add anything but decreasing the popularity of the ruling party. The most ironic is that in such a frustrating situation the ill- motivated attempt is being made to rob the nation of its most precious possession ; the religion ,values and creed in order to gratify those who do not wish good to us. After all, when was Islam an obstacle to the road to progress and development while we see that certain Muslim countries expelled it from their education, government and other sectors before half a century but still live on charity or loans with high interest rate and hard conditions? They were not able to come out of the list of third world countries. That is - whether or not we like it- the bitter reality in respect to many Muslim countries. So the practice of driving out the religion and secularization of education will not breed anything but more political tension, slowing down the progress and more internal rift. What was a failure in Turkey can not be a success story in other Muslim countries.

What we badly need for the time being is to create work opportunities for millions of jobless young men, make them efficient and skilled worker, attract capital for investment and provide basic and vital services to citizens and build the infrastructure in line with latest innovation and technology and above all, ensure that rule of law prevails.

It is not unknown to one who is well aware of nations' development that contribution of all members of society with their different views and diverse identities - be they political , religious or otherwise - to the country has no other alternative in order for them to get rid of economic ,social and political crises.

In our case, it is not possible unless the Government shows good gesture and intention to all fellow countrymen including the leaders and supporters of the opposition and take concrete steps to build confidence among concerned parties. It is a naïve policy to be deeply entangled with trivial matters of the past. The government should never take any step that will bury the nation in the dark hole of chaos again. The opposition too has a solemn responsibility to render all possible assistance to the government in policies and projects that go well to the interest of the people and the country. The undeniable fact and everlasting truth is that one's belief and country come first and then other considerations. We must unite , at least on major and vital issues, work together, build a better future for us as well as for generations to come. Allah bless this country and its people.