Mob Justice & Seasonal Bureaucracy

Mob justice spares none, Bi-nationals make bureaucracy a subject of fun.

Police arrested two former chief election commissioners after a political party lodged case against them for holding rigged elections. What is troubling is the condemnable attack against one of them. It reminded us of the fate met by former high officials in China during the cultural revolution. It has been a little less than a year since the fall of Sheikh Hasina regime. Unfortunately, we have not seen yet any improvement of law and order.

In Bangladesh, constitutional bodies are toothless tiger and commissioners are mere office holders. They can school you,lecture you and advice you to do something or not to do something. Yes they are in charge of holding elections, but EC cannot hold alone any rigged or unfair election. Other state institutions were also involved. If EC and its people were involved in corruption ,then they should be tried accordingly. This disgust display of mob justice maligns the image of Bangladesh.

It would not be mere allegations if I say that former chief election commissioners fell victims to political vendetta. Mr Habibul Awal ,immediate past election commissioner, in one of his article questioned the legitimacy of this govt and suggested some constitutional actions(See"Fight For Legitimacy", August 29,2024,published here). That did not go well along the power corridor. So far the treatment of former bureaucrats is worse than the treatment they faced during the time of former regime.

What is interesting main protagonists of rigged elections were allowed to flee abroad but those staying back face all kinds of maltreatment before proper trial.

There has been no denying that the governance situation we are enduring now is the result of bureaucracy led by former bureaucrats who joined the service during the '80s, decade of dictatorship. Just check the background of our former runaway police chief,army chief, central bank governor and cabinet secretary. Their seniors were more prudent and exercised duties cautiously. They did not end up their career facing such an embarrassing situation.

There is a full blown civil war in Myanmar, yet very few Myanmar officials and rebels took refuge in the West. Bangladesh's situation is a lot better, yet these runaway former officials took refuge abroad and do not have the guts to face the press. There are many bi-nationals working in the bureaucracy. For the last two decades, there has been a tendency to go abroad during unfavorable regime and return to office during the favorable regime. By then the ordinary people face full brunt of their misgovernance. Very few face the legal and other consequences for their wrongdoings and corruption.

We are no nascent state,yet we are not matured enough to take prudent decisions. I think if we hire more foreign nationals (black/white) for key positions in the bureaucracy, central bank and other areas, there will be a great leap forward in the governance. New ideas, management and work environment will give the country vital transformation we badly need. The bureaucracy has become a "tamasha" (mockery) for this coming and going out of these bi-nationals at measured intervals.Things have not improved ,rather turned bad. Why do we not recruit foreign nationals (black/white) from abroad to make things better and reduce the incidence of proxy war?

Govt has so far failed to restore public order. There is hardly any qualitative change in law & order situation. Harassment of former election commissioner is an eye opener. Bi-nationals in the govt is not an issue,yet they seldom face consequences for their actions. Qualitative transformation in the bureaucracy requires recruitment of more foreign nationals (black/white) at advisory and technical level. It yielded good results for other countries, why it should not work for Bangladesh?

[Update: this piece has been updated by me at 14:30 Bangladesh Standard Time on June 26,2025.Update includes reference to the details of Kazi Habibul Awal's suggestion.]