Feature

Thank you politicians

Arif Ashraf Nayan

Jatra is a part of our Bangali heritage and is considered as an important part of our Bangladeshi culture. The young metro generation only heard stories of the great Jatras that our elders experienced in the rural areas. Most of the Jatra revolved around kings' and Jaminders' with the prevailing injustices of those days. One of the most important aspect of the show was the presence of a special character called “Bibek” or conscious. His ultimate aim was to clarify some of the philosophies presented in the jatra and teach the audience about social ethics. Bibek is positioned somewhere in the gray area between good and evil. I always wanted to witness a Jatra myself but never got the opportunity. However, thanks to the politicians I am a part of the biggest 'Jatra' - reality show ever put on national television.

The Jatra that our political parties are showing in front of the whole nations even faded the epic Hollywood movies like the Brave heart and Lord of the rings. This is a very unique form of entertainment that we are experiencing in the country now a days. No special effects, no second shot, no make up and without any directions at all. All the elements of a perfect thriller is present a good plot, deceit and betrayal, gore and violence, intrigue, suspense, characters with unpredictable shades and so on. The best selling thriller writer might also find it difficult to combine all these factors in the same story. The Jatra has become so interesting that even the women in the city houses have moved their attention from the regular Hindi daily soaps to the satellite news channels. The news presenters are also as excited as the viewers with live streaming audio and video feeds from the chaotic hot spots. A tough competition has started among the satellite channels; everyone wants to have their own share of special footage of gore and violence. Once a great philosopher said that the two things that sell like hot cake in the media are sex and violence. No doubt violence is selling like hotcakes and thank God that sex have little or no scope to be incorporated in this jatra after all this is a family entertainment. People all over the country with serious faces holding steaming hot tea are making critical political analysis and making predictions. Dhaka as the capital of Bangladesh suffers seriously from the shortage of entertainment facilities. The general people lead a very monotonous life with very little scope to release adrenaline in their blood. This type of event ignites different types of feeling and emotions like insecurity, anxiety, fear and uncertainty in the mind of the people of the nation. Life becomes an adventure and like no other reality show the audience is also intricately involved with the process. To make the show more interesting we also have imported observers and juries, who from time to time give their opinions and provide guide lines to make the show more interesting.

The democratic people of this country are helpless than ever before, the only time they get the chance to practice their right of democracy comes after five years which unfortunately is in jeopardy this time. I sometimes wonder why Bangladesh practices democracy where the citizens do not have any option to give their opinion. Our destiny lies at the mercy of some handful politicians whose decisions are enough to cause havoc in the society. So where does the public stands? I have heard countless times that leaders of the political parties say that the public is with them and they are taking extreme measures to help the public. I don't know how many public is with them. Don't the political parties know that around 80% of the populations are below poverty line and they find it pretty hard to earn enough money to feed their family. The ultimatums of the political parties lead these people to complete uncertainty cutting their means to earn the minimum daily wage to feed their family. These people are the public of Bangladesh and I am sure that they don't give a damn about politics.

The season for exams is in full bloom with students and teachers busy preparing for the final exams. This is a very good sign that the students of Bangladesh have more access to education due to the advert of so many private universities. The parents have given a sigh of relief and are paying a hefty amount for securing the future of their children. On the other hand the students of the public universities are actively involved with the political movement of Bangladesh and for their ease the university authority frequently close their classes and they stay students forever.

Imagine what would happen if the students of public universities start to pay the same tuition fees as the private university students? I guess the political parties would be in a great trouble as head counts would drastically drop in their processions and meetings. Most of the vanished heads I guess would be busy doing assignments and studies. Keeping the public universities close indicates that whatever comes cheap have less value……..but please authorities do not consider education as a mere consumer product. Losing faith in public universities many parents are enrolling their children in the private universities, paying a hefty amount and sacrificing their own necessities for the education of their children. We have already lost faith in our political system and I am afraid that our trust in the public education sector has also started to corrode.