Feature

IBA Communication Club (IBACC) Holds Roundtable on the 'Thoughts of the Young Generation on the Reform Process'

For the last eight months or so, Bangladesh has been undergoing a significant change a change that has been labeled as 'reform' by some quarters. It is the most talked about topic in the country right now from the articles in the daily newspapers to the heated discussions in tea-stalls and canteens, the ongoing reform process seems to be at the center of attention of the people.

The Institute of Business Administration Communication Club (IBACC) hosted the IBA National English Debate Championship 2007 from August 10-12, 2007 participated by the leading public and private universities throughout Bangladesh. On this occasion, IBACC took the opportunity to organize a roundtable to hear the views and opinions of the young generation on the current reform process initiated by the caretaker government. The roundtable, titled 'Thoughts of the Young Generation on the Reform Process', was held on August 12, 2007 at IBA and was chaired by Syed Munir Khasru, Moderator of IBACC and co-moderated by Shahnoor Wahid, Sr. Asst Editor of The Daily Star (also editor of the Star Campus). They were assisted by Morshed Ul Arefin, General Secretary of IBACC. The participants of the roundtable were Subarna Barua (Dhaka University or DU), Ananna Ahmed (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology or BUET), Sheemtana Shameem (North South University or NSU), K. M. Zakir Hasan (Jahangirnagar University or JU), Ipshit Tarafdar (Independent University of Bangladesh or IUB), Abdus Samad Hemel (Chittagong University or CU), Zoheb Ahmed (BRAC University), Ashik Sarwar (Rajshahi University or RU), Rashad Riasat Haque (Dhaka Medical College or DMC), Chowdhury Md. Khaled Shams (Sher-E-Bangla Medical College, Barisal or SMC), Sanaul Haque Himel (United International University or UIU), Tanvir Hafiz (Stamford University or SU), and Ridwan Md. Karim and Md. Arbaaz Nayeem (both from IBA).

The roundtable started off with Syed Munir Khasru welcoming everyone and making introductory remarks which said, “We thought that it's a good opportunity to see what the young minds of the country think about the reform process as we now have some of the best minds of the country gathered together for the debate championship.” The discussions covered a wide range of issues with some of the key topics discussed being highlighted below:

Political and Electoral Reform
Zakir of JU said that the first priority of the government is to keep up their promise of providing a free, fair, and credible election by the end of 2008. As long as there are indications that that promise can be kept, the people will be by their side. However, he does not agree with what has been termed as the 'minus two' policy of the government, since it will limit the democratic choices of the people. Criticisms of this caretaker government came from Ashik, a final year English student of RU would rather call it an intermediary semi-military government, while Khaled, representing SMC, believes that the skepticism and reservations regarding the caretaker government has more to do with the mindset of the people rather than any fault of the government. Sheemtana of NSU supports the steps the caretaker government has taken to clean the mess left behind by the political parties before the election but adds that this sort of an occurrence can only be allowed to take place once in a democratic country like ours. Sanaul of UIU opines that in order for the reform of the political parties to be fruitful, the initiative has to come spontaneously from the parties themselves and through involvement of the grass root level.

Ridwan (IBA) suggested that the current government needs to lift the ban of indoor politics and the state of emergency to remove the skepticism clouding peoples' minds. Drawing comparisons with Pakistan's model of governance, he states that the 'minus two' policy and the pressure put on the major two parties for reform might create an opportunity for some radical Islamic militant parties to rise to power. Arbaaz (IBA) stressed on the importance of separating the judiciary from the legislative body and making the police force more efficient and powerful to create a self-regulating democratic system that doesn't depend on certain leaders to run it smoothly and can clean itself up from all the mess.

Educational Reform
Rashad (DMC) candidly shared his experience regarding politics and corruption in the education sector of the country. According to him, in almost all of the public medical colleges, students working for the ruling political party gets preferential treatment regarding allocation of seats in the students' hall and evaluation in examinations. Khaled (SMC) added to Rashad's point by speaking on the same problems that are prevalent in the masters' level medical exams as well, and on how Jamat-e-Islam Bangladesh motivates students to join their party by providing them with financial aids and other incentives.

Ananna, (BUET) shared her own experience in this light and said that most students were supportive of the ban on student politics in BUET. Ashik (RU) spoke with regret on the overarching influence of Jammat-Shibir in his RU campus and he believes that all the teacher appointments in each public university in the last 15 years needs to be looked into as a large number of them have been politically appointed.

Subarna (DU) believes that the culture of coaching centers is harmful for the country and there should be some steps taken against the spread of this culture. Suggestions for reform regarding this issue came from Zakir (JU), who thinks that university teachers associated with admission coaching centers first should quite from their university positions. Arbaaz (IBA) and Tanvir (SU) suggested having a standardized testing system for tertiary education for students of all mediums, and Sheemtana (NSU) believes that the simplest solution is to increase the numbers of quality educational institutes.

Economic Reform
The discussion then shifted its attention to the economic sector of the country. Ridwan (IBA) said that the economy might suffer temporarily but eventually it will be better for us if only clean money is allowed to enter the economy. He also believes that some level of corruption will always be there in a system no matter what we do. Arbaaz (IBA) came up with a few solutions to some of our economic problems. He thinks that a certain portion of the properties of people guilty of tax evasion should be used to pay off national debts. Also, people guilty of these charges should be declared bankrupt for five years and their property be seized to finance other government-promised activities. Most of the speakers agreed that in order to create better career opportunities in the future, salaries in government services needs to be increased and a better business environment needs to be created. They urged the government to provide collateral-free loans to young entrepreneurs based on their educational qualifications, achievements, and extra-curricular merits. These loans could be disbursed on phases depending on the successful utilization of the loans already provided and borrower's performance on the utilization of the loan .

Abdus Samad from CU added a new dimension to the discussion by talking about what solutions can be thought of for the identified problems in our country. He believes that the idea of establishing an agro-based industry in the Chittagong Hill Tracks is worth consideration of the government.

Public Vs. Private Universities
The debate of public university students versus private university students was brought forward by Ipshit (BRAC). He believes that private university students are not given equal employment opportunities compared to public university students and that this mindset of the employers needs to be changed. Sheemtana (NSU) stated that this debate between public university students and private university students has to end because at the end of the day, irrespective of the institution, they all are students. She also suggested that students in private universities be given the opportunity to engage in politics through mock political sessions, as most private universities have a better environment for this type of practices.

Gender Issues
The young speakers also exchanged their views on the issues of gender equality and culture in the country. Sheemtana (NSU) observed that women in our country now have equal access and opportunity in most aspects. However, the environment and the society's outlook towards women still need to be improved. She also agrees to the notion that women need to change their own mindset first. Annanna (BUET) commented that the men in Bangladesh still need to change their mindset towards working women and treat them with professional respect. Subarna (DU), however, commented that in many cases some women are responsible for some of the problems. The speakers concluded that women need more representatives in the parliament and need to participate in economic activities to empower themselves.

Culture
Regarding the invasion of the satellite culture in our country, all the speakers agreed that completely unrestricted and free access to all satellite channels and web portals on the internet is proving to be harmful for the society. Speaking on the issue, Sheemtana (NSU), Tanvir (SU) and Arbaaz (IBA) said that the government needs to exercise reasonable control in this sector through monitoring and judicious intervention wherever necessary as opposed to imposing arbitrary and hasty censorships as has been in the most of the cases in the past. The speakers agreed the need to protect the cultural uniqueness of Bangladesh and not to adopt lifestyle, clothes, manners, habits, and other forms of behavior which are not compatible with the traditional values of Bangladesh

Expectations from the Caretaker Government
Next, the Moderator Syed Munir Khasru asked a very interesting question to the speakers what would they have done at the moment if they were in the shoes of the caretaker government? Answering this question, Sheemtana (NSU) suggested that the government needs to be more transparent in front of the public. They need to mention very clearly what they actually plan to do about the election, the political parties' reform process, the anti-corruption drive etc. All the participants concurred that there should be clear indications and assurance from the government about the promised national election and expressed their desire to see a fully functional democratic model of governance characterized by accountability, absence of corruption and bureaucratic complexities and solid economic growth by 2009.

The participants expressed their willingness to be patient with the CTG and to give it the required time to clean the mess the political parties have created. However, they emphasized on the need to stimulate the economy so that the development of the country is not hampered by the ongoing reform process.

The roundtable discussion ended with the young participants looking forward to working together to build a better future.