Why "Yunus Shamarthak Goshthi"?

By Mridul Chowdhury

Published in Daily Star on 21st February, 2007
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/02/21/d70221020421.htm

Over the course of the last few decades we have grown so used to seeing Bangladeshi politics turn into a hotbed of corruption, terrorism and power play that we, particularly the young generation, have developed a strong distaste for politics and politicians in general. At such a time, by announcing his intent to form a political party, Dr Yunus, the unquestionable national hero and pride of our time has brought back hope and has perhaps changed the way we will look at the role of politics in Bangladesh.

Even if his party cannot win in the upcoming elections, he will have produced a political platform that has the potential to change the Bangladeshi political scenario once and for all. It is sure to offer a chance for those who want to contribute to positive change through involvement in constructive politics, but have never found a meaningful space in the existing political scene, which is mostly controlled by corruption, terrorism and cronyism. And, perhaps as a result of Dr Yunus's entry into politics, the culture of developmental politics will gradually take root in Bangladesh.

Having said that, I should also point out that perhaps one of the biggest sources of weaknesses in our political process is our inherent attitude of hero-worshipping when it comes to politics. All the political parties, which have governed the country since its formation, find their legitimacy and strength around certain personalities. This has greatly contributed towards creating a culture of non-representational politics at all levels, where local voices have hardly found a way of reaching national political podiums, and internal party dynamics has been cantered around a very few selected groups of elite closest to those personalities and their immediate family members.

We certainly hope that Dr Yunus, with all his wisdom and intellect, will not follow the same trend and build a party that draws its legitimacy from his own personality -- no matter how well intentioned and honest he himself may be. The overarching goal of a political party should be to create a platform for fair and objective representation of people from all corners of a country so that it goes beyond national personalities and stands the test of time and change of leadership.

Dr Yunus's recent move to form "Yunus samarthak goshthi," or "Yunus supporters' groups," at village and ward-level to gain support for his as yet non-existent party certainly points to the fact that he may be in the process of building another personality-centric party. He is still officially in the process of gathering people's feedback on whether he should form a party or not; he has also not yet laid down any ideological basis on which his party will be formed, except that it will be free of corruption -- which is not really a political ideology by itself. And, yet, he is already mobilizing grass-root level support around himself, not around the concept of a new political party or any ideology.

If Dr Yunus does end up creating yet another heavily centralized, personality-based political party, he will have contributed little to changing the very core of what is wrong with our politics.
Corruption and terrorism in politics are not causes but symptoms of the weak political mechanism in our country -- just removing the symptoms is not likely to lead to a sustainable change towards constructive and representational politics. If we cannot make use of this historic opportunity, presented by the recent caretaker government, to build a sustainable political process of representation, the country, sooner or later, is sure to again slip into the grips of questionable national heroes (whether self-proclaimed or not), no matter what positive developments we see in the short-run.