On the book ‘The Open Secrets of Democracy and Development’

[This was published on 27 June 2014 in Dhaka Courier]

Task of reviewing a book is not so easy to be sure and,, therefore, I personally keep distance from such niggling practices. The other day, I received a call from my senior brother/friend Mr. Aziz Rahman, a retired additional secretary of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, who voiced very tenderly ‘Sinha, how are you? Fine, replied I. Are you at home? ‘No’. ‘Well, I am now at Dhanmondi, and shall leave a book with your gateman so that you may pick it up while you back home’. ‘Definitely I will do so’. In fact, I could not read the book even after passing of a month because of my business otherwise. After few days, Aziz Bhai called me again over the mobile and wanted to know whether I had read the book and if so, what my responses are/should be. Candidly I told him that I had not yet read it but hope to finish it within a week. Aziz Vai then insisted on my writing a review on the book in so lovely mood and mode that I finally gave him word to do it shortly. Therefore, I had to go through the book with utmost zeal and necessary concentration under compulsion of writing a review.

At the outset, I recalled again and over that possessed of multi-dimensional exposures and qualities, Aziz vai is out and out an amicable, friendly, non-pugnacious and accommodative personality on all counts. As a columnist and writer his name and fame are well recognized. Even after retirement he never feels to sit idle for a moment and engaged himself in working in line with consultancy and print media. He is at present editor of dailybanglanews 24.com. Above all, he is a freedom fighter, a pride for us all.

I started going through the book titled ‘The Open Secrets of Democracy and Development’ published by Pritish Prottoy SWAMABESH, 2014 and saw it is, in fact, a collections of articles which he wrote from time to time in various leading journals, dailies and weeklies in English. Divided into four parts, the book contains a total of sixty articles most of which were published in the Financial Express, Daily Star and Daily Sun. The articles deal with various issues and problems related to economics, politics, and governance, development, corruptions and so forth in the context of national, regional and international compacts. All these together unfold his overall understanding and realization of life, society, state and the world at large.. His sense of patriotism and touching upon the issues applying acumen and humors must be appreciated. His mind’s eye and outer eyes are almost mingled so profoundly and innately that takes him instantly to the rank of a philosopher who visions an environ/environs full of peace, progress and justice where democracy, good governance and human rights are on in full swing, where leaders and leadership and statesmen and statesmanship are on track befittingly.

In the preface writer Aziz Rahman noted ‘The people of Bangladesh obviously are not in a mood to witness a Shakespearean tragedy in these post-modern days. They are already horrified with the ghosts of the pat striding the corridors of power, like the phantom of the late king appearing in Elinore palace to alert Prince Hamlet that something was rotten in the state of Denmark. Their memory card is already full to the brim with ghostly events of distant and immediate past’ and then he expressed his resentment at the ongoing state of standing of Bangladesh adding ‘Instated of being members of a dynamic democratic society in line with the spirit of liberation for which they fought heroically in 1971, they now find themselves the worst victims of palace intrigues of a mediaeval regal disposition. Something is definitely rotten here in the state of Bangladesh’. This is indeed a kind of closet realization by a writer like Aziz Vai. Here he rose very high as a social harbinger, reformer and thinker. Facts, researches and analyses state that Aziz Rahman, through his writings and thoughts, all through appears to be desperate and uncompromising on matters linked to social values, ethics, injustice and mal-practices and mal-administration, which are now swallowing each and every sector of  our life and state. He is no exception here as well.

More attention-grabbing is his assortment and carefulness while going for publishing the book. Part One captioned ‘Concept and Context Democratic Governance and Development’ deals with a short and snappy account of his scholastic research on democratic governance and development previously undertaken in the Centre for Governance Studies where he is still acting as Executive Director. To speak the truth, this very part bears testimony to his overall understanding of and urge for democracy and development. Part Two under ‘Poverty thou made me happy’ covers the article published in the Financial Express and the Daly Sun. In the Part Three titled ‘Save democracy save country’ he pen pictured in a very lucid and amazing way the on the whole political landscapes in today’s Bangladesh. In Part Four ‘Breaking the Wall’ he meticulously made an honest, sincere and broad-based attempt to lay stress on culture(s) and limitations and boundaries therein and felt necessarily to find out possible, accommodative and pragmatic ways and means to come out of all these barriers of corridors for the sake of better understanding and amity between and among the nations on earth pointedly Bangladesh without a delay.

Aziz Rahman, through his writings and thoughts, all through appears to be desperate and uncompromising on matters linked to social values, ethics, injustice and mal-practices and mal-administration, which are now swallowing each and every sector of  our life and state.

Lay-out and cover-page of the book are within the zone of attraction and appreciation. Printing is clear and transparent. I personally welcome and congratulate Aziz Rahman for such noble ventures and hope that he will continue accordingly in the face of challenges, limitations and dilemmas therein since, to build our highly dreamt ‘golden Bangladesh’ we need more and more Aziz Rahman. And May Allah bless us all to suit the very purposes.