This note I write in response to Dr. Shabbir A Bashar’s write-up against my suggestions on voting right, property and business ownership in Bangladesh by Non-Resident Bangladeshis and foreign citizens of Bangladesh origin (re. NFB 29th Nov.).

Ownership of property and business by foreigners are restricted in many countries in the world including some developed countries for obvious reasons. Those reasons, especially in an under developing country like Bangladesh could be lack of space, meagre business opportunity, lack of proper development of local entrepreneurship, poor banking facilities, poor capital market, and many others. Foreign investment and occupying of commercial land and space in a foreign country by multination companies do not come into these categories as, such foreign investors come to a country with their own capital and business plans with full knowledge and permission of the government of a country (example, Tata’s investment plan in Bangladesh). That is why I say, Bangladesh can not afford to allow ownership of her meagre resources by Jack and Harry foreigners and that includes former citizen of Bangladesh who are foreign citizens now and carries foreign passports.

Many times before I have also suggested in my various write-ups in national dailies that agricultural land should belong to agriculturists who toil on it and not by absentee landowners. Absentee land owners have nothing to do with agriculture but just owning it and these lands sometime even remain properly unattended and unused.

Many of these people even do not know where their lands are situated. Those who live in foreign countries and do not cultivate his/her land, once again I say, a sensible and rational government should buy it from the absentee land owners and sell it to landless farmer on soft loan. It is a question of rational thinking and it has nothing to do with “neo-communist, neo-fascist” views as Dr. Bashar has angrily and disrespectfully said and condemned.

Dr. Bashar would have honoured himself very much by showing a little respect to a fellow writer personally and as an individual, if not for his views, by explaining properly and with solid arguments what he thought was said wrong and why he considered the suggestions “not good” for Bangladesh, the country we come from. After all we express our views on good faith in public forum to influence and convince each other; we are not decision makers and it is sad that we lack manners and simple etiquette so badly while discussing things of our common interest.

Dr. Bashar asked me to “think big” or the 2nd option he gave me not to “think like a slave” if I do not want not “to remain a slave”. Thank you, Dr. Bashar for your good advice but I respectfully refuse to accept both. “Thinking big” does not help anybody and make any sense at all if the thinking is not supported by rational judgement. And, how a slave thinks? That I do not know. I live in a free society where we are all kings and the slave concept we do not subscribe at any time.

How my suggestion of agricultural land ownership by people who works on land could be rightly compared with former Soviet and ‘its satellite states’ system I hardly understand. Neither do I comprehend how distributing absentee landowners’ agricultural lands in Bangladesh to landless people by paying proper compensation to its owner could be equated with Robert Mugabe’s forced seizure of white-owned commercial farms with the stated aim of benefiting landless black Zimbabweans.

Surely I can also assure Dr. Bashar and confirm by citing historical evidence that the fall of the Soviet Union was certainly not for distribution of lands to landless farmers by the Bolshevik (which they never did but occupied small farm lands to make huge co-operatives), nor my proposal, in Bangladeshi context, is anything like the situation created in Zimbabwe by Robert Mugabe. White farmers in Zimbabwe are citizens of that country and they were engaged in their profession which Mugabe foolishly disturbed. South African case, and the government treatment to her white population again, was good and wise and a man like Nelson Mandela would support and act on my suggestion if he was a Bangladeshi leader. I did not suggest kicking out anybody from Bangladesh or forcefully occupying anybody’s land without proper compensation. Did I? What are these analogies and unjust accusations? One need not speak just for the sake of speaking; there should be rationality in one’s arguments. I sincerely suggest, let us avoid thinking big without substance and let us ignore and dump the concept of slave and master under all circumstances. Let us talk freely with open mind and with solid argument to come to a sensible conclusion to a discussion.

Again, I know well who are those people sending money home and make Bangladesh treasury fatter. They are not those Bangladeshi origin foreign citizens in Europe and North America but NON-RESIDENTIAL BANGLADESHI with Bangladeshi passports and working in Middle Eastern countries. They are not PhDs’ or runaway civil servants and corrupt businessmen with illegally earned money from Bangladesh. This group of people are poor and real Bangladeshi; they earn every cent by giving their blood while they are treated both by Bangladeshi touts and their foreign employers very badly and sometimes very inhumanly. They have no second home and no foreign passport to flash at the less fortunate Bangladeshis. They have no idle land at home or comfortable life in a foreign country.

I salute them. But I have every reason to condemn those who ‘think big’ (excuse me Dr. Bashar, I do not pass this adjective on you, however petty and mean I may be by your judgement) and smuggle money out from Bangladesh which they earned by corruption. In my short visit in USA and Canada I found many such persons. One could see it easily without thinking big or looking down on poor slaves of American ugly capitalism and traditional barbaric Arab psyche (I mean Arab inhuman behaviour to millions of foreign workers who build their countries with their blood).

Dr. Bashar very confidently proclaimed the glory of capitalism. What is really capitalism? I am not sure and I am not lecturing Dr. Bashar but respectfully pointing out the faux pas in his thinking. There is no pure capitalism anywhere on earth and communism is impossible to establish due to inherent greed in human character. Soviet Union failed because it was not capitalism or socialism but pure and simple fascism. Economies of the states in modern world are mixed economies where governments’ interference makes check and balance to control unrestricted capitalism which is often inhuman and sinful.

Even in the highly capitalist country like USA this intervention by the state is visible. The essence of capitalism is free flow of labour, goods, services and information. Neither capitalism nor communism is inherently evil. Neither are they inherently good: they are simply not moral. For that very reason, both must be regulated by the rule of law keeping a careful eye on the economic and social condition of a country. I am talking making such rule of economic law in Bangladesh that suits the country’s need and for enhancing the welfare of its people. Simple slogan glorifying anything without knowing it well is no good but dangerously misleading.

Dr. Bashar’s assumption that Bangladesh was created to make it a capitalist country betrays the correct history of Bangladesh. Mujib’s “Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh” says clearly what misunderstanding and flaw Dr. Bashar has in his history lesson. I do not say all these to insult Dr. Bashar or to underestimate his intellectual capabilities but kindly to remind him that it is wrong to pass any judgement swiftly and thereby spreading wrong information which, one can also say similar to giving a verdict on a trial by someone without properly understanding the case.

Finally, I close this note, apologising in advance to Dr. Bashar, if any of my remarks he finds offensive or uncivil while refuting his remarks on my write-up “The Right to Vote by A Non-Residential Bangladeshi” while I stand by my comments until someone can prove with concrete evidence that my suggestions are wrong or detrimental to the interest and welfare of Bangladeshi people.

Tayeb Husain, Lund, Sweden
E-mail: th12sw @ yahoo.com