Corruption is a well-known phenomenon in Bangladesh. Being able to do corruption in Bangladesh is a matter of merit in many cases. Socially, corruption is also acceptable in many cases in this country. Corruption in Bangladesh has reached the people starting from high level political leaders. Various basic research institutions have been identified as corrupt institutions by the government. High levels of corruption and politicization are observed in almost all government institutions in Bangladesh. Although every government has promised to eradicate corruption since independence, there has been a kind of socialization of corruption in our country. This country has been at the top of corruption several times. Even today, Bangladesh is a middle-income country where the easy way for the corrupt is to roam.
Due to differences in the type, nature and causes of corruption, a universal definition of corruption has not yet been determined. However, everyone universally acknowledges that corruption is responsible for the deterioration of society and administration, undermining human rights and good governance, creating social inequality, and undermining the rule of law and democracy. Above all, corruption is the main obstacle to the development of a country. Corruption and development cannot go together. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh has pledged to build a corruption-free administration and society by identifying corruption as the main obstacle in his development program. In some cases, small-scale anti-corruption campaigns have also been observed. However, it is a matter of concern how successful the Prime Minister will be with the people of the present government of Bangladesh. It needs to be clear what kind of corruption the Prime Minister and his government will eradicate. As mentioned earlier, there are many types, nature and extent of corruption. The main type of corruption in Bangladesh is political corruption. Such as the abuse of political power in pursuit of political interests. The power given by the people is used for personal gain and interest. Will the present government be able to rid all government institutions including police, judiciary and administration of corruption? If the government can make the institution free from corruption, then there will be huge support of the people. If the anti-corruption is politicized; Corruption will not be eradicated but new types of corruption will be more mature and anti-corruption campaign will be ridiculous to the people.
Corruption in our society basically means taking bribe in government office. Bribery is a form of corruption. But many more kinds of corruption exist in our country, which is worse than bribery. Bribery corruption is easily seen, discussed. But it is not possible to curb corruption by arresting only a few government officials and employees without abusing public resources, looting government resources, not allowing people to exercise their rights, stealing development projects, bank robberies, stock market scandals. By eliminating petty corruption from this society, one can only get applause, but in order to eradicate corruption fundamentally, one has to eradicate political corruption.
In order to eradicate corruption, it is necessary to change the attitude of the people of Bangladesh towards corruption. We have to build an anti-corruption social movement. A good officer or employee of the society means that the officer is very good, he is very honest. Because he did my job in a very short time for some money. How can a corrupt person be honest and kind to us? We flatter the corrupt, invite them, invite them to various social events, entertain them and give them crests. We take their grants in various social institutions and programs including mosques, madrasas, schools and colleges. We participate in the marriages of the children of the corrupt. Their children are highly valued in the marriage market. There are many rewards for corruption in our society. Corruption is highly valued in our society. We are blessed to be able to feed them. As long as we do not change our attitude, they will be encouraged to be corrupt.
In our society, the relationship between corruption and politics is very strong. A large part of corruption is due to political umbrella or political reasons. The door of politics has been open for the corrupt in our society since independence. If you do corruption, you can establish yourself politically, in some cases you can become an MP or a minister. If corruption controls our politics or corruption helps to make MPs or ministers; It will not be possible to eradicate corruption from this society. If we want to eradicate corruption from Bangladesh, we have to separate corruption from politics. So eradicating corruption from our society is not an easy task but a very difficult task. And who will do the work? Of course, everyone must come forward to eradicate corruption. The top political elites in the government and opposition political alliances must come forward. Anti-corruption will never be possible without a strong political decision. No government institution can be used politically. No corrupt person can be forgiven for political reasons.
An official anti-corruption commission has been functioning in Bangladesh since 2004. Although they are working in some cases, the commission has failed to curb corruption in the country. The ruling party is using this commission as a political tool in many cases. It has failed to investigate the corruption of all political leaders irrespective of party affiliation and punish the culprits impartially. The basic reason behind this failure is that the political forces are not allowing the Anti-Corruption Commission to function independently. Tactically, they have kept this commission under their control. In developed countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea, the Anti-Corruption Commission has accelerated development by cracking down on corruption independently and impartially. However, whatever decisions are taken to eradicate corruption, these decisions must be implemented by politicians. Because decision making and implementation is done by political elites. In fact, it is very difficult for political leaders in our country to change their attitude towards reform and corruption. It is not fair to expect that those in power will automatically change their behavior. Because even after so many years of independence, they have not changed their behavior. It is very difficult to change their hearts. Because they survive through corruption, they benefit from corruption. At present, meaningful change is not possible even by force. So the question remains - will the Hon'ble Prime Minister succeed in changing the attitude of everyone, including his cabinet and party, towards corruption?