[sustran] Bangla Language of Government

[Jonathan E. D. Richmond]

I don't think I sent the list my article from the Daily Star (Dhaka, 
Bangladesh) of Feb. 27, so here it is and I would be pleased to have 
comments. It reflects my belief that government has to be cleaned up 
before effective administration can be established in developing 
countries.

It also reflects my great affection for Bangladesh...

Best --Jonathan



http://svr87.edns1.com/~starnet/2007/02/27/d70227020529.htm

The Daily Star
Vol. 5 No. 976
Tue. February 27, 2007

Editorial

A Bangla language of government
Jonathan Richmond

I am writing in the middle of the night, overpowered by the emotion of the 
flower laying and mournful music playing at Dinajpur's Shahid Minar.
Dinajpur is a good place to come to, to recognize this most significant of 
Bangladeshi days, for it is a community at peace with itself: walking 
through the streets tonight I stopped and reflected, talked and laughed 
with groups of Muslims and Hindus united as Bangladeshis.


As a visitor to Bangladesh, it is easy to be struck by the gentleness of 
this nation, the warm welcome, the sense of purpose and the humour of the 
people. Quite apart from the lovely Bangladeshi graduates of the 
university where I taught in Thailand, who have done everything to make my 
stay sunny and memorable, the poorest of people I have encounted on 
journeys through rural areas have shown friendship to me, and even invited 
me into their homes for a cup of tea. This is one of the most endearing of 
nations.


Observing commerce in the marketplace and even on a local bus, where a 
vendor with a tray of grapes boarded with a scale to ensure accurate 
charging for a bagful of fruit, observing labourers working hard in the 
fields and in the workshops, but seemingly never without a smile, it 
becomes apparent that Bangladeshis are an honest people, working hard to 
survive, and doing so with dedication to their families.

Corruption is not a part of the natural language of the people of 
Bangladesh. It is a tongue spoken only by those at higher levels of 
government, who would force a cultural tyranny on the people as foreign as 
Urdu is to the Bangla language and culture.


Just as the birth of Bangladesh launched the Bangladeshi people on a new 
beginning, each repetition of International Mother Language Day presents 
an opportunity for renewal, for moving forward with development of a 
Bangladeshi identity.

It is a time to recognize all cultures which face repression, and to fight 
for their rights of survival: no outside force should damage a people's 
identity, and language is the soul of culture. But it is a time, also, to 
develop a Bangla language of government, one which represents the history 
and spirit of the people.


The interim government is doing the right thing by clamping down on 
corruption. Each report on the arrest of a corrupt official, or a mobile 
court imposing sanctions on a dishonest company, sends a message that a 
privileged position is no longer an excuse for abuses.

Yet, something must fill the void left by each successful eradication of 
abuse, or corruption will surely return and prosper while the hard-working 
Bangladeshi people are impoverished.


The answer must come from the people of Bangladesh if it is to provide a 
lasting solution. If we look at the universities of Bangladesh, it is 
apparent that they foster much talent, both in their faculty and student 
bodies, but what chance do graduates have of making progress if they join 
a government service with tangled lines of responsibility, and procedures 
so intricate that any initiative is rejected while allowing the "Boksheesh 
Economy" to thrive?


Should change in Bangladesh come from Western forces? It is easy to forget 
that the dysfunctional bureaucracy of Bangladesh stems from a British 
colonial administration which had no interest in allowing local interests 
to develop and thrive.

International agencies, also, are often ignorant of, and insensitve to, 
local cultural needs, calling for economic reforms that often hurt poor 
people, and putting forward models of development based on Western ideas 
that are doomed to failure in a society with fundamentally different 
social as well as economic characteristics.

In a course I have developed in my own field, of transport infrastructure 
development and management, I point out, to take one small example, that 
Western models which show the supposedly optimum infrastructure 
development based on factors such as a person's value of time are heavily 
biased against the poor, because a poor person's earnings are so much 
lower than a wealthy person's in a country like Bangladesh. Different 
forms of thinking must be developed for Bangladesh to prosper.


Strong reforms are difficult when dysfunctional practices are so 
entrenched, but bureaucracy must be simplified, and organizations 
redesigned to streamline authority and allow initiative to flow.

Government salaries should be increased to remove the temptation of 
corruption, but, more than that, new government organizations must be 
developed, and people who are willing must be sought to build a government 
service on one of the nation's strongest asets: its commitment to values 
of family, and loyalty to friends.


Just as Dr. Yunus saw the way ahead in microfinance, which empowered the 
poorest to build productive lives and contribute effectively to the 
economy, so government must look to the ordinary people and build on their 
values, as well as represent their interests as it moves forward.


A Bangla language of government will see all the people as part of one 
family, giving them all a voice, a Bangladeshi voice, and promoting a fair 
and equitable form of development in which all can participate.



Jonathan Richmond has a Phd in transport planning from the Department of 
Civil Engineering at MIT.





-----
Jonathan Richmond

1 (617) 395-4360

e-mail: richmond at alum.mit.edu
http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/