WE WILL certainly bring home the benefits of this victory, which has been achieved through many sacrifices. To fulfil this expectation, the advisors to the interim government have been trying to live up to it since the beginning. The long history of an autocratic rule has its impact. Its extraction is a huge undertaking. Because reform is as difficult as it is fraught with obstacles. The road is long with obstacles.

A collapsed economy is accompanied by monstrous, ever-encompassing corruption. Humanity and human values have reached such a state that crimes like extrajudicial killing, custodial torture, and enforced disappearances have become commonplace. In one word, the cancerous growth of a corrupt regime invaded every part of the state and society. Every public institution is plaguing with irregularities and corruption. People all over the country and abroad are shocked. When an office assistant owns Tk 400 crore, one must understand how deep its roots are.

The price of every essential commodity is beyond the reach of the working class; even the middle class is economically struggling to survive. So a large number of people have stopped eating beef. Extortion by the various organisations of the defeated autocrat and the money-grubbing syndicates is mainly responsible for the increase in the prices of daily necessities. To end the public suffering, the interim government must act promptly.

The money laundering syndicate, the extortionists who benefitted from this illegal process, will try to create obstacles for the new government. They have abused and misused every state organ: the judiciary, legislative, and executive. The rule of the autocrat was the norm. A sycophant group ready to say yes to their rule emerged in all sectors. The intellectual society of the country had become silent under the cover of an unknown fear. Some unknown force had covered all their intelligence.

Calling white as white and black as black became a strange matter for them. They had to exercise extreme caution in holding regular meetings and giving opinions. Free thought and the expression of intelligence had become rarities. In various universities of the country, vice chancellors, pro-vice chancellors, treasurers, proctors, student affairs advisers, and important administrators are voluntarily resigning because they have no credibility among the public. It is now as clear as light in the sun how dangerous it is to appoint all these prestigious positions of responsibility in the university just for bare and cheap political considerations. Every person in a university and research institution is a unique asset to the nation, society, and the world. But they must be endowed with proper knowledge. These institutions have been severely corrupted due to partisan politics.

The interim government must therefore work tirelessly to turn the clock and make the future better. Health and public health, in this political transformation, must be considered as an important sector. Irregularities in the public health sector have been reported in the past decade. Bribery and all kinds of financial irregularities affected the quality of health services. Seeking legal assistance from law enforcement agencies was also a lost cause.

Law enforcers were not serving the public. These agencies turned into a slave agency of the powerful or economically wealthy individuals rather than the common people. They did not care about right and wrong, truth and falsehood. Similar irregularities and coercion have become the norm in all types of elections. The rights of the people have not only been violated but trampled upon. The country was covered with an ominous cloak of unknown fear. Lost the language of protest, until the student led the way and took to the streets in July.

The interim government that was formed after the fall of the Awami League regime took to power when every institution of integrity lost public confidence. People in this countery are waiting for a better future —the future that is in the hands of this newly formed government. It is through that path that a promising bright sun will rise in the fortunes of this lovely and beloved motherland. Therefore, every decision of the advisors demands prudence. Every step has to be in favour of common people.

Every behaviour must reflect the rational will and rights of the common people. Whereas every step of the previous dictatorial government was a denial of public demand. In the same way, they will surely keep a watchful eye so that there is no repetition of these unexpected events. We all know that nothing can be established permanently by violence, torture, and show of power.

Therefore, even after spending hundreds of crores of taka, it cannot be immortalised by establishing an institution in someone’s name. Rather, by reflecting the hopes and aspirations of the common people, immortality can be achieved in the human mind through love. If the responsible people can kindly take this matter into consideration, it will be in the best interest of all parties.

Dr Md Golam Sharower is a professor of the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine.