Corruption, extortion part of political culture

Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed has spoken an unvarnished truth about extortion: the level of extortion and illegal levies has increased since 5 August 2024, and stopping extortion, bribery and corruption requires political commitment. Because an extortionist is not just an extortionist—he is also a political player. I had the opportunity to work directly with him when he was the Governor of Bangladesh Bank. Being a man of simple habits, he is free from greed. A CSP officer from the Pakistan era, he is also competent. Upon taking office as Finance Adviser, he said that the state of the economy was not as bad as people claimed. Yet, once in power, the new government’s political gimmick was to publish a white paper on the corruption of the previous one.

The main purpose of that white paper, however, was not to expose the misdeeds of the past government, but to create a platform for self-praise, to show the white paper and claim, “We started from ruins.” Adviser to the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Sharmin S Murshid, said, “Wherever we touch, there is corruption—corruption everywhere! Corruption has seeped into every pore, like pests. This situation did not arise in just sixteen years; it has been ongoing for centuries.”

Nahid Islam, Convener of the National Citizens’ Party, said, “Earlier one party protected extortionists, corrupt people and criminals. Now another party sustains the same system.” As long as bribery and corruption exist, extortion will continue. One of my relatives, a police officer posted in Anwara, Chattogram, in the 1980s, once seized a large quantity of smuggled goods at night and duly submitted an inventory. A senior officer summoned him and said, “Rabbani, why so few goods? I heard several times more were seized. Where are the rest?” Honesty is risky everywhere. Honest and good people are not united, while bribe-takers and the corrupt enjoy political support. That is why former Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Badiur Rahman had to resign from his job.

A few days ago, at a meeting with his NBR colleagues, the Finance Adviser spoke about bribery and corruption, recounting his own experience of having to pay a bribe—to the tax department itself. He is now minister or adviser over that very department. There is no way to avoid paying bribes there; otherwise, one’s tax records simply disappear. Complaints do not help, as even an Anti-Corruption Commission commissioner reportedly paid a Tk 1 lakh bribe to an agency just before leaving for Hajj. Tax laws are extremely complex and intimidating. Businessmen show more deference to Customs than to the tax department, because if Customs officers delay clearance by raising allegations, demurrage charges can run into lakhs. Dishonest businessmen, of course, prefer corrupt officials, since unethical business is impossible without collusion with Customs officers.

The situation is worse in service-providing sectors; theft of electricity and gas has a long history. Where is there no corruption? Teachers, who are supposed to shape their students’ character, reduce marks for those who do not take private tuition and hand out leaked questions to those who do. In universities, corruption thrives among both students and teachers. Many vice-chancellors have had to resign over corruption allegations. Hundreds of pages could be written about corruption among leaders of ruling party student organisations. My elder brother, Dr Munir Uddin Ahmed, wrote a book on corruption in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. He was a professor in the Department of Pharmacy at Dhaka University and now teaches at Daffodil International University’s Pharmacy Department. He also served as Pro-Vice Chancellor at East-West University.

During the Awami League government, because of opposition from pharmaceutical companies, Dr Munir Uddin was not allowed to join the Directorate of Drug Administration on deputation. Had he been given the post even temporarily, the production of substandard medicines might have decreased. But the government had to bow to pressure from the pharmaceutical lobby. During President Ershad’s regime, a drug policy was introduced that revolutionised the country’s pharmaceutical sector, leading to the growth of hundreds of local drug companies. For saying this at a Press Club seminar, BNP leader Dr Badruddoza Chowdhury became angry with Dr Munir Uddin and left the seminar. How can corruption be stopped when politicians cannot even tolerate the truth? Because the public is involved, corruption in the health sector shines brightly. The National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital does not even conduct cancer tests; patients must go elsewhere. The same is true in all government hospitals—machines stop working the day after purchase and are never repaired, because repairs would stop commissions from private labs. This corruption is nothing new; can a new arrangement stop it?

Doctors’ major deviation is prescribing unnecessary tests and taking fixed commissions from diagnostic centres. Most doctors posted at upazila-level hospitals attend work at most two days a week; the government knows this and looks the other way. The corruption of famous doctors is sky-high. They hold government posts but work for private clinics, using their public hospital titles to attract patients. They do show up at work—but only for an hour or so. Once they arrive, they are in a rush, and interns rush after them, knowing that patients worth lakhs of taka are waiting at the clinic. Dr Muhammad Yunus’s new arrangement cannot reform this entrenched system, because these people have become inhuman under the shelter and patronage of political parties. As long as groups like the Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad and DAB (Doctors’ Association of Bangladesh) exist, eliminating corruption from the health sector will remain nearly impossible.

No government ministry is pure. Journalists, who are supposed to expose corruption, sometimes create traps for it instead. To facilitate power games and corruption, a separate division called “Bank and Financial Institutions” has been created to supervise banks. As long as this division exists, Bangladesh Bank cannot function independently. During the Awami League government, there were widespread allegations of corruption in purchasing power from India’s Adani Group and in capacity-charge payments to power plants. Listening to the Power Ministry and the Power Adviser, one would think no corruption occurred at all. The ministry claims all legal procedures were followed and national interests safeguarded in the Adani deal.

Meanwhile, the Power Adviser says capacity charges must be paid even if power is unused—that is the rule. The very organisation tasked with fighting corruption, the ACC, has itself faced corruption allegations from a former NBR chairman. Corruption in banks has led to a surge in loan defaults. Poor supervision and weak monitoring are no less responsible for the chaos in lending.

The root cause of corruption is politicisation. The combination of cunning bureaucrats and influential ministers breeds the worst corruption. A bureaucrat who is highly valued under one government becomes unwanted under another, and his fate is to be made OSD. Knowing this, they steal, take bribes and engage in corruption whenever they can. When political parties themselves depend entirely on extortion, how can the Economic Adviser hope for political commitment to end bribery and corruption?

Zeauddin Ahmed: Former Executive Director, Bangladesh Bank