Where are Abed Ali's customers?

Abed Ali, the former driver of the PSC chairman, has admitted that he has amassed a vast fortune by selling exam questions. Is there no connection between those who got government jobs through Abed Ali's leaked questions and Abed Ali himself? Of course, there is. No one severs ties with such a crucial contact because every year there are exams, and Abed Ali's customers look for questions for their siblings, friends, and relatives. This way, government job seats get filled with those who acquired Abed Ali's questions, sidelining the deserving candidates and boosting the unqualified ones.

After this incident, government employees, especially those who were recruited through the Public Service Commission (PSC), are in a bind. They might look at each other suspiciously, wondering if the other person was one of Abed Ali's customers. But not all government employees are Abed Ali's customers. So, why should everyone be embarrassed because of his customers?

Now the question arises, Abed Ali has been caught, and many from the PSC have been arrested, but when will the customers be apprehended? Is it enough to just remove them from their jobs, or should they be publicly humiliated by shaving their heads and making them walk the streets on a scorching afternoon? The streets would be filled with people recognizing Abed Ali's customers. In ancient royal courts, such punishments would provoke public outrage. Nowadays, social media expresses condemnation. Although modern judicial systems might not allow such actions, the public still has the right to know who are holding jobs through such unethical means. If leaking exam questions is a crime, buying them is also a crime.

Last September, the police caught a ring involved in leaking medical entrance exam questions. At that time, those who had bought the questions and were studying to become doctors had their admissions canceled.

Police arrested Maksuda Akter Mala, a teacher at Motijheel Ideal School and College. She was a part of the ring that leaked medical entrance exam questions and had even facilitated her daughter's admission to a medical college using leaked questions. The question leak incident in both public and private medical colleges occurred in 2015. During the investigation, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the ring involved in leaking the questions.

What could be the punishment for such crimes? If we look at the case of Abed Ali, we see that he was dismissed from the PSC for leading the question leak ring. Why is such a criminal, who played with the fate of ordinary students, still free? Can mere job dismissal be considered a sufficient punishment? Should it be possible? Abed Ali should have been in jail, but instead, he's preaching about religion and campaigning to become the Upazila chairman. Yet no one has spoken about him all this time. So, who allowed people like Abed Ali to thrive?

Nationwide, there is a movement against the quota system in government jobs. Following the court's order, when the old quota system was reinstated, students across the country protested. Now, if a certain class of people get jobs through the quota system and another class gets jobs through Abed Ali's leaked questions, what will happen to the larger population?

Abed Ali has endless wealth and property. Two decades ago, he lived in a small rented house in Pirerbag, Dhaka, and now he owns a huge mansion in the same area. He has so many properties in the city that he rarely visits his big house. But it was in this house that Abed Ali first started distributing leaked questions to people. Locals say there used to be a lot of people coming and going at night, suggesting that Abed Ali’s customers came to this house with bags full of money to buy PSC questions.

Imagine a person who has finished their education and gained knowledge, telling their parents or family members that they’ve found someone named Abed Ali who can provide the exact questions for the exams. Everyone, leaving all educational institutions behind, rushes towards Abed Ali’s house in Pirerbag because they need his questions. They get the questions, pass the exams, and secure jobs. Life is good. But what if suddenly a list of Abed Ali’s customers is released with your name on it? How would you feel?

Now, let's look at it from another perspective. Suppose you are one of Abed Ali's customers. You’ve climbed high in your job and have a respectable social standing. You have a happy family life with your spouse and children. Now, if Abed Ali mentions your name during his interrogation, you deny it. But then you are confronted with Abed Ali, and sitting face to face, you cannot deny it any longer.

While you were in jail, you were fine. But once you're out, everyone on the street points at you, saying, “Oh, you’re the one who passed with Abed Ali's questions...” and much more. How would you bear it?