THE DYNASTY CONTINUES

Yesterday Dhaka saw the rise of another son in the South Asian politics, which is very much dominated by leaders bread in dynasties. Sajib Wazed Joy, the only son of the Leader of the Opposition and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina and the grandson of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman arrived Dhaka along with his American-born wife Christina and they were given a rousing reception. It was for the first time that Joy came to Bangladesh after his marriage in the US. The processions of thousands of peoples created chaotic traffic situations in the city.

It was an astounding experience for Christina and she reacted :

"I guess I married the whole country."

Although Joy did not clearly say about his political debut but his mother Hasina said:

"As a mother, I am certainly happy to see that my son joins the politics. I came to politics as the daughter of my father. We were also born in a political family."

And thats what does not make sense to me. Is that the pre-requisite of a good leader not to mention the risks they inherit from their forefathers' bad deeds? Why the people of the sub-continent so much relies on the leaders of the dynasties. Joy has been abroad for so long and has no previous experience in politics. People barely know him. Adding more drama to that event, Joy (apparently prompted by Awami League) refused one letter of greetings from Tareq Zia, the son of the prime minister Khaleda Zia, congratulating him on his decision to enter into Bangladesh politics. Right from the start the political rivalry is being passed on to the next generation. That does not promise anything sparkling in the politics arena. My take is that people should move their focus away from these figures and look for young, competent and committed leaders beyond dynasties. As a saying goes: "the nation is cursed, which cannot produce good leaders". Let us break the curse.