News Watch, Side Feature, South Asia

Blatant Rivalry among the Ruling Class for Power and Money Signposts the Collapse of the Secular Capitalist System

At least eight people were killed and several others injured as violence, mainly clashes between supporters of candidates, marred the third phase of the union parishad polls yesterday… With the eight victims, at least 53 people have been killed in polls violence over the staggered UP polls, which began in June…. Talking to reporters yesterday evening, Election Commission Secretary Humayun Kabir Khandaker, however, claimed that apart from some stray incidents, the election yesterday was largely festive. “I think this could be a model for all elections,” he said.

Comment:
Due to frequent incidents of widespread vote rigging, people of Bangladesh have already lost their interest in elections at all level. Political parties in opposition have either boycotted or forced to withdraw their candidateship in the local-government election, yet these are marred by bloody violence and killing. This is nothing but a blatant rivalry among ruling class for power and money. Question arises as to what make them so stiff and greedy. The only plausible answer to this is the failure of Capitalism – its ideological bond is no longer defining the relationship between rulers and subjects, nor the terms of association among the ruling classes. The veil has fallen off and the greedy face of Capitalism is so apparent now that everyone wants to ensure their slices of the cake. This is because under prevalent secular-capitalist system politics is viewed as secure your own jackpot, a means to make one’s own fortune. Now, the ruling class has abandoned their duty towards the people and engaged in fighting among themselves for power and money. This is a clear indication that the system is going to stumble soon.

Rulers have become kind of an isolated class who cannot connect themselves with the needs and emotions of the people. Otherwise, how does it make any sense to hold a meaningless election amid ‘Covid-19 crisis’? People wants employment, healthcare services, prices of the essentials within their reach etc. and not a new Union Parishad chairman from the same bunch of corrupt politicians.

With the failure of Capitalism, people are resting their confidence on Islam again because Islam offers credible alternative to the current corrupt ruling system and that is the Khilafah (Caliphate) system. In Islam, politics is viewed as a noble duty and everyone including the Khalifah (Caliph) is responsible for the position he holds and subject to accountability both in this world and Hereafter. Prophet Muhammad (saw) stated:

«كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ الْإِمَامُ رَاعٍ وَمَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ»

“Beware. Every one of you is a shepherd and everyone is answerable with regard to his flock. The Caliph is a shepherd over the people and shall be questioned about his subjects.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari).

Karim Abu Zayed
Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Bangladesh