Blaming conspiracy theories and third parties won't do

Couldn't the situation that erupted over the quota reform movement have been avoided?

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: The government could have avoided this if it wanted. The students took up the movement when the government's circular of 2018 was cancelled. Many say that this was a policy decision of the government. The government admitted that too, but much too late. In the meantime, over 200 people have been killed. State property has been damaged. Public life and the economy came to a standstill. The court had a responsibility about this too. And the government cannot shrug off its responsibility in this matter.

It is not unnatural for the public to take part in any movement that arises in the country in the present circumstances. The people are angered with the prices of essentials, unemployment, extortion, corruption and disparity. The government paid no heed to these matters. The quota reform movement wouldn't have taken on such huge proportions. The issue of quota was raised in the Indian Supreme Court too. The Modi government has kept the 10 per cent quota for the backward classes intact. No one there said that they went to the court because of the movement on the streets.

In fact, the court wanted to know from the government how long the quota will remain in place and who will benefit. The government clarified that those with up till five acres of land, 1000 sq ft house and an annual income within 100,000 rupees would receive quota benefits. Anyone with more assets that this would not get the quota privilege. If there was one government official in a family, the others in the family would not get quota facilities.

Do you think there should have been any such provision here too in the case of allowances for freedom fighters?

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: It had been like that before, but the white collar freedom fighters changed it. Initially poverty-stricken freedom fighters were provided with an allowance. Later this was changed to an honorarium allowance.

There had been debate over the quota system when you were in the administration too. What do you think is reasonable?

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: There needs to be quota for sections of society that lag behind such as women, ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities. I feel this is an implementation of the social justice mentioned in our declaration of independence. There is a quota system in many countries. But this requires justification. There are over four million unemployed educated persons in country. They are desperately seeking jobs. Every year 20,000 graduates emerge from Dhaka University alone.
Then there are other public and private universities. The colleges proffer Masters degrees. The question is whether there is any need to churn out so many thousands of educated unemployed persons. Our education system is riddled with discrepancies. Engineers and physicians are joining general cadre service. I feel this is doing great harm to the country.

Surely the quota problems could have be resolved peacefully?

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: When any problem arises, it should be resolved by discussing the matter with the concerned stakeholders. But our state structure is such, that nothing is done unless it is forced to be done. This is a colonial mindset. And so people have to take to the streets to get any demand met. The students took up a movement in 2018 too. This time too they were pushed into the movement.

While the students were demonstrating for quota reforms, news broke out about the PSC exam papers being leaked. How do you view that?

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: This is extremely perturbing for PSC. Exam paper leakage had become a regular occurrence in the PSC at one time, particularly from 2001 to 2006. Then during the 1/11 rule, Sadat Hossain became the PSC chairman and this stopped. Those who came after that also kept it in check. The big problem here is PSC is so preoccupied with the BCS exam that it pays little attention to the non-cadre.

If they cannot spare the time, there should be a separate commission for the non-cadre. But no exam paper leakage can be tolerated. There was a time when the exam papers of Dhaka University and Dhaka Medical College would be leaked out. That has been stopped. It is not enough to simply take action against those liable. The beneficiaries of this leakage must also be caught. There have been financial transactions. The appointment of those who got jobs through underhand means, must be terminated. Then no one will dare to do this in future. The task is difficult, but not impossible.

How did the Benazir-Matiur fiasco happen in the administration? Who do you think is responsible?

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: No matter who runs our government, it is their duty to monitor the officials. There are two types of monitoring. One is to see whether they are carrying out the responsibility bestowed upon them. The second is whether they are doing anything outside of their duties. The corruption which we are hearing about didn't take place overnight. The government can in no way evade responsibility for this. The concerned persons must be held responsible. You speak about the spirit of the liberation war and non-communal Bangladesh, but then scare the minorities and grab hundreds and hundreds of acres of their land. This cannot be allowed.

Is there any administrative weakness that allowed corruption to take on such monstrous proportions?    

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: We have a whistleblower law. If any senior of colleague is involved in corruption, the authorities are to be informed. In the case of Benazir, his OCs and SPs did not carry out that responsibility. A well-known editor said, we knew about the corruption of the bureaucrats, but could not publish this. That means a culture of fear prevails in the country. There is a fear of repression and harassment. And why did the many agencies of the government not see this massive corruption?
It is the responsibility of the heads of intelligence to inform the head of government about what occurs every day. The political party in power also has a responsibility. The leaders and the workers of the place where the corruption is taking place, will know what is going on. The problem is that there is a wall raised between those at the helm of power and the party leaders and activists, and even the officials in the administration. There is no way of informing them about the corruption.

There are allegations that when the government uses any person or group to carry out something wrong, then they too try to gain unlawful advantages from the government.

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: That's simple math. The state runs on the basis of law. When you use a person or a group to do something outside of the law, that person will naturally try to gain advantage. This has happened during all governments.

Civil servants are to follow the government's directives. But at one time you all rejected these directives and formed the Janatar Mancha. Many say that destroyed the administration.

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: There was a backdrop to the anti-autocracy movement of 1990 and the Janatar Mancha in 1996. In 1990  the entire nation took a stand against Ershad and then the government officers and employees went against him. And the 1996 Janatar Mancha was formed after the 15 February election was held with no voters. Certain incidents in the secretariat at the time also caused the situation to deteriorate.
At that juncture all the secretaries went to the president and expressed their no-confidence in the government. Then Janatar Mancha was formed for a few days. I would say that the service holders of the republic are driven by their conscience but cannot always express that. Sometimes wrongdoings are just accepted. That conscience arises when there is a massive movement outside.

There were three controversial elections under this government too. But we didn't see any Janatar Mancha of the officers and employees of the republic.

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: I was not in the administration during the last two elections. Before the 2014 election when the elections to five city corporations were held in 2013, I was the secretary of the local government ministry. These elections had been fair and the candidates backed by the opposition won by huge margins.

The Narayanganj city corporation election was a huge challenge. Selina Hayat Ivy wanted the army to be deployed. The government did not deploy the army. There was a fear that if the army was deployed, Shamim Osman's men would create serious chaos. We gave Selina Hayat Ivy full assurance that the election would be free and fair. She accepted the matter. The election was fair and so were the next four consecutive city elections. Hefazat-e-Islam was also a factor behind the victory of the opposition supporters.

Had there been a forceful movement regarding the three voterless election and if it reached a point of culmination, then the civil servants would have taken to the streets. History tells us that the civil servants join any movement when its brings the entire nation to a standstill. They are not the drivers of the movement. I do not believe the civil servants have become absolute slaves of any party. If the situation is conducive, then a repetition of 1996 is not impossible.

You joined government service in 1983 and ended your service in 2015. In this span of time you worked under military, non-military, democratic and so many governments. What does you experience say?

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: The interference was the least during Ershad's rule. If you leave out his personal corruption and farcical elections, then the administration ran well at that time. There were administrative reforms. In BNP's first term and Awami League's first term it was more or less possible to work independently. We could give our views on any decision of the government. We could say whether it was right or wrong. But things changed after 2001.

When the BNP-Jamaat coalition government came to power, they dropped freedom fighters en masse. That's when the "DNA tests" started. That is, the officers' personal files would be marked A,B or J. That meant Awami League, BNP or Jamaat. Many superseded the freedom fighter officers to become secretaries. Then the 1/11 government came and some army interventions took place. There was lobbying in favour of NBR's Matiur Rahman. May be they took up this tactic to catch the thieves.

Did Awami League start to take counter measures after coming to power in 2009?

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: You can say that happened in 2009, but not in 1996. Seniority was not violated in any mass promotions. No one got any extra perks for being a part of Janatar Mancha. The promotion of only one or two was held back. Even then there was a call for more information in those cases. I had explained to the prime minister back them that the SSB (Superior Selection Board) had recommended them as they found them qualified.

By writing that more information was needed, a door was opened that would create a disruption in the entire administration. After the SSB gathered more information, they were promoted. That was one incident. Before that, the one incident of the Magura election also created so much disruption. After that in 2001 the DNA files were drawn up. And even later, the DNA files naturally carried on over to Awami League too.

There are allegations that in the case of those recommended by PSC, during verification if it is found that any one of the family is involved with BNP of Jamaat, even if any distant relation is involved, they don't get the job.

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: That is happening and it is perturbing and unconstitutional. The matters mentioned in Article 28 and 29 of the constitution are not being followed.

Why should there be so much verification by the police and other government agencies?

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: We have kept the colonial system intact. This was in place to prevent anti-British elements from becoming civil servants. During Pakistan times too, anyone who had been with the Communist Party didn't get jobs. We earned our independence through bloodshed, but we have not been liberated from the colonial mindset. That has led to politicisation. This harms meritocracy and qualitative standards in the administration. The progeny of a war criminal is also a citizen of the state and has the right to a job. He cannot bear the liability of his preceding generations.

Who would you blame basically for the inefficiency and dishonesty in the administration?

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: Firstly, the individual will have to take blame. If the process of recruitment and promotions in the administration is politicised, this will continue. The politicians must take the liability for this. Running the state is in their hands. If they say that the bureaucrats are more powerful than them, then they should leave things to the bureaucrats and go home. Actually there are no powerful bureaucrats who can stay in place unless they follow the unjust directives of the government.

Here the bureaucratic system is stronger than the individual, it is said.

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: Many ministers use the civil servants as scapegoats for their own dishonesty, inefficiency and shortcomings. Why won't they be able to run the ministries? There were so many allegations against Bihar's chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, but he ran the administration. In India, the EVM is kept with the district administration after the election. No one objects because they know that during the election the deputy commissioner will not support anyone. But our administration, politicians, civil servants, judiciary have all fallen low in people's trust and confidence. This is very unfortunate for our nation. We must come out of this.

An abnormal situation prevails in the country. Do you see any possibility of normalcy being restored any time soon?

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: Political commitment is the main requirement. There must be proper and credible investigation into every murder and act of violence. The anger and mistrust of the people lies behind this movement. The government and politicians have failed to read the pulse of the young generation, their hopes and aspirations. Everything needs rethinking. Laying the blame on conspiracy theories and third parties won't do. It will be difficult to bring things back to normal.

Thank you.

Abu Alam Shahid Khan: Thank you too.