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And they literally 'lived up to their names'...

Published : Thursday, 13 June, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 937
Shahriar Feroze
Do not be puzzled in making a connection between the title name of this opinion piece and  men in the photo-collage and finally, what you are about to read next.

You will not be disappointed, rest assured.

It is about a group of widely talked about disputed and disturbing men. They recently turned into talks-of-the-town due to their long-list of reported corruption, power abuse, illegally amassing of unthinkable wealth, and also questionable political explanations in whatever capacity while holding public office. At the same time it is also about how they have manifestly done justice to their personal names - albeit, in the most inappropriate manner.

The number one name in our list is occupied by the fugitive and seemingly disappeared former police chief. if you delete all the easily found meanings of Benazir or Benazeer from the Google search engine - the name actually means under the sub-continental context - an event never occurred before or simply , unprecedented.

Notwithstanding all the glory related to the name, whether with I or a double EE after the letter Z also has a Bengali term which is Nojeer-bihin, the easy translation from Bengali to English meaning - Unprecedented.

This writer prefers to stick to this simple and clear Bengali meaning other than resorting to unmatched, unparallel, unique or whatsoever meaning with different degree of differences in its nuances.

The vanished former police chiefs lengthy list of misdeeds reported in the media is unprecedented in the history of our country, he not only did proper justice to his name but unprecedentedly vanished into thin air. His sudden disappearance with his family members right from under the media spotlight is no short of a grand magic never to have orchestrated before or after the independence of The Peoples Republic of Bangladesh.

However, in Bengali we have an informal old saying - Baba othoba Bongsher Naam Rakhte Hobe, meaning - living up to the name of your father or the family - definitely implying in a positive sense. But no Bengali idiom, saying, phrase or proverb had ever reportedly said how to disengage or undo yourself from a scandalous father or a family since our mothers had always been somewhat of a secondary identity in the society.

Unlike in the Sindh Province in Pakistan, the former police chiefs name is not a commonly found name in Bangladesh or in erstwhile East Pakistan.

With the former controversial police chiefs name I don regret much, since I am compelled to mention his name only when and where ever I get engaged in a heated debate, but I surely have a spiritual guilt when I have to bring up the name of the former army chief.

Aziz, meaning Powerful, Respected and Beloved - all three adjectives at the same or at alternative times - is one of the 99 names of the god almighty that this confirmed-sinner chants at least a few times a day.

At point of time he was surely all powerful and respected within boundaries of the defence establishment, and perhaps only loved by his family and friends.

The man, very similar to the former army chief would go any length serving government purposes. So much so, that the all-powerful nation on earth, USA had to impose sanction on his travelling to the land of the free.  

Now going beyond all reported corruptions exercised by our former police and army chiefs , this particular name has been disturbing me ever since , and ask myself whether to invoke and supplicate by this another 1 of the 99 names of the god almighty - Qadir. This name too has a Bang-lish spelling which is Quader.

In Islam, al-Qadir is one of Allahs 99 tribute names that reportedly means "the all-powerful, He who is able to do everything", further glorifying this name as a strong, yet in a thoughtful way to pay homage to your faith and creator.    

However, Bangladesh Awami League General Secretarys Mephistophelean political competencies and capabilities have long been established and disliked by many. The gentleman is also widely regarded for making sharp 360 degrees u-turn remarks, whenever needed.

While commenting on the former service chiefs, Mr Quader openly declared that they had o link or affiliation with the ruling party.

The reader is most welcome to disagree - the All powerful and capable AL secretary general actually spoke the truth - Mr Aziz and Benazeer had no previous political connection with Awami League. They had only served the government and that too with respective merit and professional achievements.

However, what the AL general secretary hadn said is that they would have done the same, had a different political party had bestowed similar positions to them. And he also hadn admitted how his party successfully managed to destroy whatever differences and barriers existed to separate a state from a government. Then again, I admire his blind political faith, despite whatever challenges, he never appeared in the list of AL political turncoats.

A public service provider under the government pay-roll in todays Bangladesh, is treated and accommodated according to his/her political loyalty in service, and then simply dropped or re-awarded. Simple equation - purposes had been served, the two have been accused while one internationally sanctioned, and now it is time to forget and tacitly forgive them.

In the cases of Aziz or Benazeer, both have consciously and unconsciously created powerful enemies both at home and abroad. Their enemies range from the countrys public, private sectors to international governments, thus placing the incumbent government at a complex position to cope with them.

I personally define both as Awami sponsored Frankenstein of sorts.    
Now as far as this name is concerned, I have honestly stopped buying pomegranates aka Anar, my favourite fruit.

It is about the ghastly and grisly murder of another AL politician abroad but occurred at a city not too far.

I have always branded Calcutta, and not Kolkata, as a part of us more than a part of India, strictly a personal remark due to respect, weakness and admiration for the city and its people.

However, when it came to the name factor of the murdered Al lawmaker Anwar-ul-Azim , Anwar in particular, meaning radiance, luminous to light in Arabic - the picture became reasonably clear how some bureaucratic and political powerful among us clearly lives up to their names , linguistically at least.

What a luminous murder with an ominous bright red-light glowing across our shared borders. Travelling to next-door Calcutta will undeniably be a little difficult in the coming days for us.

The AL law makers tragic death, illumined and radiant for all the wrong reasons of course, yet remains a talk of the town with his daughters failure to secure an Indian visa for participating in the investigation linked to her late fathers remnants and whereabouts.

The late, missing, fugitive or invisible MP for Jhenaidah-4 constituency was reportedly on a "Wanted" list of the Interpol. And the late MPs innumerable pieces of his corpse - scattered and discovered in strange locations every now and then - now makes me believe that the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khasshoggi must have died a relatively better death compared to him.  

Before I conclude, one more name must be mentioned. It has no link to god or divinity though.
It surely has a strong link to Mr Anars supposed death.

A young AL leader, by the name of one 'Gas Babu' has been taken to remand for a week due to his alleged role for abducting the missing MP at a particular location.

Whether he had abducted the MP in a gasified or a liquefied state, I have no idea.

These days, only Romeo and Juliet may have the rare luxury to declare Shakespeare's famous saying, whats in a name.

But names do matter at the end of the day.

The writer is editorial chief, The Daily Observer



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