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Wednesday | 15 January 2025 | Epaper

What Do Citizens Think

Reviewed by Hashanujjaman

Published : Saturday, 13 July, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 991
Nazrul Islam
The book encourages readers to think critically based on the authors insightful analysis…

‘What Do Citizens Think is a non-fiction book by writer and researcher Nazrul Islam. It aims to analyse recent past issues in education, health, society, policy, and politics from a citizens perspective and explore possible ways to address them. The book has been split into four parts: education, health, society, and policy & politics. Each part contains several articles focusing on the respective topic. The manuscript receives high praise from renowned educationalists and sociologists in the forward section. 

Every piece of the book demonstrates the authors passion for education, literature, and an analytical philosophy of thought. Nazrul Islam initially started by writing fiction, but his concerns about education, health, society, and good governance led him to focus on non-fiction. The book is a compilation of the authors thoughts on various citizen-centric issues, originally published in national newspapers earlier. This book encourages readers to critically evaluate their thoughts based on the authors insightful analysis.

The education part asks, Should higher education opportunities be equal for all? According to the author, the state should ensure that students can pursue higher education based on their aptitude, interest, and inclination. A critical article also discusses privately owned secondary educational institutions, which operate similarly to family enterprises. Many sell the identity of the founder of an academic institution to various for-profit places. There are also discussions about what online education might look like in the post-Covid era. A notable observation of the author is that there has recently been a rush to establish universities in the country, especially technical universities.

In the health part, there is an essential public question: Aren we victims of eco-terrorism? This is because, in 2016, Indias Punjab was known as the cancer belt due to chemical pollution. During that period, Ludhiana, a district in Punjab, generated 1332 types of hazardous waste. About seven lakh people die of cancer each year. Additionally, there is a review of how health workers risked their lives to provide medical care during the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors assessment is, "Not all professions have the chance to make a mistake twice-the medical profession being one of them."

The society part begins with the story of renowned scientist A.P.J.A. Abdul Kalam. It develops by exploring why our country perceives teaching as a y chance profession. This part also includes an investigative piece on child rape, sexual abuse of children, and post-rape murders in the country. The author delves into the causes of sexual abuse of children and explores possible ways to address this issue. In an essay titled World Cup Football and the Abuse of Flags, the author asks: What if we start flying other countries flags in our country to support our favourite films during the Oscars or Cannes Film Festival? However, the same thing always occurs during the FIFA World Cup!

A development-focused government system should prioritise naming government and semi-government offices according to their functions, objectives, service type, or service recipients. However, even after fifty years of independence, some government and semi-government offices in our country are still named after the institutions head or title, reminiscent of the colonial era. The author addresses this issue in the policy part. In the article Are we going to create more job seekers?, the author observes that providing extra privileges to a particular class in the republic creates significant inequality with other class citizens. This can lead to frustration and an inferiority complex among other professionals.

 Analytical readers will find the writings in the political part appealing. This part contains a political analysis of South Asia, the West, and our country. For example, it explores important questions such as, Is Modis victory a message for dynastic politics? This article is essential to recent South Asian voting and power politics. It also includes an investigative article on the killing of Saudi-born journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, as well as the Saudi Arabian administrations strategy to prevent American intervention in the killing. The title of the article is, Why did Saudi Arabia take so long to admit Khashoggis killing? Two important and hotly debated topics in politics are democracy and elections. The books last article deals with these two topics. The author asserts that in democracy, despite its inclusivity, our basic idea is that some will be candidates, and we, the people, will vote for them-thats democracy!

The book What Do Citizens Think offers a fresh perspective on the past and encourages readers to imagine the future through citizens eyes. It is a thought-provoking read that lingers in the readers mind long after finishing it. It would have been preferable to include the details of the facts and figures mentioned in the article as references at the end. However, most of this information is widely known, making it easy to find and verify online. In conclusion, this book contains compelling writing that prompts readers to think critically about civic issues and ask new questions.

Hashanujjaman is a faculty member in the Department of Business Administration at the Tagore University of Creative Arts (TUCA)



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