Corruption won’t end unless society shuns the corrupt, says finance adviser

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed believes corruption will never be eradicated unless corrupt individuals are socially rejected.

“When we were young, we rarely heard about corruption. Our fathers would avoid those who were corrupt. They would even hesitate to marry their children into those families,” he said.

Speaking as the chief guest at a discussion organised by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) at Shilpakala Academy on Tuesday, the advisor also called for the building of a social movement to prevent corruption.

He said that currently, the corrupt are being rewarded. Information about corruption must come from all members of society.

According to the advisor, if politicians have goodwill, society will not decay and corruption will decline. Transparency and accountability in the financial sector are crucial, he added.

ACC Chair Mohammad Abdul Momen, presiding over the event, said: “We lack effective communication with the countries where large amounts of money have gone over the last 15 years; we cannot even find a way to communicate.

“Our hard-earned money is lying abroad as ‘dirty money’, and we lack the personnel in those countries to recover or manage this money.”

He added that previously, money used to come to Bangladesh from the Middle East and America. Now, the reality is the opposite—money goes from Bangladesh to America and other countries, and later somehow returns to the country.

“Many types of ‘incentives’ are also involved in these transactions. Such a massive structure cannot be changed in a day, a month, or even a year.”

The anti-graft watchdog chief said the political elite of the country have helped those who committed crimes over the last 15 years cross the border in exchange for money.

“You have to consider whether you will elect such people. Now is the time to think about whether we will elect such individuals.”

The ACC chairman noted that 100 percent of people would vote against corruption if there were an election, yet it is difficult to eradicate corruption. He said, “If we keep bad rulers, extortionists, and terrorists for governing after the next election, achieving a developed country will be difficult.”

He said that the graft buster does not have contact with the countries where money has been laundered over the last 15 years. He urged the government to send officials with the rank of first secretary to those countries to bring this money back.