“I think that an honest and responsive government should be one of the new UN goals. More transparency and less corruption is what is really needed to create a better and more just world,” says Mushfiqul Haque Mukit, a young Bangladeshi, has been chosen as the Bangladesh ambassador at the next International Student Festival in Trondheim, Norway.
Mukit, currently pursuing his Bachelor degree at the East West University (Bangladesh), in Human Resource and Management, is also involved in volunteer work, social community service, and is working as a journalist this past four years; he looks forward to writing on youth and on underprivileged women’s development. Currently he is a deputy team leader of the youth engagement and support wings of Transparency International Bangladesh.
Mukit believes that, “Through empowering youth with education Bangladesh will change radically. Our main strength is our human power and if we can nourish this suitably it is more valuable than diamonds.” In future, he sees himself as a writer and working with international organizations.
“The diseases of corruptions resembles a web of scorpions,” he continues. “It is hard to realize that corruption is sinking our productivity, our development and easily breaks our local and international infrastructures. People are getting stuck now a days. The upper levels right down to the lower levels, all are set prone with corruption.
“Every now and then situations occur that demand something of us and are bound to corrupt us. The ‘big fish’ are handling their situations dreadfully and no one comes to the front to raise the issues. Local and international nonprofit organizations always talk from safety zones. Corruption is being practiced here in Bangladesh in a pyramidal way.
“Chains of encirclement are involved here. In recent cases we have seen that gold traffickers are no other corrupt personages than those in prestigious positions, pilot cabin crew, gov’t. official’s and many more. Big projects such as the Padma Bridge, Hall Mark, the stocks and shares market, all kinds of scams beset these higher rank people – and us – contributing to people’s perceptions that corruption is ever on the rise.
“Transparency International Bangladesh is playing a key role as a civil society watchdog and working enthusiastically to eliminate corruption. To make a future of conscious citizenry the organization wants to build up youth engagement and support (YES programme). In this way the more chauvinist youth, even though they might be icons, will learn to say aloof from the corrupt and their practices and even to do so from a tender age and into the future.
“It is best when this cancer of corruption is stopped at birth. For this it is imperative to be an informed citizen and to know your rights and responsibilities. Different organizations use different ways to empower youth and fight for social issues, such as corruption, I see ISFiT in this light and am very pleased and honoured to be going to Trondheim as youth ambassador for Bangladesh.”
ISFiT stands for International Student Festival in Trondheim, Norway. It is one of the world’s largest student festivals attended by more than 450 students from all over the world. Each two years, bright and active students from different countries come together there to discuss different social issues based on the themes selected for that year.
The theme for this year is “Corruption”, which will be addressed in different ways during the festival.
ISFiT is an international forum for unheard voices from different parts of the world and it believes in forming an international network of student leaders. A Student Peace Prize is awarded to a student or organization that has made a significant contribution for promoting peace and securing human rights. Different workshops, involving 20-30 students from different countries, are organized on various themes.
The Festival also entails dialogue groups, an initiative to peace building in practice, which invites students from conflict areas around the world to share their experience through dialogue. There are well known speakers too, invited to share their experiences.
