Recently I went to see a Chittagong land developer. They have a massive project on their hands. In his pitch to us, a director of the company declared that he was a freedom fighter. He made quite a song and dance about it. Basically he was saying that a freedom fighter loves his country and would therefore never defraud or cheat anyone. A kind of shorthand for declaring one’s personal integrity. Even if the matter at hand is a business one, the freedom fighter experience automatically and magically confers high standards of business practice and moral propriety. The label seems to carry a lot of weight. Certainly my chums were impressed even though the presentation was useless and lousy.

Imagine the relief that the hard-pressed Bangladeshi sweat-shop workers must be feeling now that the BGMEA (garment owners association) have appointed a freedom fighter to be its new president?! The great man is S M Fazlul Huq and I am sure things are now going to be wonderful for the workers. We can expect compliance to be at the top of the agenda, and of course pay rises, skills training and the other long standing demands of the workers I guess will all be addressed satisfactorily. Maybe they will even make available tea and coffee making facilities for the girls? After all we have a desh premik at the helm of the industry. Let’s party.