By: Bohran Sadiq

Jan 26, 2006
 
When ever an intellectual, columnist, or better limned “antagonist” scrambles to cast light upon the foibles of our two-face bureaucratic setup, he/she is dumped on, belittled and doomed by some slanted media elements. Uneasy that their wrongs may surface, they would turn to any style to berate the decency of writer: “Seditious, unpatriotic or even Benedict Arnold”.  They discuss about ethical attitude and words civility while horning in their opinionated theories. They would be offended if some one inquires about their saving accounts in Swiss banks overflowing from public assets. These are inflammatory words and phrases of defamation. It is not a constructive suggestion to be nosy regarding their individual legacy. They would mind to accept such friendly destructive suggestions but gladly allow further dissidents disrepute. Almost everywhere, people are able to select and deselect their representatives.  If they discern faults with the administration, they ask their leaders for explanation.  For us, such opprobrium is balky. Whether flawless or not, we are duty-bound to obey them. We are not permitted to ask our legislative body to account for budget spending. No body is above the law! But don’t talk about embezzlement and administrative disarray. It is not a nifty proposition for political powers and stirs division and anonymity. There are some upper- level bureaucrats busy ripping off our lamb proletariat with extensive public knowledge. But No body wants to risk his/her life. 

The Kurds welcome friendly relations with other ethnic, religious and sectarian groups. The Kurds are the most peace-loving, secular and easy-going people. This has been corroborated by most countries as saying: “First Kurdistan, Second Iraq” But it does not imply that we will discontinue pressing for our legitimate due of self-government. The 98 percent of the ballots votes in referendum were not cast by a single individual or radical group trying to cause pandemonium to restrain decades of autonomy.  The reality is that it is objectionable to talk about polarization because it could drastically jeopardize their current footing and funds coming into their pouches on the credit of Kurdish nation. The Kurds would not underline memories of repression under totalitarian regimes governments. They confuse the definition and divergence between detrimental radicalism and national cognizance. Our leaders deflected the people by making false claims and empty promises before the elections. No affirmative approaches have been taken to cope with the issue of unbridled fraud and corruption. Nationalism should not be misconstrued or stymied with idiocy.
 
It is de rigueur to enact some laws that veto the exploit of public funds directly or indirectly for political purposes; it is still pressing that such laws should be thoroughly enforced. State expenditures for political purposes have supplied one of the principal sources of corruption in our political affairs. The absence of effective national restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power. No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned. Every dollar received should represent a dollar's worth of service rendered. If we do not reform our hanky-panky socio-political structure, our country will remain in havoc similar to some famished African nations for another cycle of 15 years. 
 
But very favorably, independent media are emerging as some of the most powerful forces in the struggle to regulate closed repressive regimes into open and productive societies. The move towards democracy and free markets is being carried out in earnest but the outcome is not at all predictable as dark forces emerge after surviving for decades under the mask of repression. This is real tense for some domineering powers since independent media can carry out two major roles: being a “watchdog” over government and educating people about the issues that affect their lives. A diverse and democratic media is a prerequisite for the development of democracy and civil society. Freedom of _expression is one of the first victims of conflict and oppression. A strong and open civil society can only develop and maintain when supported by a pluralistic, independent media that voices different opinions, reflects multiple views, stimulates public debate, holds authorities to account, and acts as a watchdog of society.