Be it domestic or international- politics, for whatever reason, never does draw much attention from some people. Just like a passing storm they can see and feel its impact. Yet it is not something with which they can align their eagerness or interest. Nonetheless, I am one of these people. Politics and political discourse always fails to impress me. Interestingly enough that deep rooted perception took a new turn and twist when I first came across the perseverance of Doly Begum and her wonderful team to reach out to everyone in the constituency and beyond its jurisdiction. Many of us saw an extraordinary combination of competency, caliber and courage in an over simple women who stood out of the crowd in her own way. She also possessed a proven track record of working in the public policy domain. Noticing my ever increasing curiosity on this particular political candidature, my wife Nowshin asked me to jot down my thoughts and share it. Eventually i wrote “Shaping Canadian Political Landscape: Our Doly Begum and “ডলি বেগম: নুতন দিনের প্রতীক্ষা”. Both of these articles were published in Parobashiblog.com – a global digital platform for expatriate Bangladeshi to share their feelings, thoughts and experiences. That was my limited way of supporting a prospective MPP candidate who deserved it most. It is not only me who never came in contact with Doly Begum or not even resides in her constituency, yet proactively supported her. Many of us irrespective of religion, race or personal political stance came forward to support her. We all witnessed an un parallel , phenomenal growth of political and personal interest in one candidate. The rest is history. Doly Begum, honourable MPP is now the first ever elected political representative of Bangladeshi origin in a Canadian provincial parliament.
Being first in a political chair is always difficult as it is loaded with both potentials and the challenge of high expectations. As the first Bangladeshi Canadian MPP, perhaps some of our expectations will run high without realizing the fact that as a political representative of all members of her constituency she will have policy and procedural limitations to favour one community in particular. However it will not be unreasonable to expect that now the voice of Bangladeshis will be heard at such a height of political and economic goverrnance that we never ever able to reach before. I do foresee a politically smart vibrant community surges ahead. In order to make it happen, the channel of communications between Doly Begum and our community needs to be kept always open. Equally important is to establish channels to receive consructive feedback for improvement not just sweet words of self appreciation. A momentum that has been generated through the election victory needs to be sustained in all directions. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan summed up our expectation very well, ” Whatever title or office we may be privileged to hold, it is what we do that defines who we are … Each of us must decide what kind of person we want to be—what kind of legacy that we want to pass on.” That should be the true spirit of all politicians. We are hopeful that the actions of Doly Begum will be louder than her speech. Yes indeed, it will be the legacy to be created by Doly Begum which will inspire many more generations of Banagladeshis in Canada thus making her a political icon. Change is inevitable. Bangladeshi Canadian or Canadian Bangladeshi will now be more motivated to be a part of mainstream Canadian politics. It is no longer a distant dream. The dawn of a new era has just appeared in our political horizon.
Syed Masiul Hasan
Toronto
