On 7th April 2011, the chairman of the `stock market scam probe committee' Mr. Ibrahim Khalid has formally handed over the much talked about probe report on stock market scam to the government. Mr. Khalid, who has been the ex-deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank and current chairman of Bangladesh Agriculture Bank, was given the responsibility by the Sheikh Hasina government to inquire into the biggest stock market crash in the country's history over the period from December 2010 to January 2011. The debacle of the stock market was so vast that more than 3.3 million people (small investors) were directly affected and virtually lost all of their investment and almost 12-15 million people have been indirectly affected in the process. Most unofficial estimates suggest that, a total of 120 billion BD Taka or US $1.7 billion has been the total loss during the period.

The collapse was so visible that all the small investors could see their hard earned lifelong savings getting vanished almost the way ice melts. Especially on January 9, 2011 the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) suffered the steepest ever single-day fall in the bourse's 55-year history. The DSE General Index (DGEN) plunged by 600 points, and all indices fell nearly 8 percent in the wake of panic-sales. Breaking the previous day's record, on January 10, DGEN shed 660 points or 9.25 percent between 11 am and 11:50 am. The capital market was shut; small investors turned vandalistic; and the business district of Motijheel was transformed into a battlefield between protesters and law-enforcers.

The government ministers and regulators during the most part of this economic mass destruction process through stock market has remained either silent or helped the process to further downfall of the market to ensure heavy sell pressure so that the manipulators behind the scene could make their gain out of small investor's money. During the month of October-November 2010 when the market was getting overvalued the government has tried to befool the people by portraying this bullish trend of the market as their success. The economic advisor to Prime Minister Dr. Moshiur Rahman and the Finance Minister A B M Muhith have argued that the rise in market is due to the competent economic policy undertaken by the Sheikh Hasina government and it is helping many young people in earning opportunities and thus solving unemployment problem. All of these was just bluff! As the market started to crash due to the manipulators exiting from the market by making profit, excessive sell pressure has instantly forced the market to cripple like iceberg and impoverish the masses. At that point the tone of the economic advisor, finance minister and the prime minister changed. While at the first half of the January 2011, most of the 3.3 million small investors were almost loosing everything, the economic advisor has said, "stock market is a gamble and thus it is the responsibility of those who invested there. Government has nothing to do with that." The prime minister went further in blaming pro-Islamic and nationalist opposition parties, illustrating the true nature of democratic politics, as the streets of financial capital Motijheel become battlefield on daily basis. The regulatory authorities including stock exchanges, Security and Exchange Commission, Bangladesh Bank, Ministry of Finance and Register of Joint Stock Companies all have prescribed different policies and changed those on daily basis helping in the process the behind the scenes manipulators to exit from the market with a profit of 120 billion BD Taka. All of these are hard earned savings of the middle income groups of Bangladesh who has fallen prey to the capitalist magic of changing fortune quickly i.e. stock market.

As the pressure on government has been growing during the period of February and March 2011, the government finally announced Mr. Ibrahim Khalid to head the investigation team. Even though the 300 page investigation report has been handed over to the government on 7th April 2011, the government is yet to publish this report publicly as numbers of senior ministers, members of parliament and business aides of this government including infamous tycoon Salman F Rahman, as well as politicians and business aides of the opposition have been directly indicated in the probe report. Moreover, on the day of handing over the report, Mr. Ibrahim Khalid has hinted that, "the criminal were so powerful that it is not possible to try them under ‘democracy'. So he suggested trying them by military courts!

Indeed Bangladesh, already known worldwide as the one of the poorest countries in the world has historical record of politicians looting public money while they were in power like all other democracies in the world be it UK or USA or India. During the previous government of Begum Zia, Tareq Rahman, the son of Begum Zia, has looted estimated $0.1 billion from the public and now Sheikh Hasina's son Shajib Wajed Joy and her aides have looted $1.7 billion! Indeed under this secular democratic capitalist economic model, the politicians loot public and stock market works as a perfect digital tool to help them out, by leaving the ummah in the dustbin. Therefore, the solution to employment is not stock market or this capitalist model of economy. Also the solution to bring those responsible for looting public money is neither democracy nor any other man-made systems. Indeed it is Islamic economic system under the shade of Khilafah "Caliphate", which is the only guarantee to the economic prosperity for the ummah. And the trial of the perpetrators, who plunder the ummah's fortunes, will also be ensured by the Khilafah "Caliphate".

Jafar Muhammad Abu Abdullah
Dhaka, Bangladesh