10,000 Complaints in 10 Days
From bitter experience of bribery to 'Ghush Dot Site'
Shahed Sharif Ahmed, an anti-bribery activist. Agamir Somoy.
While trying to withdraw his deceased mother's provident fund of 7 lakh taka, 18-year-old Shahed Sharif Ahmed, a student of Mymensingh Zilla School, had the bitter experience of having to pay 38,000 taka in bribes across three government offices. Out of frustration, he decided to do something about it. He sat down in front of his computer and, with just two hours of coding, created a website named "ghush.site" (Bribe Site).
Shahed claims that within just 10 days of its launch on August 21, nearly 10,000 complaints have been submitted on the site. He also stated that these complaints reveal information about bribes totaling over 322 crore taka being demanded.
Shahed is a resident of the Cantonment area in Mymensingh city. He studies A-Levels at Cambridge International under the British Council. Alongside his studies, he also taught himself web development online.
Shahed's mother, Amina Khatun, was a teacher at Azmatpur Government Primary School in Mymensingh Sadar. She passed away on December 16, 2022, due to illness. Shahed said that after his mother's death, family members had to visit various government offices to withdraw her pension and provident fund money. There, they had to "keep the concerned officials happy." They also faced harassment when trying to withdraw the remaining pension money.
According to Shahed, about a year and a half ago, he personally experienced bribery again while applying for a passport. Since then, he had been thinking about doing something against bribery. Later, inspired by a website from India, he took the initiative to create "ghush.site."
Shahed said he built the initial framework of the website in just two hours. Later, with the help of his friend and co-founder, Saif Kabir, they purchased a domain and launched the site on August 21. The site provides a platform for people to report demands for bribes in various government offices. Shahed claims they also have a team to verify the complaints.
He claims that within 10 days of launch, nearly 10,000 people have responded on the site. Among these, the highest number of complaints are related to passport offices, land offices, and the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). He also mentioned that the security of informants is being taken seriously. So far, Shahed said he has not received any threats.
Monika Parveen, the Primary Education Officer of Mymensingh Sadar Upazila, said that no one had previously informed her about any bribery allegations against any official or employee in her office. She has now learned about the matter. She stated that if anyone in her office is found involved in irregularities, an investigation will be conducted and action will be taken.
However, it is not clear whether all the complaints submitted on "ghush.site" have been independently verified. Therefore, the complaints on the site cannot be directly considered as proven incidents.
This initiative, born from the personal experience of an 18-year-old student, has created an online platform for the public to express their outrage over bribery allegations in government services. Now, the key question is how seriously the relevant authorities will investigate these complaints and take necessary action.
