In the course of a few weeks, we have witnessed unprecedented protests and bloodshed, major crackdowns, an unforgivable amount of lives lost, culminating in the fall of an autocratic regime. Throughout, we were surprised by both betrayal and selfless solidarity.
And not to mention, a complete shift in what has for the longest time been the dominant narrative. In the midst of it all, we hid our digital footprints behind VPNs and sought alternative apps to contact each other, logging out of our accounts and hiding away our apps, with the phone locks-creen displaying our names, educational institute, blood group, emergency contact, in case we found ourselves at the violent end of a machete or rifle. That is how the soldiers of Smart Bangladesh entered battlefields.
We stayed up all night, with the students graduating from hiding from uniformed goons to chasing away petty robbers. In the process, we have seemingly gained freedom and experienced loss.
For 15 years, we were forced to mourn one person; this year, we are willingly mourning far too many. We have tried to heal by painting walls and volunteering to maintain road safety, unflinchingly confronting the speeding vehicles that run like merciless machines. The students of Bangladesh have shown spectacular strength in the face of dire precarity. It is this precarity with which this revolution has been quite intensely infused with from the very start. What made the downfall of the regime possible was the fact that we were able to recognize and reclaim our power despite the uncertainty.
Why else would tanks and troops even be in the picture, why else would the most concentrated centres of power in the nation invest so much energy into suppressing kids who were mere toddlers the last time someone else had been running the country? Perhaps they were able to recognize the undeniable power of the public before we could.
But that is not the end of the story; instead, this is where it begins.
The knowledge that ordinary people hold power may in itself be an instrument of power. But this power -- of us students in this particular time in our history -- can be easily mobilized against us. The university is the most appropriate ground which can illustrate this pivotal understanding that we might need to be acquainted with. The crackdowns, the protests, the surveillance that we went through has taken a toll on many, and as susceptible minds encounter these rapid societal and psychic changes, finding one’s values becomes a tool of immediate necessity.
The conspirators’ knowledge of our susceptibilities is power in their hands and their power in turn informs the “knowledge” we get to acquire. Hence, we must approach with caution and move forward with the awareness of the possibility of this force.
During the most volatile of events, such as the protests we have just witnessed, various groups emerge, pushing their respective agendas, either through direct coercion or conspiratory intelligence. As students realize their power with motivation to change things for the better, the “better” remains yet to be defined. Meanwhile, special interest groups are ready to swoop in to exploit this upheaval, hijack the narrative, as we have already seen, and ultimately define what is “better” for them.
Previously, they had us occupied with culture wars, using heinous hate crimes and attacks based on identity politics. We have seen propaganda machines working full-time internationally to misrepresent the actuality of the events, for instance, how some Indian news outlets and accounts on X fabricated and exaggerated the details surrounding attacks on Hindus and other minority communities. Domestically, similar methods have been used.
This takes advantage of one’s survival instincts and attacks the vulnerability of one’s values, riling up the masses through fear and outrage, swaying public opinion in any direction they wish.
The current interim government so far appears to be a relatively promising and progressive bunch. The people of our country have received this nearly unimaginable outcome, this precious space for change pregnant with endless and spectacular possibilities. However, it is worth considering that populist propaganda alone can possess the power to flush all of this potential under an urban plastic-infested drain.
Mass resignations of public university VCs have already taken place nationwide. Similarly, some private university students -- such as the one that I myself go to -- have proposed similar demands of the current VC to step down, for reasons that currently appear murky.
The promise of rapid reform and reimagination -- be it of country or campus -- is undoubtedly appealing, but scuffling during a time of volatility might add fuel to the many fires. History discovers me at a time where I can’t comfortably demand all positions of authority to fall, not because I am their proponent, but because for us, the students, both our vulnerability and power lie particularly exposed to exploitation.
Demanding mere individuals step down is not enough; we must examine the underlying structures that allow for complicity and corruption, rather than being satisfied by a revolving door of faces. The exploitation of university students and their aspirations must be prevented in order to disable the potential for the state of affairs to veer further towards oppression.
These interest groups, waiting like hyenas with their tongues out, ready to pounce, comprise people I am unable to name or label, not out of fear, but because I simply don’t know or possess a specific identifier. However, what I can estimate is that those I call interest groups may fashion themselves in different sects but share the very same goals and need each other's imagined polar positions to sustain their domain of dominion which they call a country.
Like everybody else, as an individual, both my knowledge and power are bound by a certain threshold. But the good news is that our awareness of their intentions can help us to overcome what they may throw at us, having moved quite far past the manufactured culture wars of the past.
Our knowledge of their tendency to want to destabilize can keep us grounded and standing strong. When we share our knowledge and power with each other, we are not restricted by the limits of our individual selves.
This revolution started in our educational institutions, and perhaps this is where we must continue to have a dialogue with each other about our worldviews, imaginations, aspirations. Rather than villainizing and scapegoating individuals, we must learn and question the embedded structure of systems that allow violence, atrocities, and injustices to happen.
It is true that a few people must have instigated abominable acts and events with insidious intent, but we overwhelmingly outnumber them. You and I, with diverse upbringings and values, can and must hold one another during these tumultuous times.
We must move forward and release the love we tend to hold back in our hearts and practice radical compassion. Right now, we can’t afford not to.
Ohama Raaz is a visual artist. She is also the Founder of Antobihin, an organization that offers plastic-free products.