People travel all over the world to bungee jump, to go white-water rafting, to climb mountains, or to skydive. To get some thrill, to get that that rush of excitement. But what is the most dangerous thing for a Bangladeshi to do?
Writing a blog.
Blogging about religious views has become the most risky thing to do here. Rajib fell. Avijit too. And now Oyasiqur. All hacked to death.
Fear has become a daily part of our lives. Systematic intimidation is taking place and we are not taking it very seriously. Either that, or they have succeeded in intimidating us. For the reaction to these events is not strong enough and is confined to certain groups only. And judging by the way people reacted after the India vs Bangladesh World Cup quarter-final, we now know that Bangladeshis do react when they are upset.
A person can be hurt in many ways. The kill can be quick or slow. There can be torture or just a bullet. It can be done privately or out in the open -- depends on the purpose. Here, the problem was not a person, but what he was writing about. Silver lining being that these butchers sure know the value of words.
Their writings seemed so dangerous, so attractive -- as if it could open Pandora’s Box. They were so scared of what the bloggers were writing about, they figured they had to get rid of the hands that wrote them. They thought that other eyes and minds must not be exposed to these dangerous ideas. The hack is meant for them -- for those who might find the bloggers’ writings appealing. It is for them to watch and learn. The message being that if you step out of line, their line, you too shall be made a spectacle of warm blood and raw meat for the world to see; people might write about you after your death, but this life shall end in a pool of blood in a familiar neighbourhood.
Should they be called butchers? Or plain murderers?
Butchers chop up meat that we find camouflaged with spices and fancy crockery at our dinner tables. Most of us find it to be quite acceptable. Completely acceptable, in fact. Because we have identified a difference. Cows, goats, chicken -- they are not our kind. Most of us do not empathise with them -- we rarely think about how the cow might be dreaming of visiting distant lands to go on wild grazing adventures or how the goat is stressed from the increased demands of his clique.
A lack of understanding of the other’s condition is necessary before the hack. They had identified the bloggers to be a different kind from their own. A kind that deserved no empathy.
An understanding of these murderers is needed if we are to comprehend these murders. For murder is not an easy job. If it were, then too many would have their urges realised.
People can strongly believe in whatever they please. But how strong does your belief have to be, if you are to kill for it? Kill because something you hold dear has been maligned or questioned. Or is it similar to what the Nazis did -- act upon command? Nazis or rioters or soldiers or anyone else who killed and tortured when ordered to do so -- after all, one must be fair in assigning blame!
Or, is it from perceived danger? Almost an act of self defence -- because they thought that the bloggers’ writings could kill their beliefs?
What is it that drives them?
This puzzle needs to be cracked. Simplistic rationalisations will not do because locking up the murderers is not enough. These murders cannot be investigated like other homicides where the motives are personal or financial. This is a trend, a much bigger threat than what it looks like. It is not just three people out of a country of 160 million that have been killed. Generations will face the consequences of this fatal threat. And we know that their support is large and maybe there is one machete for each blog.
This danger is real. It must be recognised that a group of people are trying to control what you write and therefore, what you are allowed to think about. Ideas and conversations and debates are in danger. The human mind, or the Bangladeshi mind, is in danger.
And policing is not enough. An attack on the mind cannot be defeated by an attack on the body. Necessary insight on the mind of the enemy, or fellow deranged citizen, is needed.
Clever strategists know that one must keep their friends close, but their enemies closer.