In sensible terms, resilience refers to being able to recover from adversaries adeptly. This, again in sensible terms, further implies that the process of recovery should be pro-active rather than aggressive.
Otherwise, we would just be replacing one adversary with another, perhaps an uglier one. And yet, the sentiments of people in Bangladesh over the past year or so have been mostly anything but resilient.
There are several key factors which have been fueling the episodes of mob violence we continue to see.
As law enforcement agencies and the justice system have long been considered registered political forces, citizens are now mostly under the impression that those agencies or authorities have little authority over as well as accountability towards them due to an apolitical administration being in power.
This broadly creates two different types of ideologies among people.
One, they need to act and resolve their challenges because the system is still seemingly inactive. And the other ideology is rather opportunistically criminal and has been most harmful.
That is: As justice appears dormant, some people, even irrespective of having any political affiliation, are creating mobs to simply taste the power of subduing and persecuting others.
This, as a result, in certain aspects, has been creating more havoc than earlier as everyone is exercising their awfully misinterpreted freedom.
Beyond these are other burning concerns that have been contributing to this worrying normalization of mob culture.
When people form a crowd, strong emotions like anger or fear spread speedily and contagiously. Moreover, as people’s identity becomes hidden when in a crowd or group, they utilize their subordination of personal identity to become the worst versions of themselves.
The same characteristics of this mob culture also provide for them a strong sense of shared identity and binds them together.
A deep connection among them is established that strengthens their common purpose. This quickly leads to a devastation of peace and social harmony.
As individuals mirror what they observe, such acts publicly further encourage these behaviours among onlookers and social media consumers through widespread yellow journalism.
The very big elephant in the room, the component that has been playing with citizen’s mindsets and behaviours forever and leads many of them down this destructive path is economic stress and social inequality.
When people are burdened by unemployment, rising prices, and the descent into poverty, they become restless, frustrated, and feel powerless.
Similarly, social inequalities persist, where certain groups enjoy greater conveniences while the majority is stomped under the grace of the former’s leftover generosity.
All of the above creates the perfect storm for violence to be the lone remaining means for mental relief as well as the only pursuable instrument to bring justice.
Then comes the divide and distract game of politics.
The causes for mob culture mentioned earlier do have political elements mixed into them. Yet, division into political lines itself has always remained independently and prominently one key destabilizer, rubbing off the line between constructive resilience and ignorant aggression.
The “us v them” ideology has long been abused by heavyweight political players to keep the frontlines engaged, while diverting citizens’ attention from their “sophisticated” corruption and embezzlement.
At the end of everything however, the solutions are not complicated -- rebuilding trust, fighting misinformation, fixing economic unfairness, promoting more mature journalism, government intervention, and so on. Inks have dried and voices have exhausted presenting these solutions.
Yet, the real questions, the hard talks, remain avoided.
Are each one of us willing to join our hands for a healthy culture of resilience?
Do we have the liberal mentality to be individually inclusive?
Or have we become fond of the very culture that has been destroying us, secretly wanting it to continue until our own number comes?
Nafis Ehsas Chowdhury writes about sustainability, people empowerment, and new possibilities.
