Since when is “only” 22 dead a good thing? Somewhere along the way, life, it seems, has become disposable. The warmongers even have a politically correct word for it, “collateral damage!" We spent a lot of energy, the last few weeks, talking about these numbers – 0, 4, 22, 40, 1000s! When did we forget that these numbers also represent many hearts, smiles, feelings, and relations?
Did we need these collaterals on the night of 5th May at Shapla Chattar, or days before or after? What is the end game we are planning? It seems clear that the boogieman of Hefazat is dead/gone. The best way to disarm a bully is to confront him. And our Government and the AL had done just that. That is not to say that they were justified in their actions, but there was little else they could do. The problem has been nipped in the bud, with a precision military-like engagement, the police, Rab and BGB ended what could have been a long protracted sit-in. The gonojagoran-esque ideologically polar-opposite to the Shahbagh movement.
Various recent polls show less than 25% support for the Gonojagoran campaign, a number that is dropping fast from what was surprisingly not so high to start with. Similarly, while Hefazat’s April shomabesh saw fairly decent approval ratings; by May 7, those numbers had plummeted. I would put the support to be in the same level to that for Shahbagh. So we have the majority of our population sitting between the devil and the deep blue sea. Your call on who is who.
The AL government’s handling of Shahbagh was a blunder. They didn’t need to co-opt the movement in such a blatant manner; didn’t need to let it to go on for so long and they failed to turn this Dhaka movement into a national one. But most of all they didn’t need to arrest bloggers or brand them as Atheists, which just proved the detractors right.
It is to their credit that they didn’t make the same mistake with Shapla Chattar. Acting decisively and effectively, the government sent out a number of messages. First, it has the might and the resolve to confront issues it opposes. Sending back Hefazat’s leader to Chittagong showed the carrot and arresting their general secretary, the stick. Hefazat's movement is broken – so much so that they even called off the much-hyped hartal program. Second, the government showed Jamaat and other Islamic radicals that Hefazat isn’t that great a disguise to wear.
But frankly, Hefazat didn’t help its own cause either. To start with, its 13-point demand is far removed from the reality of modern Bangladesh. Not only in Dhaka, but even throughout the rest of the country, these are not demands that will resonate with the common man and less so with women. I bet BNP in its heart of hearts knows this. Why, if it agreed to the charter, how could their own chairperson meet with rest of their leadership? We can’t allow free mixing of men and women! The Aftermath of May 6 showed Hefazat as a collection of rag-tag madrasa teachers who herded their unknowing wards off to Dhaka, almost like a school trip to the capital. In spite of all its declarations, it doesn’t have the strength or the will power to mount a sustained campaign. And in spite of its claim that it is apolitical, it does have a very strong political agenda. And lastly, by setting fire to small shops and acts of vandalism, it has alienated the “mehnoti” – the hard working man on the street – and burning Qurans put the nail in its coffin.
While we can breathe a sigh of a relief that the Hefazat incident is all but over, we should sit and ask ourselves the question – is the only trick up the oppositions safari suit to create a situation so divisive that it will need a non-democratic intervention? And is the ace in the Mujib coat, the power and brutality of the impressively efficient police force? Any way you look at it, this is not a situation that is desirable or in the long run beneficial. I, for one, think this was not a proud moment for the nation even though this may every well have been the only logical course they could have taken. However much I disagree, I see what compelled them to do so.
We need to start realising it, owning up to it, and call out against it – lives lost are not only statistics. They are faces and names. May Allah help us all.
