Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away; Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air. You better watch out, There may be dogs about I’ve looked over Jordan, and I have seen Things are not what they seem. ‘Sheep’ from the album ‘Animals’ (Pink Floyd, 1976)
"Just saw a group of young men chasing two bearded persons on rickshaw & then beating them as they fell. I was near Moghbazar intersection.”
I tweeted the above in the evening on May 5, as Hefazat-e-Islami was holding their rally. Later, in the early morning Hefazat was cleared from the Shapla Chottor. The following day we saw the mindless destruction left behind by the group, as photos and numbers of the dead and injured started to criss-cross cyberspace.
People were shocked by the scenes, angered by the wanton mindless vandalism. As we move from Savar to Shapla Chottor to the next event, many questions are being asked. As somebody reminded me: “The first casualty of war is truth.”
But my thoughts kept going back to the “message” of the incident near Maghbazar intersection. Who were those two bearded men? Why they were suddenly attacked? Was it their appearance or apparel which prompted it?
More and more questions, but not being able to find any satisfactory answers.
Seeing my frustration a friend pointed out the Hegelian problem-reaction-solution paradigm:
• The government creates or exploits a problem, then attributes blame to others. • The populace reacts by asking the government for protection and help to solve the problem. • The government offers the solution that was planned by them long before the crisis occurred.
Outcome: Rights and liberties are exchanged for the illusion of protection and help.
This article is not about proving or disproving the above paradigm but it gave me some understanding of what is probably happening to us as citizens of Bangladesh. The recurring conflicts are splitting us along various fault lines, either implicit or explicit. I have now heard from many: “I am scared to express my thoughts because it will be misinterpreted. So I keep quiet.” But what we are witnessing is the continuous division of our society, whether sponsored or spontaneous.
Today, we are angry with this group and tomorrow with another group, and then with our friends and families. Finally, we are sick with our own frustration and confusion and appeasement.
It seems that we are not being able to make up our own minds and are being influenced by others. Is this what is happening to us? Are we being duped? We have heard of the Goebbels, the Stalins, the Mugabes and the Kim Jong-ils, and how the likes of them have used mind-hypnotic propaganda to control their subjects.
God (if you believe in one) forbid, we find ourselves in a situation where women are constantly looking over their shoulders in public places, young men foregoing their “kurta” and beard, and radio and TV stations suddenly going off air on some unchallengeable ground.
In the present crisis, the need is for greater understanding among us, irrespective of religion, gender, social background, regional affiliation and above all political belief.
We, as citizens of Bangladesh, should be alert enough not to fall into the trap of mutual suspicion and hatred as this will further take us into the abyss of vicious conflict.
We expect from our talented journalists objective reports and analysis. Please don’t incite unnecessary arguments and debates as brevity can be a virtue. Can our civil society personalities and captains of industry speak for all of us and not reveal their political biases?
Most importantly, we plead with our politicians not to further aggravate this precarious situation by being reckless with their language and demeanour.
We are worried that if this present intolerance continues then we will be further divided as a nation, and be susceptible to more meaningless violence.
We have some serious issues to address but they are not insurmountable. Let us allow the monsoon rain to wash away the poison from our speech and imbibe the humanity of the Savar rescuers in our hearts.
Only by rejecting discord can we move forward. Above all, we have to say loud and clear: “We are not sheep.”
Manzoor Hasan is a Barrister-at-Law.
