[Cross posted at E-Bangladesh]
Today Bangladesh’s military turned its guns and its boots against the very people who it is entrusted to protect. Today when the frustrations of the Bangladeshi people boiled over the army responded with beatings and killings. They beat students. They beat reporters. They beat our brothers and they beat our sisters.
A government that mercilessly attacks its own people in the name of "public safety" is itself a danger to public safety. Bangladesh’s military government who came to power with a dubious mandate is fast losing any perceived legitimacy it claimed. Seven months of the suppression of fundamental rights and spiraling prices of essentials have brought misery to the people of the land. The flooding across the country added to the misery of the masses. While the military government pushed ahead with its "anti-corruption" drive and its political purges it neglected the deteriorating conditions in the country. Instead it blamed everyone from the politicians to the bankers to the NGOs for its own mismanagement of government functions. While the military government was looking for scapegoats, ordinary people – who barely get by on a good day – bore the brunt of the government’s neglect.
The military government created a climate of fear where the rule of the gun ruled the day. With freedom of expression and criticism of the government outlawed, perhaps it was inevitable that an act of humiliation by the military upon a student would be the spark that would unleash the frustrations of a nation. So what will be the punishment meted out by the military upon the Bangladeshi people? Will it be beatings? Will it be torture? Will it be murder?
What will the unelected rulers of Bangladesh do to the people? Already the Chief Advisor has pointed his finger at the "evil forces" for the unrest. The Chief Advisor needs to reassess the situation – his government is running out of scapegoats.
Today I stand with the brave people of Bangladesh. I stand against a government that would rather beat its own people then provide for their welfare. Today we must demand that this government restrain its forces from unleashing thuggery against its own people. To be silent is to be complicit.
Well said, Mash. Let’s finally describe things as they are.
tacit, since your last comment on my previous post about the comments on DP I’ve decided to not comment on DP for the foreseeable future. My decision is mainly because of the following comment which pretty much seals the deal.
I see already that the army and Islamist cheerleaders have taken over the comment threads at DP. They are congratulating each other on the force of the army’s crackdown.
Yes they have taken it over. Mainly because everyone who’s taken that comment seriously and/or worry about DP has stopped commenting for the meantime.
Since that pretty much excludes all people who think that :
1) the need for order (whether kept by BNP/AL/Islamists/Army) trumps the need for individual rights
2) are elitist so that they think whoever is in power is right (once again, AL/BNP/ Islamist/ Army) and whoever is not are “opportunistic”
These types are the only kinds of people that are commenting there at the moment.
Such people have no problem whatsoever in swallowing government propaganda while labelling anything critical of the government as “propaganda”. These people are essentially the same people who made the last 16 years possible through their servile mentality by swallowing their leaders’ words unquestioningly and calling everything else “propaganda”. Independent thinkers are anathema to them. With the govt. doing the same, DP is simply caught in the crossfire and doesn’t want to get caught.
The blame lies with commenters like boishakhi, bitterboy, fugstar and khilji who are ready to swallow anything that powerful people tell them. And they’ll do it no matter who’s in power, while ironically sometimes injecting a comment about how servile bengalis in general are. If you feel this part is too personal, please feel free to delete the commenters’ names.
Does anyone see a way out of this servile mentality? I do not.
I hate leaving the DP blog, since it’s where I’ve read some of the best comments about our current situation, and also met people like Mash, Zafa, Rumi, AsifS, AsifY, ShadaKalo and so on who have been invaluable to me as sources of news and commentary, and maintain great websites of their own. I just hope that we can rectify this situation sometime in the future.
tacit, its a tough situation because I have also found some incisive commentary on DP. I hope it changes soon. But in the meantime I’ll continue to post and comment on other forums.
A Non-e-Moose, your comments stays unless you request otherwise. I think a combination of name-calling, threats and intimidation has put DP in a very difficult spot. I would hate to be in their shoes. With reporters being picked up in Bangladesh, everyone is feeling a little uneasy.
A real funny thing has been took plae yesterday .
E-Bangladesh posted Mash’s Nice article
For Bangladesh and One funny guy called
Monitor Came down and put this fatal comment-
The Monitor // Aug 24, 2007 at 1:35 pm
People like Imran and Mashuqur are a threat to national security. We are already watching who enters our country. We have informed our counterparts in the US about Mr. Mashuqur Rahman.
Ref:
http://www.e-bangladesh.org/2007/08/23/for-bangladesh/#comments
I remember some months back one guy called ABC was thretening all the bloggers in DP and
Salam Dhaka for supporting Tasneem.
Now I have found this tendency is common to
use stupid things in net. I hope these Comedinas will be more and more in there.
One Truth seeker claimed Tasneem took 15 million usd. This same guy told about Rubel Bhai did things.
But I think this type of fatal Comments are
really a motive to divert topic.
Mash, Tacit and others,
While I can only speak for myself, I think it is safe to say that the DP/UV is unwavering in its commitment to a liberal-progressive politics, human rights, secularism and economic prosperity and opportunity to all.
The last few days have been very trying for all of us. I have not been able to concentrate in my ‘real life’, and I don’t think I am alone in this. I have on occassions found it very difficult to allow some of the comments. At other times, I just didn’t have the energy to argue. Please understand that it has been very trying.
However, as the dust settles, we have to think ahead. The regime will have to be rolled back, and we must to our part to ensure that this is peaceful and orderly. And DP/UV can play a very useful role beyond this regime and the next election. We have so many issues to discuss – on civil rights, on the environment, on the economy, on our understanding of the history, on foreign policy, on culture, on diaspora.
We need you guys to make a contribution to such debates.
Ekotai,
Jyoti
Ps: and now for Mash’s difficult filtering device.
Tanoy, I saw that comment on E-Bangladesh and have responded in the comments section there.
Jyoti, I understand the dual role DP plays as a blog and as a human rights organization working in BD. I also understand the genuine concern that because of comments on the blog, its human rights work in BD may suffer. However, I would be doing a disservice to myself and to my conscience if I didnt express my views clearly and unfiltered at a time when the people of Bangladesh are being silenced. It is indeed true that all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to remain silent. So, I will continue to speak out. At the same time, I do not want to jeopardize DP’s valuable work as a human rights organization, therefore, I will refrain from commenting there so that DP is not targeted by Bangladeshi security forces.
I agree with you that this regime needs an exit strategy that does not involve bloodshed. However, I also believe that will never happen if this regime continues to purge the political parties, suppresses the population, and place military personnel at the head of all civil administration functions of the government. At some point, the regime will be too entrenched to look for a peaceful exit strategy (we may already be there, and if not, we are very close to that point).
This regime feeds on the air of legitimacy that “civil society” gives it. I think the first step to an exit strategy is recognizing this regime for what it is – a military regime that is in the process of consolidating its hold on power. Ignoring that reality will only make a bloodless exit that much more improbable.
Unfortunately, history suggests that this will not be an easy transition back to democracy. I am hoping Bangladesh has learnt from history and will take a less rocky path back to democracy this time.