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Impressions
Prothom
Bangladesh
Shesh Bangladesh
Srabonti
Narmeen Ali
The
Bangladesh that my parents knew and loved is long gone.
The country that they had so patriotically and proudly fought
for is now a mere shadow. In truth, this fast-fading dream
is now a far cry from the reality that we face today. Every
ideology that our parents' generation founded this country
on is now a lost cause. We are a failing, undemocratic nation,
beleaguered by the ever-growing fundamentalism, in which
justice and fairness come in sporadic spurts.
The
issue is not the bomb blast that occurred two Thursdays
ago or, for that matter, the one that started all this commotion
five months ago. Rather, Bangladesh's current situation
is a result of a slow and steady degradation of law and
order as well as morals and values that we find in every
level in society. We find exploitation in every step of
the class ladder. But what can we expect when religious
fundamentalism and differences in political ideologies are
now threatening every aspect of our lifestyle -- our safety,
our freedom to speak out, our actions and even our culture.
Every
inherent belief that Bangladesh was founded upon is now
being attacked. We are a country that prided ourselves on
secularism. In fact, our short-lived unification with Pakistan
should have taught us a strong lesson -- religion cannot
alone make a nation, and that there are other factors, such
as cultural and traditional values, language and history.
Somewhere along the way, in these last thirty-three years,
people forgot to implement these beliefs, and keep them
alive.
It
is a sad reality that anything which religious fundamentalists
deem to be "un-Islamic" in any way, shape or form,
will be either destroyed or sabotaged. In many rural areas,
for example, communities do not even have the ability of
practicing their cultural activities, such as Jatras,
without fearing repercussions from the likes of Bangla Bhai
and his entourage. The Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh's
(JMJB) latest target is now NGOs, because these various
organisations promote the equality of women.
And
we are expected to believe that no law enforcement agency
can catch this man, because he is just too clever for the
entire country.
 At
the same time no Bangladeshi in their right mind counts
on law enforcement agencies for anything. It's a long running
joke that policemen and their likes enforce justice as long
as the side of justice has a big wallet. Since this is a
problem not unique to Bangladesh one can accept it, although
not condone it. However, what is the excuse for the police's
lack of action in almost every situation that their help
is required? When there is an accident, for example, one
can always count on that lone ranger cop standing to the
side enjoying the show. Or when there is a mugging incident,
it's almost certain that there will be a group of policemen
right around the corner enjoying their late-night tea and
ignoring the victims' shouts of disconcertment and the chaos
surrounding them.
Is
this a country that we can be proud of -- one in which religious
and cultural freedom is no longer a right? Is this a nation
that we can believe in -- one in which there is no set system
of justice? Is our answer to every confrontation inefficient
hartals and riots, which, as the last two weeks
have proved, only succeed in slowing the nation's progress
economically, not to mention giving policemen, hoodlums
and mastans a great opportunity to use brute force against
innocent people.
Nobody
knows anymore what Bangladesh stands for, because there
are too many contradicting ideologies and the nation as
a whole has lost sight in what it is. On top of that our
corruption and exploitation levels have reached an all time
high, while our moralistic values have become non-existent.
It's hard to hold onto our parents faded dreams, but one
has to keep hoping that this is all just a passing storm
that will soon be over, and Bangladesh will be ours again.
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(R) thedailystar.net 2004
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