Shameem Osman and his dog-whistle politics
SHAMEEM Osman, the rowdy lawmaker from Narayanganj, may not be familiar with the above term but that's exactly what he did on June 26 when he compared journalists with dogs and called their employers thieves. Dog-whistle politics is a type of political messaging that employs coded language, appearing to mean one thing to the general population but has an additional, different or more specific resonance for a targeted subgroup. The term is derived from an analogy to dog whistles, which are built in such a way that their high-frequency whistle is heard by dogs, but is inaudible to humans.
The problem with this particular politician is that his whistle has been one shrill yelp of stupidity that has been heard by everybody but himself. First of all, the man got confused in his message, because he got carried away with his political angst and mixed up between audiences. It's hard to tell whether journalists or their employers were his targets.
Let us say, Osman wanted to kill two birds with one stone since both groups apparently have got his goat. He has reasons to dislike journalists, even to hate them with passion, as they have always been breathing down his neck. It also appears that he has visceral disliking for some of the newspaper owners, whose integrity and honesty he has openly questioned.
But by saying what he did, he has only convinced us further that he is one helluva callous man. He has made himself more questionable than the people who have been target of his wrath. His most recent outburst has only raised eyebrows as to whether this one lawmaker does his thinking through his brain or through his brawn.
It's obvious that he lost his cool when he blew his top. It's obvious that the journalists had pushed him to his limit. They drove him crazy by doggedly reporting his every move. If you ask me, the man had every reason to get upset and think the journalists were dogs.
Why did Osman curse the owners? I suppose he was trying to shake the tree to its roots. You see, he is a type of individual who would love to have the world in his hand. Given a chance, he would like to have a tight grip on everything in this country like he does in Narayanganj. People get abducted and killed. There are torture cells where people are beaten to pulp. Smuggling thrives. Drug dealers rise. And this one man allegedly has his fingerprints on everything that went wrong under his watch.
Former British prime minister Winston Churchill once said that he was fond of pigs because dogs looked up to humans, cats looked down on them and the pigs treated them as equals. That tells you why the parliament member from Narayanganj is so unhappy with journalists. He expects them to look up to him. He wants them to eat out of his hand, sit at his feet and play fetch with him.
As much as I am ready to understand why this man behaved the way he did, I am not sure for the life of me why anybody should demand an apology from him. Benjamin Franklin has advised that one should never ruin an apology with an excuse. If the lawmaker is forced to apologise it will only give him an excuse to think he must have said something right to tick off everyone.
It'll also show that we're taking this flimsy man damn too seriously. The apology even runs the risk of proving him right, because it shows that the journalist community has been looking up to him. This is what Churchill has warned us against. Dogs look up to others.
Why should everybody get so worked up just because one man has ranted like hell? Some members of the media have asked for the arrest of the lawmaker. If we start arresting people for insulting others, all the prisons in this country will overflow with prisoners.
We've made a mountain out of a molehill. Instead, we should have ignored him and left him to stew in his own juice. Sooner or later, he'll realise he has been his worst enemy and journalists have only tried to give him a heads up.
The writer is Editor, First News and an opinion writer for The Daily Star.
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