The writing on the wall
WE are not living in a theocracy, are we? But, then again, neither are we in a democracy, at least, at this at this particular juncture of time. Our democratic rights have been put on hold by the imposition of a state of emergency with a promise of holding a free and fair poll that the country has been longing for for quite sometime now.
The reason why the question of "living in a theocracy" crept into our mind is the recent phenomenon of discreet intrusion of religious extremism into our statehood. As the basic secular democratic fabric of our society is being compromised due to prolonged absence of democracy in the country, pseudo-religious forces are now becoming brave enough to unmask their ugly face with renewed vigour.
They are now preaching and propagating their band of misguided religion in such a spirited fashion that a retreating unelected government appears, at times, to be skidding from the right track. The track of democracy, the track of secularity, and the track of 1971 that the Bengalis, irrespective of their creed, caste, age, and religious beliefs have cherished all along.
In fact, the overnight dismantling of under-construction sculptures from the ZIA airport roundabout at the diktat of pseudo-religious thugs is the ugliest manifestation of fanaticism in recent memory. This is a kind of barbaric act that Bangladesh can never stand for, because its people -- having an unparalleled passion for democracy, yearning for aesthetic sense, and love for peace -- never deserved it in the first place.
This act of putting the brakes on our democratic, secular adherence really put our tolerance to the test. The overwhelming majority of Bangladesh, sans an unresponsive government, is feeling utterly enraged, defiled and deprived. Time is ticking fast for people to identify the phantom behind the diktat that, many suspect, is sitting in the hallways of this military-controlled unelected government.
In this instance, the very first mistake the government committed was to hurriedly dismantle the baul sculpture, which was near completion, at the behest of pseudo-religious bigots. But, as if that stupidity was not enough, the government decided to fool the ever-conscious citizenry of the country by giving the lame excuse of design problem to justify(!) its act.
How on earth could a government rate collective public intelligence so poorly that it expected the people to believe that the design flaws were only identified when a handful of pseudo-religious bigots marched down the streets and threatened removal of the same on the pretext of religious sanctity?
The obvious question one would like to raise is whether there was an oversight mechanism in place to identify and rectify the so-called design flaws? How could it be? Who is to be blamed -- the Roads and Highway Division or the Civil Aviation Authority? In fact, it was a cruel joke played to belittle the collective public wisdom of Bangladesh.
It's a travesty of justice that, in bygone years, independence-spirited people were charged with treason just for seeking trial of war criminals, whereas people of the repute of Mufti Amini are touting for demolition of all sculptures and art-works. It's to our utter surprise that people like Amini could make such incendiary remarks when there is such a government, though not elected by the people, in power. The government forgot to protect the sculpture when bigots marched down the streets near ZIA airport roundabout, defying state of emergency, but it made sure on October 22 that police take away two effigies of Amini from the protesting cultural activists so that those were not burnt to ashes.
Living in prolonged absence of democracy in Bangladesh is very costly now. We're paying for that every day -- our secular characteristics are being compromised, religious sanctity is being misinterpreted, cultural plurality and richness are being robbed. A few weeks back, a district administration of this country clamped a ban on one of the most popular singers -- Momtaz -- from performing just because some religious leaders had their reservations. When a fugitive from justice and alleged war criminal rubs shoulders with head of the government, and police tend to befool the pool of newsmen by claiming that he was nowhere in sight -- what better we can expect from this administration.
But then again, whoever governs should never fail to read the writing on the wall -- this time the writing is: "Who does this country belong to -- Lalon or Amini?"
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