Which way is up, again?

One can study the political climate in Bangladesh until one is blue in the face and not arrive at an answer as to what kind of democracy we practice.

In 20 years of democracy the nation has been brought closer and closer to its knees. Given the current trend and that no respite seems imminent one wonders what kind of a nation we will celebrate in 2021 when Bangladesh turns 50.

Corruption has been ingrained into the very fabric of the nation's psyche – so much so that even the youth engaged in good jobs in the private sector providing good pay are indulging in corrupt practices. It's like no matter how much they make, making some more 'under the table' can only make life more fulfilling.

When I and my contemporaries were in our twenties – which was about that many years ago – I believe we all put in an honest days work. We were not paid as much as we would have wanted probably but there was honesty and dignity in what we did and how we did it.

Boys and girls of the same age in 2012 can't seem to be paid enough to warrant keeping their noses clean or feel loyalty to the company they represent. I don't really blame these young people as the whole country seems swamped by people who benefit by practicing outside a moral code.

Doing to pretend rather than pretending to do

I've always seen myself as a writer; perhaps, more a 'wanna-be' than an actual 'true' writer for the sole reason that a writer writes. Period. And I don't really, save for occasional inspired (desperate?) out bursts.

In my mind I have convinced myself that a true writer writes obsessively, or rather, religiously – this idea sprouts from a part romantic notion and part realistic understanding. After all, anyone can write obsessively (okay, not maybe anyone per se) but fewer still can probably deliver with true intent, purpose and substance.

In a way my failure to write regularly I find deeper meaning and a relation, perhaps only tangentially, to the failure of the country that I live in. (This analysis could be easily misconstrued as a rather petty attempt to add 'substance' to what is otherwise drivel – of (desperate) intent (to write) without (any) purpose and/or (real) substance. It is not. You, dear reader, are of course entitled to misconstrue its true intent and purpose.)

To put it in one sentence: No one is doing what they are supposed to.

Passion runs wild

Breaking news from Egypt has been a growingly mundane affair since people took to the streets en-mass last year and ousted their long standing dictator from power. Almost in celebration of that decisive day they are back on the streets again on the eve of its anniversary to push the military stalwarts from hanging on as well.

To me it seems that sustained belligerency towards authority and/or institutions that are popularly deemed precursors to dominance has resulted in an environment on the edge.

It would appears that time is up any institution that has dominated the Egyptian psyche for a long time; even when that dominance has been merit based.

Lynchin' and be heard

There is much commonality at the core between the current riots in London and a incident of mob violence that occurred in Noakhali, Bangladesh.

True the extent of damages and the fatalities in the UK are much graver than that in Bangladesh – which left only one person dead. However, both incidents pay homage to the atrocities of police indifference and a long marginalised and under served populace.

The incident in Noakhali where a young man, labeled a 'robber' by the police, was dragged out of the police van by the police themselves to allow for mob justice (while they watched from the sidelines), seems little more than mindless violence and a increasingly recurring moment that shows that there is a very thin line between the humane and and the brutal.

Exposing civil disobedience

Again I am forced to comment on the dastardly politics of my homeland and the blatant disrespect for authority that the politicians are tacitly encouraging as a legitimate means of protest.

A police officer, no less, has been subject to an attack by opposition activists where the perpetrators have forcibly removed his trousers, leaving him parading on the streets of Dhaka, surrounded by his colleagues, in in his unmentionables.

I do not wish to discuss whether or not this was a good thing or if he (as a representative of the police) had it coming – bottom line is that the core intention was to humiliate. These hyenas were set loose to have some fun by deriding the 'administration.'

What is lost is that the police really are only following orders to beat down the protesters on the streets; these same officers had been sent against the current powers-that-be when the present opposition was in power.

What is also lost is that when you teach people that it is okay to defy authority figures (and there should be no argument that this policeman was an authority figure) that defiance will eventually not be conditional; when people have learnt that they can get away with defying an authority figure they will extend that privilege to areas that go beyond political protest during strikes and into areas of everyday civil society life.

When you lose respect for authority, you lose respect for order. While it is true that government is in charge of ensuring order, it is also true that government is not a political party. Civil disobedience left unpunished will only encourage its continuation. If ever the present opposition finds itself back in power, it then will be responsible for similar forms of civil disobedience.

Had the politicians in the opposition party any maturity and sense of decorum they would be the loudest to distance themselves from the action and the first to criticise their own people for going to such extreme measures; legitimate protest cannot be advanced through forms of humiliation but only through structured action (lest one day the very opposition leaders who are slapping each other on the back for 'giving it' to the administration find themselves exposed to a very similar predicament).

Meanwhile, the police will wait anxiously for the moment when they can mete their revenge with the blessing of the government. This may lead to further hartals, but will conclusively provide more opportunities to the law enforcers on duty.

And the cycle continues when the present government is out of power and the opposition (then in power) will order the police to mete out the same treatment.