I shared this on social media and wanted to post it on my blog. From afar, I’m trying to process news and scenes from Bangladesh after the fall of Hasina’s tyranny.
Every revolution brings to the surface pent-up emotion and energy. I thrill to scenes from Bangladesh where young people speak out and take steps against violence towards the Hindu minority. Where they pick up brooms to sweep away debris, clear the streets, direct traffic.
Even though there wasn’t a well-built popular organization but a mobilization, people step in because they must. The new energy in Bangladesh is exciting. It is fresh and joyous, it is thoughtful. I live far from Bangladesh, but I see it in photos and I see it in social media.
But every revolution also brings to the surface the ugliness that exists in a society. And we have a lot of it. Bigotry against minorities. Criminals seizing opportunity. People out to settle scores. Those who want reprisals. It’s all there. I remember it well from 1971 after liberation.
Like then, there was no one to enforce calm or order. Some freedom fighters set upon collaborators. Some went against the ‘Bihari’ minority. Others took the chance to seize houses or cars from those who had fled. New ‘freedom fighters’ also emerged, chance mohammad’s.
I didn’t see too many loud voices saying no to reprisals. People tried to save victims as best as they could. I’m encouraged by the images of those who’ve come out in front of temples. I am encouraged by the student leaders asking groups to be formed to defend those under threat.
In a situation where the police are discredited but the military has taken temporary power, it is their responsibility to stand against violence. I wish there was a strong enough popular movement to do that, but it’s not there. What there is, seems to be trying its best.
We’re in critical times. Defeated regime supporters are still active, the BNP which once ruled like a mirror of the Hasina regime, is trying to come out in force, saying it was their movement, it’s their time. Some of them and others have other agendas: attacking Hindus, attacking Muslim shrines, attacking statues, spreading the word that Hasina was bad because she was a woman and no woman should ever rule.
My hope is that the liberated energy of the youth who built a broad and inclusive mobilization will be able to counter the ugliness. There will be new elections and my hope is that the old, stained forces will not rise to the top. They’re well organized, the movement is not.
In 2007 when the army set up an interim regime because the BNP-Jamaat had tried to set up a forever situation in its own image, they tried to promote a minus-two formula. But they did it through military shenanigans, through use of the intelligence services, and it failed.
I believe that if we are to achieve something different, realize the hopes of the current revolution, minus-two is the only hope of a new Bangladesh. But this minus-two will have to come from the bottom up. Can the liberated energy we see today pull this off?