When the rule of (lawlessness) prevails

Saturday, August 3, 2024, 10:00 AM Last update: Saturday, August 3, 2024, 10:00 AM

Police move towards a crowd of quota reform protesters in Dhaka, July 18, 2024. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

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Police move towards a crowd of quota reform protesters in Dhaka, July 18, 2024. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

As the world has seen, though certainly not the whole picture, the horrors that have unfolded in Bangladesh, a lack of transparency and a deliberate, disingenuous and frankly dangerous effort by the authorities to cover up the truth have come to light. Should we be surprised? Probably not, given how this government has responded to all forms of civil dissent over the past decade, from all sources, political and otherwise. Even for a political party with a history of abusing its political activists in cahoots with law enforcement to repress rather than protect citizens, this latest crackdown represents an alarming low.

The suppression of free speech and expression, the disregard of constitutionally protected fundamental rights, the marginalization of civil society’s ideas about governance reform, the rejection of supporting political competition between the opposition and the ruling party, and the widespread politicization of supposedly impartial state institutions are in direct contradiction to the ruling party’s belief that it is the main architect and the only real guarantor of the country’s economic stability. The story of economic stability is gradually being rejected by a growing number of Bangladeshis who are dissatisfied because the development results on paper—promoted through eye-catching infrastructure projects rather than an innate focus on improving the quality of life of the average person—are not benefiting them on a day-to-day basis.

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The enormous level of willful ignorance or, more dangerously, defensive political posture that forces public sector stakeholders such as law enforcement officials to present an embarrassingly biased or, worse, blatantly incorrect version of events can be described at best as authoritarian and at worst as reckless. This version of events places most of the blame on the political opponents of the ruling party before any proper independent investigation and without reflecting on the failures of the government itself. The presentation of a misleading account of the chain of events that led to a significant loss of life and destruction in order to provide media protection for a political party that is itself in crisis seems to characterize both the political and public policy responses of the authorities in the days following the deployment of the military.

The narrative of both the government and some mass media promotes a version of events that is far removed from the reality experienced by foreign observers, international media and, most importantly, the country’s own citizens. This narrative pits state protection, including devastated public assets, against individual safety, violating the very rule of law that should guide the actions or inaction of any government with a modicum of respect for the overall health of its relationship with its electorate. Unfortunately, this relationship was neither respected nor maintained when aggression, not reconciliation, was used to deal with innocent protesters and their genuine political grievances.

Bangladesh, long accustomed to a strong protest culture and an equally strong counter-revolutionary government, is now experiencing a new mix of shock, anger, confusion, fear and cruelty. Young people are feeling extreme hopelessness about their individual futures and acute fears for their own safety and that of their peers. Both the speed and the traumatic scenes of the riots have left the country reeling, more despondent than it has been in a long time. Since 2014, the Awami League has ruled Bangladesh without a proper electoral mandate – anyone who claims otherwise is living in a fool’s paradise – and its loss of touch with the pulse of the average voter has highlighted how out of touch it is with the political mood and political needs of Bangladeshis.

Young people—mostly university students and their growing group of allies—caught in the crossfire of politically incited violence by ruling party decision-makers, combined with repression, bore the brunt of the unrest. Eyewitness accounts and international media point to one cause: the brutal response by the authorities, characterized by indiscriminate attacks on unarmed civilians and gross violations of basic human rights under the pretext of protecting national security. No amount of political cover or attempts to cover up the truth through social media control and censorship will succeed.

Beyond the immediate deaths and arrests, consider the long-term psychological impact on young people. They can no longer trust their government or hold authorities accountable. Forms of civil disobedience and outbursts of anger, both violent and nonviolent, will inevitably arise because the authorities have turned the people they are supposed to serve into their opponents.

The government has only one way to improve the situation: it should show humility and an apologetic tone and admit how terribly it has mishandled a crisis that could have been resolved through conciliatory efforts with the student protesters. Instead, the government has deepened the discontent of a population already burdened with pent-up frustration stemming from the ongoing cost of living crisis, high inflation, endemic public sector corruption, money laundering by elites, rising youth unemployment and partisan monopoly of public institutions that benefit only a few.

The experiences of those who lived through the chaos speak for themselves. The testimonies of citizens who lived through those dark days and nights challenge the sanitized versions of events that are currently being presented in the country by the authorities. The government’s narrative focuses on the destruction of public assets, including a metro station and several government buildings—actions that are absolutely reprehensible, but are secondary to the suffering inflicted on the people of Bangladesh by those sworn to protect them. The value of human life has been rejected. The desire to project unfettered and unfettered power has overshadowed any commitment to the rule of law and the political positions that should naturally flow from respect for it.

I want to end on a personal note. My words would be stronger and my arguments more convincing in condemning the ruling party for its actions if I were writing for a newsroom operating in a functioning democracy. Bangladesh is not such a place. This newspaper, like others in the country, must exercise caution because of the operational risks posed by tools such as the Cyber Security Act and an environment where any statement perceived as a threat to the authorities can lead to legal repercussions for both the newspaper and the writer. So while my analysis is a toned-down version of my true thoughts, there is one central message that we all share: the rule of law has been at odds with Bangladesh in the past few weeks. This is not the end, but a worrying sign of what lies ahead.

Mir Aftabuddin Ahmed is a public policy writer. He can be reached at (email protected). The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of any organization, institution or entity with which he is associated.

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