The penchant is the problem

By Habibul Islam

The last few weeks have been great for cricket aficionados, and some are still transfixed in front of their TVs as more play continues. But for the nation as a whole it’s not been all that great. And worse still has it been for the incumbent administration even if, like a junior minister, it persists in believing in delusions and illusions; i.e. the political opposition is to blame for all that doesn’t go according to its desires, even if the issue relates to cellphone SIMs. 

Aside from the temperature continuing to rise, weather-wise that is, causing discomfort to the citizens, there’s been murders and mayhem galore causing exhausting anxiety to the people particularly since most vicious deaths remain unsolved in spite of government leaders, in the first few days, insisting that the killers will be ferreted out, soonest. But alas, verbal assurances don’t seem to be backed up by subsequent events, mainly failures to solve the “mysteries” (a la Sagor-Runi case, for instance).

Beleaguered administrations---around the world---have a tremendous penchant to see all problems as a “law-and-order” phenomenon, which of course doesn’t quite reflect the realities. Consequently, the irresistible urge for governments is to rely on the state machinery (specifically the law enforcement apparatus) in perilous circumstances, which in turn means increasing the number of personnel engaged to function for the state and simultaneously enact greater numbers of laws and regulations that have the goal of emasculation at their core.

The ultimate fact is---and it’s there for all to see, if only they would---no number of ever-more stringent laws nor harsher actions from administration enforcers have ever succeeded in salvaging any government that digs itself into a ditch, especially if almost all decisions and acts are geared toward perpetuation in power. It’s been attempted innumerable times throughout known historical times, but ain’t never known to have worked for long. The engineering, the architecture, the edifice all come crashing down.

“These are despairing moments for Bangladesh,” as Adil Khan, professor at the University of Queensland in Australia, commented recently, “and given Bangladesh’s consistent poor record in accountability and given its [voracious] government’s firm grip on power … two very different dynamics have gripped the country: at one level there is seething discontent that is spawning extremism waiting to explode one day, and at the other, a sense of fatalism has descended upon its people…. Exactly which of the two groups will ultimately sway is difficult to predict at this stage but either way things look pretty grim for a country that has already seen enough violence, deaths and destruction in its 40 years’ existence.”

In the extant situation the most that the people can do is hope and pray for the best---just as they’ve had to do, sadly, on numerous occasions in Bangladesh’s brief history---and in the meantime, don’t even consider talking of debate and discussion, and never contemplate the word dissent.