Trash talk in politics

By Fazal M. Kamal


There’s no sliver of evidence or any glimmer of indication that the incumbent administration has an iota of interest in resolving outstanding issues in the political arena. It all too obviously is hell bent on hounding its political adversaries—as well as anyone who is deemed by government honchos as being a critter indulging in critical annoyance and a meddlesome bleeding heart.

Of course as has been made more than adequately clear to the entire nation the consequences of “getting outa line” can be mindboggling (and you shouldn’t be wanting to ever try any of them for size): They can range from simple intimidation all the way to plain disappearance, as has befallen a large number of people already, with heartrending results for families after families.

The relentless foul-mouthed bad-mouthing of their adversaries by ruling alliance supercilious moaners—not to mention those who are evidently bereft of all civility, perhaps due to their unfortunate heritage and sheer lack of knowledge—is definitely signal enough to convey to even someone with just a modicum of intelligence that the government specifically believes that it cannot under any circumstances suffer the existence of any opposing views.

Now that it’s arming itself with evermore restrictive rules, regulations and laws encompassing everything on Earth and some that have gone beyond, depending on the momentary inclination of an administration official, anyone sotto voce expressing an obiter dictum can be incarcerated, harassed and/or disappeared on the whim of even the lowest of the lowest in the purported administrative apparatus.

While on the topic of law enforcers, let it be noted, if nothing else, they’re indeed masters in meting out super-quick justice a la police forces particularly in earlier times in South America and Africa. The primary modus operandi of this country’s police is to haul in someone vulnerable, beat him/her till s/he makes a “confession”--unless, of course, s/he is foolish enough not to sign on the proverbial dotted line, in which case as also in the interest of fast-paced justice, s/he conveniently dies in “an exchange of fire.”

As noted earlier, these are by no standard new methods of serving the interests of ruling cabals; they have been abundantly utilized in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia (one is, in these instances, often reminded of Indonesian president Suharto’s killing spree) as well as in the northeastern regions of India and unrelentingly in what is known as Indian Kashmir. In Bangladesh they’re now the state-of-the-art mechanism in vogue with the powers that be.

It’s certainly likely that even such observations can be viewed with extreme prejudice by some persons in the country and some more right across the border. But, au contraire, law enforcement personnel have been given complete freedom to regurgitate precisely like political activists with gay abandon. Which naturally raises the question: Given the foregoing fact how are citizens to interact with the police and allied entities? 

This and similar questions arise especially when perceived against the backdrop where law enforcers have exhibited an enormous penchant for not being able to “get their man”--as in the case of Sagar and Runi’s double murders, as in the case of Sohagi Jahan Tonu whose unnatural death in Comilla yet remains unsolved, or as in the case of the wife of a once-celebrated police officer, or as with the very recent murder of Afsana Firdous, to enumerate only a few. And yet there isn’t any let up in their virulent verbal deluge.

A recent New York Times editorial stated unequivocally: “Unlawful detentions and disappearances have become routine in Bangladesh. Authorities act with impunity even when under the international spotlight. A thorough reform of law enforcement in Bangladesh is in order. A good place to start would be to release all those detained without charge. …The use of plainclothes officers, in an attempt to disguise official involvement, plus a failure to punish police and intelligence officers who participate in such abuses, feeds a culture of impunity.”

In view of the reality that many of those supposedly practicing politics in the ruling alliance are doing so by emulating one D. Trump, the presidential aspirant of the US Republican Party, i.e. more akin to fungal growth in a petri dish and naturally not in possession of any positive mental abilities, it’s very unlikely that in the short term at least conditions for salubrious politics are going to return to Bangladesh. Even though it’s merely logical to conclude that the present trends in absolutist politics are a definite bane for the nation. Yeah, sure, sad.

PS: It’s surely way beyond the realm of credibility that those who’d nothing whatsoever to do with the country’s war of independence are unabashedly articulating unadulterated garbage about those who actually actively fought in that war and even led on the battlefield. I guess, all any rational and informed person can do is pray: Lord, forgive them for they know not what escapes their maws.