Afsan Chowdhury
THE normalisation of goom as a common, everyday occurrence is more or less established. It means that at some point of time, people expect that goom will happen to someone. Very few people going by numbers do get goomed. But nobody is sure who that can be. Given the current pattern of goom, it is safe to say that this has been actively around for quite a while and what we are seeing is an acceleration of this activity, not a new one. It is as old as the republic itself. The question is why it has continued to be after all these years.
A look at the profile of the goomed shows a pattern. Many are political activists but not all. Small time thugs go missing too but are more crossfired. The attendant narrative has become so common that few even bother to ask. So whoever is responsible for goom remains a mystery but crossfire is simpler to understand.
We tend to think that those goomed are anti-government or anti-state. Most think that they are picked up by some secret law enforcement agency and then kept in custody and in some cases are released. Those released then follow a similar pattern of failing to remember where they were, who the abductors were and so on.
One can feel mystified by goom which is natural but an examination shows that it is a by-product of a systemic weakness of management of what the state considers to be crime. As far as the government and the state are concerned, it is all about law and order, not politics. Anti-state and anti-government politics is also perceived as criminal activities.
A quick class profile of goom
THE class element is a factor in determining the nature of goom and returning. For example, Aniruddha the businessman, Mubasshar the academic, Mizan the diplomat and the recently returned officials of the education ministry have the common signature of being well connected.
Prior to that, children of two convicted war criminals were also goomed but they returned and went silent as per practice. But none went permanently missing. They all did return but to silence.
It seems that the better networked do return but are chastened. The goomed from the middle networked return but not always. The fate of those from the low network is unknown to us. Those cross-fired also happen to be from this class.
Hence, while every gooomed can be an enemy of the state, not everyone faces the same fate. But it is not politics and non-political crime, but those who threaten the state and those who do not.
The absence of ransom demands is very important in this regard. Those who abduct have rarely asked for money and when they do have not followed it up. Hence, the cause of goom is generally attributed to a threat-lessening strategy. And it is at this juncture the various trends converge and diverge.
The jangi factor
WHAT was a minor irritant before 1974 demised with the death of the major extremist Maoist Sarbahara Party. It returned as a major threat in 90s, went quite for long and again returned in the past decade. After a period of isolated killings, generally targeting those considered pro-secular/anti-Islamic, groups from within the jihadist cluster went for a big kill in the form of the Holey Artisan bakery attack. The rest is history.
Now the counter-attack against jangibad, apparently successful, tells us about the threats to society as well. How the police and other law enforcers managed the situation is another matter but no matter how it happened, no questions were asked. The police action appeared to have public support and that is why the law enforcers felt they could do what they thought needed to be done, ignoring certain amount of media criticism.
In the process, the people also became part of the operations and people looked willing participants of that. The method would be closer to what is done in other developing states but not close to what is done in the developed world.
Which is where the dilemma may lie.
The demands on a state law enforcement mechanism are very high, perhaps beyond its capacity which is forcing the state to deal with its threats through any means. Each threat is personal and, therefore, requires dramatic measures of survival.
Ill health of law and justice system
CONVENTIONAL law enforcement and justice delivery system have remained obsolete and investment in their development is negligible. But the perceived threats to the state and the system, whether political or systemic, have increased. The gap between the two is creating the space which allows all kinds of activities from mastani to goom, formal and informal, to survive.
This also allows the nature of wealth making that is in operation in Bangladesh — network capitalism — to flourish. It cannot function in a state of transparency and if the dominant economic system is not open, law enforcement and justice delivery will never be.
We have to learn to live with goom plus or let go the economic system which sustains the ruling class. Otherwise, goom will remain, even if the political identity of the victims changes in the years to come.
- Courtesy: New Age/Jan 24, 2018
