All countries on this planet have their faces distinct from each other. Yet each one is nebulous. A country's face changes for a host of reasons. A Usain Bolt can be Jamaica itself. Brazil and Argentina are known for their football glory and the talents they produce in droves. How is Bangladesh known to the world at large?
Once the country was derogatorily called a basket case by one of the highly rated but equally vicious secretaries of state of America. The malicious tag or stigma had stuck with it for sometime before Bangladesh shook it off and proved Henry Kissinger wrong. Today economists and think tanks the world over marvel at the progress the country has made against overwhelming odds.
It has overtaken its neighbours, including the far lager and economically stronger one with expansive infrastructure, in terms of many of the social indices. It has successfully left behind the impressions of helplessness against cyclone, floods, storms, poverty and hunger. Even on the healthcare front, particularly concerning maternal and child health care, its achievement has been quite impressive.
The country is not free from vices, though. Its record of corruption, lawlessness and maldistribution of wealth is not helping the cause. The influential and privileged call the shots and go away with crimes - financial and otherwise, making a mockery of social justice.
Notwithstanding its constraints, Bangladesh has been making steady progress and all are unanimous about its potential. If harnessed well, the country will doubtlessly become an economy to reckon with within a decade or two. This is an indication of a country on a roll.
However, gloom suddenly gathers on such a rosy future. This is because of the rise of militancy in the country. Many say that the militant attack at the Holy Artisan Bakery in Gulshan has transformed Bangladesh in the same way the nine-eleven Twin Tower attack did America. There is some truth in the observation but the difference also has to be taken into cognizance too. The feared Al-Qaeda unleashed the attack in the United States of America's iconic buildings and other structures including the CIA headquarters.
In the attack at Holy Artisan, the militants are home grown. They claim their link to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or IS but not all of them came in touch with the organisation in those two countries. Lacking in financial muscles like Al-Qaeda, they are clandestinely recruiting and organising training and operation within the country. Their international link may have been used for some financial support but primarily it is the radicalisation they receive, courtesy of notorious web portals and local agents.
The face of Bangladesh has changed since that attack in Gulshan and its impact is felt at many layers of society and life. What has gone wrong with the psyche of youths who are aghast at normal life?
A consumer society cannot avoid its attendant ills, even if it tries desperately. When land grabbing, money laundering, loan defaulting of enormous amount, share market scams, food adulteration, chaos in the education sector reigning supreme with its random commercialisation, child murder and all kinds of social and sexual aberration take place unrelentingly, a youth with clear conscience is sure to feel perturbed. Those exceptionally sensitive might feel their heads spinning.
There is the cut-off point. Either they will turn recluse or look for redress. In case of the first type, chances are that they will lose interests in social interactions and depend more on electronic gadgets to spend their time. In extreme cases, though, they will come in contact with radical groups who promise them heaven. Once they fall in the trap, they cannot turn back and feel no qualms about taking life in the most brutal manner possible.
A spree of child murder that swept the country -and still it has not stopped - gives an insight into the dark territory of human minds. Sadism innate in some raises its ugly head everywhere when its possessor has a chance of playing it on the weak or vulnerable. In the USA, the blacks become its targets, in India Dalits are its victims, for example. Bangladesh has seen some worst kind of child murder at the hands of apparently normal people. But they were normal only on the surface, inside they were devils all right.
Parents of drug addicts at lower level of society at times hand their erring sons over to the police. But is there any instance where parents have been cooperative in so submitting their rapist sons for trial? In case of similar other crimes, parents try to protect their sons as much as they can. At times they even side with the offending progenies and further victimise the victims. The murder of Himadri in Chittagong is a case in point.
Then there is one such incident that took place on Tuesday. The venue is Gopalganj Sadar upazila and the victims are none other than 11 teachers of Ulpur High School. In defiance of the school authority's instruction, a student brought a cell phone in class and on its confiscation leading to altercation, he was slapped. He hit back the headmaster and as a sequel to this, his father and supporters attacked 11 teachers including two female teachers on their way to school at a bus stand two days later.
Pampering children is one thing but disrespecting and carrying out such agenda against teachers is a completely different issue. The country cannot afford projection of such an ugly face. No offence will be off-limit to scions raised in such a manner.
Happily, there are sobering and illuminating pictures presented by youths like Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain who refused to leave his friends at Holy Artisan to save his life. Then there was a man who ignored his own safety to rescue victims from Rana Plaza debris and thus perished there. It may not be a long line of noble act but there is still someone in the shape of a pickup truck driver who sacrificed his life in order to save two boys from drowning in Rampura canal. Let Bangladesh take heart from such selfless brave acts.
nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com
Which face of Bangladesh will endure?
Nilratan Halder | Published: August 19, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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