When intellectuals work as lackeys of autocrats

The dark side of a number of so-called progressive intellectuals of the country has already been exposed. Over the years, they supported the misdeeds of the Hasina regime and never raised any question about various oppressive steps taken. They were awarded for the loyalty irrespective of their qualification and mostly turned into flatterers of the regime, now ousted prime minister to be precise. They used to raise their voice when something disturbed the regime and stood by the fallen government, defying rationale. They counterattacked those who criticised the regime and labelled them as 'anti-progressive,' 'reactionary,' 'fundamentalist,' 'militant', 'anti-liberation camp', and what not.
Over the years, the pro-Hasina intellectuals consolidated their positions in various areas of education, culture and society. They became the dominant force at the universities, professional bodies, and national institutions, compromising the fundamental purposes of these institutes. Though a few tried to focus on qualitative works by keeping political loyalty aside, the others were more interested in demonstrating loyalty through their works and extracting undue benefits. In one phase, it became a competition among them to prove who was more loyal and dedicated to serving the various ill purposes of the autocratic regime. The list is quite long, no doubt. Nevertheless, there is a need to mention a few incidents to understand the narrowness and blindness of these so-called progressive intellectuals.
In the name of upholding the spirit of independence, the Hasina-loyalist intellectuals organized a discussion meeting under the banner of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA), where they publicly declared their support to the Awami League just a day before the controversial 10th national parliamentary election in 2014. The association president presided over the discussion meeting, although most of the members were unaware of any such event. Use of a professional body as a platform for pro-government loyalists and flatterers disappointed many.
These so-called intellectuals continued to keep mum, and some even openly supported when the BCL goons attacked students on campuses during the past 15 years. These are the intellectuals who exploit various opportunities for their own benefit and create vested interest groups.
Just two days before the fall of the regime, Hasina met a number of current and former vice-chancellors of public universities and principals of colleges. She called meeting to exchange ideas on curbing the ongoing student protests. In the meeting, a former VC of the National University urged her to harden her stance to contain the students' movement and even suggested killing a few of the protestors! A similar suggestion was echoed by the immediate VC of the same university, according to a report published in a media. Not only these two, but many other so-called progressive intellectuals also backed mass killing and repressive steps in the name of curbing the mass movement.
After the fall of Hasian, who was compelled to flee the country and take shelter in India on August 5, most of those intellectuals also went underground to avoid the wrath of ordinary people. Sadly, a number of academics, professors, researchers, and teachers are now hiding due to their shameless support of an autocrat and her misdeeds. These people did not say a single word against the killing of students and ordinary citizens during the bloody days (July 15-August 4) when at least 451 people had their lives cut short courtesy of the regime's hellish policy. They were obviously silent when a law enforcement agency brutally tortured students' coordinators and forced them to declare the suspension of the movement. They were not perturbed when thousands of students and people across the country were seriously injured, many of whom standing no chance of returning to normal lives.
History shows that a section of intellectuals always supported the autocrats and tyrants. During the liberation war in 1971, some pro-Pakistiani intellectuals supported the atrocities of Pak Army in the name of defending the unity of Pakistan. During Ershad's regime, there was also a section of pro-autocrat intellectuals who unquestioningly backed the regime. Now, the country witnessed another bunch of pro-tyrant intellectuals who used to claim themselves as the only representatives of the pro-liberation progressive forces.

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