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Opinion

A critique of apologia in support of violence

KAZI ANWARUL MASUD
IT is surprising to see a section of people acting as apologists for the 21/8 carnage inflicted upon a peaceful political meeting. This group of people is trying to portray that violence is not Bangladesh-specific and indeed have occurred in many developed countries let alone many developing ones. Such a statement is incontestable but misses the essence of the existential differences between political
violence at home and abroad. Warren Commission Report that was exhaustive and accepted as the final word by the American people followed John Kennedy's assassination. Conspiracy theory relating to Kennedy assassination abounds and will continue to exist, as many people still believe that Elvis Presley is still alive. Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindt's murderer has been captured and is now on trial for murder. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's killer gave himself up immediately after the shooting.
Every one knows the name of the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi --Nathuram Godse -- and the
demented motive that led to the extinction of one of the greatest and saintly lives of the modern era. In the case of the Nepalese royal family tragedy the facts surrounding the event and the hand that pulled the lethal weapon causing the death of the King and the Queen, among others, is well known. Marcos' involvement in the Aquino murder was so apparent that Aquino's widow was swept to the Presidency as a result. Indira Gandhi's assassins were hanged, as were those of Rajiv Gandhi.
From Lincoln to Kennedy brothers to attempt on the life of Ronald Reagan to those in South and South East Asia -- in each case the perpetrators were caught and punished. To bring in the questions relating to unstable politico-security situation in Afghanistan, the Tamil-Singhalese conflict, Indo-Pak tension, and militancy in Myanmar as a backdrop of the 21/8 terrorist act is simply not understandable. Bangladesh does not have ethnic divide as in Sri Lanka. Regarding Myanmar still under military rule for decades the multi-ethnic conflict with the majority Burmans has no
similarity with the Bangladesh situation. It is asinine to draw upon the tragedies of the West where the guilty is invariably apprehended and punished. What happened on 21/8 at Dhaka was an attempt to wipe out the entire leadership of the Awami League by a band of assassins determined to destroy the democratic fibre of the nation. If they had succeeded in their nefarious aim Bangladesh could have been classified as a failed state meeting William Olson's definition as a state facing serious "internal problems that threaten continued coherence" or "significant internal challenge to their political order". That the world today, particularly after 9/11, is passing through a critical stage involving possible civilizational conflict is to state the obvious. President Clinton's Secretary of State Madeline Albright's recent apportionment of blame to Bush administration for dissipating US goodwill which had existed in the world for decades and replacing it with fear and hatred of American might and her earlier observation of tectonic shift in the US foreign and defense policies after Bush admin-
istration had taken over power -such a shift never seen in the American history -- are indicative of civilizational conflict currently raging in the world.
But then it is difficult to draw a casual relationship between the conflictual situation reigning in the world with that of 21/8 carnage unless one were to give serious credence to the claim by Hikmatul Jihad that they were responsible for the attack on Awami League leadership on that fateful day. It can be argued that this outfit's (reportedly a terrorist Islamic outfit) rage against Awami League is because of the party's advocacy of secularism and its fight against repression of Hindu minority community. If Hikmatul Jihad has transnational connection then the attack of 21/8 dons a more sinister apparition. Otherwise to connect the terrorism of 21/8 with the prevailing unstable situation in some parts of the world appears to be a deliberate attempt at obfuscation and may mislead both the people and the international community from the real motive behind the planning and execution of the carnage and the investigators from apprehending the
murderers. The apologists should look at our neighborhood where political leadership is not targeted for assassination and serial bombing incidents (from Udichi to Ramnabatamul), mur-ders/assault on journalists (Manik Saha and others), bomb blasts at Sylhet and at cinema halls, attack on Awami League and Communist Party meetings do not occur as a matter of course. Even in Pakistan such violence is not endemic despite assassination attempts on President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz that are believed to be the handiwork of al-Qaedist elements. Assassination attempt on President Kumaratunga was clearly a Tamil separatist operation. The apologists would be well advised not to confuse the global instability with graduated murderous assault on Awami League leadership and activists.
The demand for international investigation into the 21/8 events reflects the total lack of trust of the victims in the integrity and ability of the government to conduct an impartial inquiry. Such distrust is a result of serial failure of the authorities to
adhere to the concept of politics and power. Max Weber defined the state as "the rule of men over men based on the means of legitimate, that is allegedly legitimate, violence". And politics is the art of gaining power. But if the path to power goes through the infected garden of violence then the Frankensteinian boomerang effect of violence substituting state power may become a distinct possibility.
German political scientist Hannah Arendt expressed her fear that nowhere is the self-defeating factor in the victory of violence over power more evident than in the use of terror to maintain domination. Terror, she adds, is not the same as violence; it is rather the form of government that comes into being when violence having destroyed all power, does not abdicate but, on the contrary remains in full control. Every kind of opposition must disappear before full force of terror is let loose. Rationale of this strand of reasoning demands utmost commitment on the part of our authorities to unveil the planners and executors of 21/8 carnage. Superficial normalcy displayed through deployment of law enforcing agents like the Pakistani occupation army
did in then East Pakistan may not arrest the collapse of domestic governing authority, civil strife and economic breakdown. Peace will automatically come when people get back good governance from their elected representatives and not live under constant fear for life and property.
European Union has already called upon the government to promptly investigate the attack in a fair and transparent manner and has warned that failure to prevent and satisfactorily resolve these attacks will contribute to a climate of impunity for such acts. There can be no apology for violence and lawlessness. If the Marxian interpretation of the state as an instrument of violence in the command of the ruling class has lost global currency due to the end of the Cold War, inter-faith divide appears to be widening. Sociologist Peter Berger's contention that the world today is massively religious and is anything but secularised that had been predicted by many authors of modernity is noteworthy. If intra-state violence is caused by intolerance of inter-faith divide due to grotesque interpretation of religious belief then
apologists should pause and redirect their action towards finding a correct conclusion of the violent act instead of becoming complicit in the act itself through Houdinitic interpretation of terrorism.
This is no time to play hide and seek. It becomes the incumbent duty of all Bangladeshis to demand of the authorities for a fair account of the discharge of their responsibilities, a quick and transparent enquiry into the 21/8 carnage and others preceding it. It is equally incumbent upon all of us to ensure that the apologists are denied space to muddle water to provide escape route for those trying to destroy the democratic foundation of Bangladesh.
Kazi Anwarul Masud is a former Secretary and Ambassador.