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The definitive writer's guide to surviving this democracy
ARE
you a writer, journalist, blogger or Facebook user? Do you find yourself thinking long and hard about the dwindling state of affairs in the
country? Instead of repressing those feelings like a good law abiding citizen should, do you feel compelled to share your simmering outrage on a public forum? Do you use quotation marks when you write the word democracy? Do you feel an obligation to openly defend the murdered bloggers? Does your editor heave an exasperated sigh every time you submit a piece, imagining the grave repercussions if it were allowed to be published unedited?
If you answered yes to these questions, alas, dear reader, you seem to be suffering from a deadly bug commonly called "Freedom of Expression” that, if left untreated, can cause severe damage to one's life, security and peace of mind. In your self-righteous expression of indignation, you must not forget that whatever you write can and will be used, by various quarters in the country, to name you, defame you or maim you. At any given point in time, depending on the level of your audacity, you may be harassed and attacked in atrocious language on social media, "cautioned" in person, arrested for making “derogatory" comments, have contempt cases filed against you, have your media house be a target of institutional wrath, made to disappear into thin air, or murdered in cold blood.
But fret not, dear writer, to aid you to live a long and utterly repressed life, we have developed a fool-proof five-point questionnaire to guide you through the confusing path of "but-why-can't-I-say-that-lsn’t-it-the-truth?" to writing the safe, sanitary and stupendously sterile piece guaranteed
to ruffle absolutely no powerful feathers.
#1 Are you a blogger?
This simply must not be. You must sign out right now of that wordpress ortumblr account, delete it permanently and bid farewell to your debilitating urge to share every little detail of your life or thought process with the outside world. Even if your blog deals with the latest trends in blouse designs or provides literary analysis of H.M.Ershad's love poems, you must never, ever, identify as or admit to being a blogger. Because if you're a blogger, you are, apparently, automatically also an atheist.
No, dear critical thinker, there's no point in arguing that this conflation of blogger with atheist is reductive and nonsensical, that it is part of a highly political, systematic and successful propaganda to discredit not only the Shahbagh movement of 2013 but also all voices that raise concerns about religious extremism(s), war crimes trial and minority rights on social media. To you it might seem logical to argue that 1) all bloggers do not write on religion, extremism or war crimes; 2) not all bloggers who write on religion, extremism or war crimes are atheists; 3) not all atheists defame religion; and 4) nobody -atheist, agnostic, believer, whatever their opinion, however distasteful -deserves to be hacked to death. But it's a fool that looks for logic in these times.
#2 Do you write on religious fundamentalism, secularism or war crimes trial? Is the word "religion" mentioned, even obliquely, anywhere?
Stop immediately. Do you want to be on multiple hit-lists circulated via the internet, and be a "free-for-all" target for "unnamed assailants”? Or perhaps you want to be arrested under section 57 of the all-mighty ICT Aa? Don't be naive, dear reader; don’t argue that writing about Islamisation of the constitution or seeking justice for the atrocious crimes committed in 1971 does not defame religion in any way. Don't ask who should have the power to define what a particular religion is, what constitutes
"offensive” and why the rest of us should unthinkingly gulp down those narrow interpretations. Don't make dangerous claims that if the IGP must arrest anyone for defaming religion, it should be the fanatics who propagate hate speech against women, children, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, adivasis, agnostics or even other fellow Muslims in the name of religion, or those that kill in the name of Islam, which, in case they have forgotten, is a religion of peace.
Revisit the faa that it was the government itself which made public a list of 84 bloggers at the behest of Hefajat-e-Islam, all but sacrificing
them to the age-old alter of appeasement; refer, then, to an aspirant AL leader's highly suggestive comments that the AL cannot be seen fraternising with the likes of atheist bloggers, and take a long, hard look at the ever-so-efficient response of law enforcement agencies to the continuous threat on bloggers' lives.
#3 Do you raise your eyebrows when someone calls Bangladesh a democracy? Do you make less-than-savoury comments about our eminent political leaders?
Do you not know that too much of anything is bad for you, including democracy? It's as one learned senior
leader of the AL quipped, in response to a suggestion by certain concerned citizens that the constitution should be reformed for a more effective democratic system: ”... the more democracy they have, the more they demand. They're always demanding more, more and more." Keep your greed in check, dear reader. Why, we ask, can't you be content with the "free and fair" elections of Ian '14 and mayoral elections held earlier this year, the flawless record of guaranteeing basic human rights, protection of freedom of expression and assembly, and peace in the Hill Tracts? You're obviously misguided and do not understand the true meaning of democracy. Democracy, dear reader, is the power to redefine the very concept. If you cannot accept this redefinition, be prepared to have the epithet "Jamaat" thrown at you indiscriminately, because in the new logic of democracy, if you're not with the AL, you're obviously with the war criminals.
You might think that posing criticisms, writing satire or making a general comment on political leaders is your guaranteed constitutional right, but think again! As the Prabir Sikdar case so clearly shows, anyone can be arrested under section 57 of the ICT Act and just about anything can constitute "derogatory" in the absence of clearly defined guidelines. So instead of a general libel suit for defamatory comments, you can be jailed for 7 to 14 years for an off-hand comment on FB and the offence would be non-bailable.
Three cases were filed under this act in 2013,33 cases in 2014 and 35 cases in 2015 (till May). At the moment there are 60 cases under trial which were filed in different parts of the country, and around 1000 more cases are about to be transmitted to the Tribunal for trial very soon.
Do you still think it’s worth it to post that witty political commentary for a few Tikes'?
#4 Do you feel an urge to protest the widespread human rights violations carried out by state agencies with absolute impunity?
It's well and good that, in theory,
you strongly condemn such grave human rights violations as "crossfires", extra-judicial killings, custodial deaths and torture carried out by state agencies, but do you also want a practical demonstration of what it means to be at the receiving end of their wrath? This year alone, from Jan to June, 36 people were abducted, only two of whom were recovered alive, and 106 were allegedly killed by law enforcers, 43 of whom died in "crossfires", 34 in custody and seven from physical torture. If the statistics collected by human rights organisation, ASK, isn't enough to convince you (these are just the reported instances, mind you!) just take a moment to contemplate the fact that even BCL cadres, hitherto thought invincible, aren't safe from "crossfires".
Remember, also, that it's fashionable to be harsh against some institutions but not others. E.g. everybody has a fun time bashing the police; but some agencies must always remain unnamed, their violations only mentioned in cautioned whispers but their true magnitude never, ever fully revealed in the media. The extent of their power is enough to put even Voldemort to shame.
#5 Do you make comments on any important socio-political, economic issue at all?
But why, dear reader, waste your breath writing on the Rampal power plant, despicable working conditions in the country, child abuse, violence against women or adivasi rights? Hie powers-that-be will either continue to do as they wish, or not to do anything at all. No amount of profound and passionate pieces is enough to convince our policymakers of their folly, or of the need to take measures that will benefit, rather than dispossess, the people of this country. So, save yourself the heartache. Really, why bother anymore?
Congratulations. You have passed. You may now post that photo of your delicious waffle on Instagram.
The writer Is an activist and journalist.