We are going through a time of unrest

Newspapers are not available in remote areas of the country. I do not get newspapers where I live. Internet connections have been switched off. The news we watch on television is controlled, to all appearances. We cannot get an accurate picture of what is going on.

It all began with an innocuous movement. There had been a movement for quota reforms in 2018 too. Back then we saw Chhatra League's "helmet force" taking to the streets to quell the students. The "helmet force" also cracked down on the students of the safe road movement the same year. They assaulted students and journalists. The identity of this helmet force is no secret. We saw a repetition of this yet again this time.

The students' movement for quota reforms was limited to the university campus for the first few days. But an unwarranted utterance at the prime minister's press briefing provoked the anger of the students. They burst out of the halls at midnight in protest.

After that Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader told Chhatra League to be prepared. And following that we saw Chhatra League and Jubo League attack the students. They beat them up and left them injured.
Many of the Chhatra League leaders at present are not even students. They forcefully eat in the canteens and occupy the hall rooms. They force the general students to live in prison-like conditions of the "gono rooms" (mass rooms). They assault them if they don't attend meetings and rallies.
All this has been going on for years.

The quota reforms issue is a manifestation of the accumulated anger among the students, bursting out in the movement. It was this anger that drove the students to the streets. The helmet forces assaulted them. The movement went out of the hands of those who initiated it. People of all walks of life joined in.

Many are questioning, where are the students in the movement? Why are people clad in lungis joining the movement? Such questions are motivated. Rickshaw pullers, coolies, workers, shopkeepers, transport workers, everyone joined the movement. They were driven by the injustices, corruption, exploitation that they have been subjected to for so long. The movement is no longer in the hands of the students. We have seen this in all movements of the past too.

Movements in this country have always seen fire, destruction and damage. During Ershad's rule, Awami League, BNP, the left parties, Jamaat-e-Islami and everyone together set vehicles on fire, set buildings on fire. Why did they do so? They thought that if vehicles were burnt, buildings were set on fire, democracy would come to the country.

From 1991 we began to see the actual face of democracy! BNP came to power. Within two years Awami League and Jamaat together began setting vehicles on fire, damaging property. Then when Awami League came to power in 1996, BNP and Jamaat together began setting vehicles alight and damaging property. That is how politics in this country has been going on.
When there is a movement, cars are burnt, property is damaged. The reason behind this is people's anger on various issues. Then again, various vested interest groups also latch on to the movement. They include political parties as well as persons of various agencies. They stir up things to muddy the waters.

During this movement too many government installations were damaged. Many vehicles were burnt. The government is the protector of all this public property. But they failed to protect this property. The only way to be protected from such arson and destruction is for those in power to display restraint and control.

In 1969 when Dhaka University student and leftist activist Asad was killed in police firing, the mass upsurge broke out. The police had shot Asad at close range. The police were not tried. The policeman who had shot Asad was a Bengali.

Then on 24 January there was a mass outburst in Dhaka. The houses of three or four ministers were set on fire, the guest house where the Agartala conspiracy case tribunal chairman was staying was set on fire, the offices of Dainik Pakistan and Morning News were set on fire. All this was a manifestation of the suppressed anger within the students and the public. Our politicians later took much pride in these incidents of the 1969 mass uprising.

The government is claiming that there is a conspiracy centering the quota reform movement. Awami League has been in government for over 15 years now. The administration, the law enforcement agencies, the intelligence agencies are all in their control. So why couldn't they detect the conspiracy in advance? Actually we are in the midst of a crude political fight. The reason behind this is that there has been no fair, credible election in the country over the past 15 years. It is only natural for people to have pent up anger against the government. The political parties too will be on the lookout for a chance to stir up a movement.

During the movement, the police indiscriminately used tear gas shells, sound grenades, rubber bullets and gunfire. With whose money have these bullets, tear gas shells, sound grenades been bought? These have been bought with the taxpayers' money. Has Awami League forgotten the words of Bangabandhu's 7 March speech -- "They are shooting my people with the weapons bought with the money of my people?"

Over the last few days people have been shot dead indiscriminately. Over 150 people have been killed, though this isn't even the accurate figure. One day of the other this issue will be raised. There will be investigations, there will be justice.

The people take to the streets, damage property -- who taught them this? It is our politicians who have taught them this. Burning vehicles, setting buildings on fire is all the part of our political nature. Awami League which is in power now, will do the same if they go to the opposition one day. The government says they have shut down the internet to control the miscreants. But hundreds of thousands of people in the country depend on the internet for their livelihood. Has the government taken them into consideration?

We are going through a period of unrest. None of us know when things will be back to normal. People's livelihood has come to a standstill. On one hand the demonstrators are talking about a complete shutdown. One the other hand the government has imposed curfew. So from both sides things have come been brought to a halt. And amidst all of this there are clashes and gunfire.

The situation will not improve unless the government moves away from its aggressive stance. The government, Chhatra League, Jubo League, the police, RAB, the law enforcement agencies, have gone to the extreme. What situation has arisen for Abu Sayeed in Rangpur to be shot and killed at close range? All of this is irresponsible and instigative action.
We fought the liberation war for the sake of democracy. But the fruits of the liberation war have been snatched away. We have not achieved democracy. Democracy has not arrived.

 
* Mohiuddin Ahmad is a writer and researcher
* This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir