The worst of times, the best of times

If we said that the year 2024 was an eventful year, that would be the understatement of the year. It has been a year that started with farce, fraud and fury, went on to see an ignominious defeat, a year of blood, sweat and tears, of triumph, of despair giving way to hope, of doors opening to a brand new horizon.

It began with the Jatiya Sangsad elections, polls to a parliament that was as far removed from the people as were the elections. Following 15 years of mounting fascism, three farcical elections and government that ruled with repression and suppression, remaining at the helm by means of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, crony capitalism, kleptocracy, crime and corruption unbound, the elections saw an all-time low turnout, with the autocrat Sheikh Hasina and her party Awami League sweeping to power again. And with not an iota of shame about the sham election.  

The people had had enough. Everyone was suffering. The students in colleges and universities were treated like lackeys by members of the ruling party's student wing, Chhatra League. No one should forget how Jagannath University student Khadijatul Kubra, under 18 at the time, was arrested because a speaker on an online event she was conducting, had criticised the government. No one should forget how Fulpori, a student of Islamic University, was harassed, humiliated and then tortured by Chhatra League leaders and activists in the hostel. No one should forget the "guest rooms" and "gono rooms" (mass rooms") in the student halls where the ruling student league forced the freshers to live almost like cattle in crowded rooms, and remain at their beck and call.

We probably are all familiar with numberless such stories, but sometimes these need to be told again and again. After all, those who have goldfish memories and are all too ready to criticise the government, as if we didn't have to sit for hours in traffic jams before, as if market prices didn't burn holes in our pockets when Hasina was at the helm, as if the law and order situation was picture perfect.

Let us not forget Aynaghar where persons of dissenting voices were picked up, gagged and blindfolded, tortured in tiny dirty cells for hours, days, weeks, months and even years. No wonder some actually prayed for death, far more welcoming than those nightmarish times. Some actually were killed. Those who were released, live on in trauma.

We could go on and on if we detailed the misdeeds, crime, corruption and cruelty of the past government. It was the authoritarian rule of Hasina, flanked by her family and cronies, by the sycophants in the civil service, in the law enforcement, the academia, the media, the professionals, anyone willing to sacrifice their conscience and dignity for a few crumbs of that toxic cake that, to them, tasted sweeter than honey.

And then July-August came along. The student movement demanding removal of the quota system in government jobs morphed into a mass movement against all forms of discrimination. Abu Sayeed is a symbol of that protest, stretching out his arms fearlessly in front of the fascist forces. He was shot dead at point-blank range. Others were similarly killed like flies. As a member of the police force lamented, the more they shot them, the more they came forward. They just wouldn't stop.

Hasina spluttered in her rage, calling the students 'razakars'. She was thirsty for blood, more blood. She was a personification of all the fairytale baddies combined -- the ogres, the witches, the wicked queens and more. But our girls were no submissive Cinderellas and our boys were no privileged Prince Charmings. They stood up and forced her down.

August the fifth arrived. Hasina fled. A new Bangladesh arrived. It may not be perfect, the problems may seem to come in waves, the fallen powers and their allies are leaving no holds barred to create chaos and foil the government. But veins are flowing with young blood. Our 84-year-young chief advisor has the verve of youth and the experience of age. There is hope all around.

This is no Utopia. Prices still prick our purses. Law and order is still not as it should be. The flunkeys of the past fascist rule are still stirring flames of unrest. But nothing will kill the valiant spirit which has brought Bangladesh to the threshold of visions that are not mere rhetoric, but visions that are doable.

We are talking about reforms -- reforms of the constitution, reforms of the election commission, of the local government system, of the health sector, of education and more. The ideas and inputs are inspiring, but what we need above all are reforms of the mind and mindset.

Fifteen years of misrule had deadened our senses. We were almost accepting the repression and suppression of dissenting voice, fear had become a norm. We had grown prone to silencing ourselves before the authorities could silence us. We wanted to scream, but our mouths were sealed. We wanted to write, but our pens were dry. We wanted to run free, but we were bound in shackles, visible and invisible.

Now we are free. We are empowered. But like Spiderman, let's not forget, "With great power comes great responsibility." It is our responsibility to ensure that no one can snatch away our freedom again. We want to breathe free, we want the future generations to breathe free. We do not want to be a pseudo model of development, but model of courage, determination and freedom. We want prosperity and peace. Winning freedom has been difficult, maintaining it may seem more difficult. But not for Bangladesh. We won independence in 1971 and no despot, no dictator can take that away from us.

We have been through the worst of times in 2024 and the best of times too. It's a new beginning, a new hope, new resolutions and a new resolve. Happy New Year!

* Ayesha Kabir is head of Prothom Alo English web