A countrywide uprising which appeared more than just promising a year ago, had unpredictably collapsed and then diverted into a visible perilous direction. This is what I can confirm while reflecting back to the spree of dramatic and violent events to have taken place in the country from last year’s to this year’s July.
So what went so horribly wrong in the aftermath of the July Uprising that eventually pushed Bangladesh into an abyss of unprecedented divisive and disruptive reality of today?
To begin with, a flood of feelings mixed of confusion, ambiguity and illusion yet continues to overwhelm this writer’s mind when it comes to defining the key singular or collective leadership of the July Uprising since there wasn’t one.
Though complex and fully unanticipated, the uprising developed in a dramatic fashion with day-to-day events prompting all to ask what’s next until the very moment the Former Prime Minister had fled the country.
However, while the former Awami League Government kept committing one after another blunder by unleashing brute force to quash a student led Quota Reform Movement , our public university students patiently but wisely capitalised and getting organised for a countrywide revolt. As the crisis deepened the situation went completely out of control.
What appeared was rather remarkable, neither the government could predict it was about to come crashing down so unimaginably fast – nor were the students, backed by the people and army prepared what to do next?
An Interim Government was formed in haste with illustrious industry experts and prominent personalities that in later months triggered a dangerous rift within the country’s power sharing and exercising mechanism.
Since day 1 of the Interim Government assumed power, it has almost been regularly taken hostage to a series of bureaucratic and institutional rebellions , understandably led by a 15 or so years old fleeting deep state, systematically and politically nurtured by an autocratic mafia regime. And when it comes to the long list of reforms pledged by the Interim Government, volumes of road maps, recommendations, dialogues on establishing political consensus to demanded constitutional reforms have buzzed the media for too long. In the process, the government also generated a smoke-screen, promising to hold general elections in February next year without any electoral reforms in sight.
Amid the rift and also ‘theoretic reforms’ the country’s only major political party BNP is frequently coming under the spotlight for all its wrongdoings. Back from the dead , Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has re-surfaced orchestrating shrewd political machinations while the student-led new political party NCP, despite its vigorous campaigning is yet a far cry from establishing a strong foothold anywhere.
I wonder, who could have predicted 2024’s July to drift, divert and push us in such testing times?
All the valuable lessonsthe July Uprisings taught this writer, are – as a nation we can surely unite and stand up against an oppressive regime, but we never knew or even now know how to replace it with a better one, as history taught us repeatedly with fall of tyrants in the past.
The question automatically triggers – what would happen in case, Dr Yunus led Interim Government fails to plan and hold free , fair , credible and participatory elections as promised , what legacy will be tagged to the July Uprisings then?
At its peak, the uprising offered a fantastic setting for a new Bangladesh standing firm on dreams and promises, but the concealed built-in conflicts began to crack open soon throwing billion dollar questions at us – were we ready for nation building challenges and opportunities it offered? Often branded as a Pro-Democracy Mass Uprising, how much democracy has the transitional government restored in the past 11 months? In terms of its spirit to establish a society without discrimination, how much equality and justice have we ensured for the people? Most important to ask – what are the causes behind the delay and divisions in declaring the July Charter?
In this July, it is time to collectively reflect back while engage in serious soul-searching, pointing fingers at us and asking ourselves why we are failing to uphold the spirit of the July Uprisings barely an year after.
Students-people led July uprisings last year hadn’t promised us to change the nation through radical transformations or landmark reforms, but it promised to establish equality, non-discrimination by restoring democracy in our society.
At the very core of July Uprisings there was a deep-rooted disillusionment involving the status quo. Years of political oppression and inequality have fueled a growing sense of fury and frustration ultimately resulting in a violent explosion.
The point, however, the people hadn’t expected to see fury, rage or revenge transform into another form and hit us hard questioning the need and validity of 2024’s July Uprisings.
Let’s not send July to jail.
-The writer is Editorial Chief, Daily Observer
