The idea of hope in times of despair

FARIA was only sixteen and like any other teenager, had dreams, innocent aspirations and hopes. On Facebook, she shared her moments of happiness, optimism and confusion, but rarely her despair. Her father's world revolved around her happiness and he had a promise to keep -- a trip to Cox's Bazaar after Faria turns sixteen. Seemingly oblivious of any hazard, he decided to take the long journey with his wife and daughter from Jessore to the sea resort by bus, the only means of transport he could afford.

The holiday was brief. Faria carried back fond memories of nature's unreserved embrace. Cuddled between her parents with her head on her father's shoulder, the child was at peace. Even the frequent bumps on the road and the hissing of the wind through the cracks of the plastic shutters of the bus window did not disturb her sleep. The bus cruised along amid the darkness and the chill of the season.

Several hours into the journey, a ball of flame engulfed the vehicle and mayhem ensued. The bus tried to speed away from the inferno but the wind fanned the flames and consumed all humans trapped within it in no time. The mother survived with severe burn injuries. Faria and her father were charred beyond recognition as the air carried the smell of burnt flesh to distant places. This was a single incident among many in recent days when demons in the guise of humans suddenly descend on the highway setting vehicles on fire. On this occasion, seven individuals were deliberately burnt to death.

Since January 5, 2015, many lives have been sacrificed in the face of violence sponsored by politicians tainted by severe mendacity, decrepit morals and a total disregard for human suffering. This is not just another narrative of political violence but one on the crisis of reasoning and moral deficiency of our leaders that has dimmed our hopes for the future. It seems we have abandoned the memory of the past, that of 1971 when violence in its crudest form was unleashed on the entire nation by the demons of Pakistan and their local collaborators. Even after 43 years, we continue to engage in the ritual of political violence. We failed to understand that violence dehumanises and leaves no victors, only victims.

The outrage born out of the indifference between the political parties, I suppose, is the result of our lack of interest in our nation's history; it has eroded the memory of the past. It is a shame that we have rehabilitated the criminals of 1971 and their allies, and allowed them to reorganise into a decisive force threatening the core beliefs and foundations of our struggle for independence. It is a shame that some individuals today question the trials of the known perpetrators of genocide in 1971 and consider it to be politically motivated.

The paradox is that despite the fragile foundation of our anemic national institutions and mutilated political culture, we have done well in certain economic and social fronts. Thus we continue to place a disproportionate degree of attention to issues like GDP growth, poverty alleviation, school enrollment, and cross-country comparisons of key social indicators without emphasising the fragility of our social systems and key national institutions. During periods of political calm we remain complacent and fail to see the obstacles and structural weaknesses of our social norms and systems that disrupt the continuity of our national progress.

Over the years we have gradually exiled political tolerance, reduced the idea of democracy to mere elections, while the opposition has repeatedly disrespected the institution of the parliament by refusing to attend sessions even when elections were generally considered to be free and fair. With every change of government, the political parties, for the first few years, remain occupied in unleashing a vendetta on the opposition, pursuing them for their past misdeeds and the partisan bureaucracy they had installed. The incumbent then repeats the same offence over the remaining years of their tenure. The dismally poor state of our nation today, leaves us conflicted regarding the future and we oscillate between hope and despair in our discussions and debates in public fora.  

It may not be wrong to ask "Name one national institution functioning with tolerable efficiency and that is free from crude political influence." Perhaps we will find the answer by looking into the functions of institutions such as the political parties, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, and specifically, education -- the most important building block of a nation's moral values.

We have ignored and marginalized the need for a proper education system for too long. As a result, we observe that our values and morals have decayed to the extent that it does not hurt people's conscience to use freedom fighters certificates and solicit benefits and promotion in public establishments -- the worst form of disrespect toward the martyrs of our liberation struggle.It goes without saying that politicised and dysfunctional institutions are antithetical to progress and threaten our national well-being with far reaching, adverse consequences.

The last thing that died with Faria in the inferno was hope. The famous words of Dr. Samuel Johnson, the famous English scholar and moralist, come to mind: "It is necessary to hope, though hope should always be deluded; for hope itself is happiness, and its frustrations, however frequent, are yet less dreadful than its extinction."

The writer is marketing and media research practitioner.