Who will save us from ourselves?

It is incredible how high our threshold for tolerating insanity can get. Otherwise how could we possibly manage to go about our business while 'unknown miscreants' go about slaughtering writers, publishers, policemen and hapless foreign nationals caught in some twisted plan? How on earth can we roar with such euphoria at a cricket victory when a hitlist of individuals to be eliminated is circulating the pathways of social media?

People pretend everything is fine when they have no idea how a crisis can be solved. This is how it is in present Bangladesh – we go to work, attend social functions, even enjoy a concert or two though deep inside nothing can make that nagging fear go away. Yes, in all honesty, we are a nation living in fear of the uncertain. This is because we really don't know what is happening to our country and what we are headed for.

Everything we used to take for granted seems to be threatened. Our right to write our own thoughts, to question repression in the name of religion, to express our outrage over mindless killings, to feel like citizens of a free, independent country. There are suspected suspects, widespread arrests and raids that bring in impressive, incriminating booty – explosives, guns, machetes and incendiary propaganda material. But somehow, we cannot stop looking over our shoulder or straining our ears for footsteps that stealthily follow before that deadly strike.

We feel this helplessness because we have forgotten how to stand up to terror, oppression and bigotry. Once upon a time – just a little over four decades ago, we were different. After enduring years of racial discrimination and blatant exploitation we knew how to say that enough was enough. When we were ruthlessly attacked just for being a certain race, we did not hesitate to risk our lives for the sake of liberty, equality and tolerance of diversity. 

Strangely, though we are not at war in the official sense and there are no foreign occupiers to loot what is rightfully ours, we find ourselves confronting a similar enemy – the enemy of our ideals, our beliefs and our identities. These evil forces that reject all that we stand for as a nation have been allowed to flourish for political mileage along with a blind reverence for anything that is even remotely associated with religion. We are too seduced by appearances, preferring to stay at the superficial level rather than question the authenticity of what is being preached and practiced.

Thus we share a collective guilt in this growing disease that is becoming more virulent and stubborn as ever. Politicians, instead of weeding out the unwanted creepers from the roots, have kept them alive, either through direct patronage or indirect indulgence. Meanwhile, as the ideals of our independence became obliterated by greed creating an abyss of difference between those who have too much and those who have nothing, ordinary people seem to think that only religion, however it is preached, is the answer. The window of opportunity opens wide to let in the dark forces who have a heyday trapping  their unsuspecting prey in their intricate web. This is why anything can be made acceptable by invoking religion – torture, confinement even killing. And anyone can be labeled an enemy of religion just by saying so.

Our fault therefore lies in our lethargy and inherent naiveté to believe that 'all will be alright in the end'. The truth is that over the decades when progressives and moderates slept in their delusional bubbles, the forces of bigotry, intolerance and political greed, have taken the front seats and getting settled.

In such a dark scenario what can we do? Well for one thing we must acknowledge that these forces do exist, that they are becoming bigger and stronger. As a nation it is time for people in every sphere to come out of their cocoons and join hands in this struggle to regain our security, our freedom. There is an ideological battle to be fought, one that entails massive efforts to truly educate people so that they can recognise the falsehoods spread by imposters posing as the righteous and holy when in reality they are just fulfilling their political ambitions. It is time to teach our children and each other, the preciousness of tolerance and empathy. It is time for our leaders to abandon their petty party interests and work with the people to eradicate this terrible disease that breeds bigotry and violence, by ensuring equal opportunities for every citizen to get an education, a means to earn a living and the ability to have a decent life. 

So if it is a question of who will ultimately save us the answer is simple and obvious. Only we can save ourselves from falling from the precipice, determined and united, as one unstoppable force. 

As soon as we wake up.

The writer is Deputy Editor, Editorial and Op-ed, The Daily Star.