No country for young men
The old people think they are wise and know what’s best for the country. Therefore the way they are handling the current situation is the best
Young people are our future. Societies want to instil hope, confidence and skills in their minds. As they are still learners, every society treats them differently from adults. Even when a young man commits a crime, they should be handled with sensitivity.
But the way the police and the authorities are handling our young population over the quota movement clearly shows that Bangladesh is not a country for young men or women. It's a country of old people who tell you to obey them. If you disagree, you are a traitor. You will be put behind bars.
In the recent spate of violence, in which more than 200 persons were killed, an astonishing percentage were young people. Around 75% were either children, teenagers or young adults. How they were killed? We all have seen it from the field and there are now hundreds of videos circulating on the Internet. It was mainly the police.
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No other movement in Bangladesh saw the deaths of so many young people in such a short time. Back in 1969, the mass uprising movement in East Pakistan against the Pakistani dictatorship was triggered by the killing of a teenage schoolboy. Even that movement saw the deaths of around 61 people.
Were these children or young adults given a death sentence by the court for committing the "heinous crime" of staging a protest seeking fair participation in government jobs? What was their crime? None that we really know of.
And the biggest travesty is today, after losing their lives and limbs—the cops are arresting and accusing these young adults and even teenagers of some of these murders. The police are preparing the cases in such a way that when these cases are heard in court, the names of the actual killers will never pop up. These innocent youths will face punishment for crimes they never committed.
We can see that this is how the whole government machinery is trying to suppress the students' movement.
The old people think they are wise and know what's best for the country. Therefore the way they are handling the current situation is the best.
No other movement in Bangladesh saw the deaths of so many young people in such a short time. Back in 1969, the mass uprising movement in East Pakistan against the Pakistani dictatorship was triggered by the killing of a teenage schoolboy. Even that movement saw the deaths of around 61 people.
The authorities run by old people are disconnected from our youths—what their concerns are; how they look at their future; what they like; and what their challenges are. Instead of talking to them like normal human beings, they are being attacked. Such actions have now created an environment of terror—the very terror that the government is supposed to fight.
Ask any parents having children in education institutes today. Those who can afford it are already planning on how they can send their children abroad for studies. They are planning how they can settle down abroad.
And it's a different way of thinking from those old people who are in power. These powerful people have already sent their children abroad. Many of them also sent their wealth illegally to various countries. They like Bangladesh's money but not its environment. They love the secure environment of foreign nations for their children and wives.
Perhaps that's why they don't care if our children are shot from behind or inside the buildings where they have taken refuge to save their lives.
If they loved this country and believed in our future, they would have listened to these young people. They would have deployed well-meaning politicians instead of the police or the detective branch to talk to them.
These young men had not physically assaulted anyone till 15 July, when the BCL first attacked their demonstration at the Dhaka University campus. The violence did not erupt before 15 July. According to press reports, no Jamaat-Shibir-BNP or outsiders entered the scene before 15 July.
The use of force will always create a counterforce. This is science. And by humiliating and attacking the country's youth force—the government simply alienated itself from the country's future force.
While the state observed a mourning day on 30 July for those who died in the widespread violence since 15 July, we see no sensitive handling of the youth till today. There has been no apology. No sympathy for those young traumatised children and young people.
The young people understand that they have been cornered. This is no country for them. None in the authority gives them hope or reason. Nobody is trying to heal their trauma or pacify their anger.
Until that is done, the ongoing crisis will not be resolved.
