BOSTON / PHILADELPHIA, Oct 28 (IPS) – The scholars and the frequent folks of Bangladesh dared to do one thing in 36 days of July-August that was thought of merely unattainable by most individuals simply days earlier than August 5, 2024. They mentioned ‘sufficient is sufficient’ to an previous order that outraged their humanity, robbed their dignity and the rulers imagined that their citadel of energy was merely impenetrable. The revolutionists refused to bow all the way down to the murderous regime that knew no bounds to its cruelty and plundering. They had been able to sacrifice their lives for the liberty of the besieged nation.
This revolution is exclusive in so some ways. It’s a revolution within the digital age that’s rooted in meta-modernist philosophy. The previous political management with its moribund attraction and bankrupt philosophy proved irrelevant on this agenda. As Professor Yunus, the Chief Advisor to the Interim Authorities, has rightly mentioned, ‘Now could be the period of a brand new technology’.
Meta-modernism is the cultural philosophy of the digital age, coined by Mas’ud Zavarzadeh in 1975. meta-modernism is the Age of the Web or extra balanced worldview. As one analyst places it, we went from modernism — “Make it new!” Let’s form Historical past! – to postmodernism — the whole lot sucks! Nothing actually issues! — to meta-modernism – perhaps issues are usually not this black-and-white, perhaps there is a center floor.
Meta-modernist thinkers understand the current world round them as a risk to their very existence. They work with pragmatic idealism and haven’t any grand narrative considering or any orthodox certainties. In different phrases, they attempt to strike a stability between all of this. They acknowledge that they should face the issues of the society.
Arguably, all of the actions of Bangladeshi revolutionists together with their wall posters, adopted a framework of Meta-Modernism. It’s understood that the brand new Bangladesh is outlined in a brand new ideology. Pupil revolutionaries have mentioned that our ideology is mirrored by means of the language we use. The idea of the brand new ideology is language. It’s a revolution of change from the cultural context of fascist imperialist language to the native (spoken) language of the folks. In different phrases, new beliefs will likely be mirrored by means of the language of the folks.
It might be flawed to suppose that this folks’s revolution was all a couple of change of presidency. Its victory is in contrast to 1947 and 1971. In each these circumstances, there was a change of presidency with none structural change. Consequently, the incoming authorities adopted imperialist practices of exploitation left behind by the British. Subsequent governments turned the nation right into a failed democracy, with a purpose to management, exploit and subjugate its residents. The police had been used as an enabling pressure to subjugate the residents, whereas the legislature and judiciary labored because the rubber stamps to maintain the full management of the federal government. This evil social system has corrupted the mindset and conduct of our folks. An immoral society was shaped with no worry of accountability, whose driving pressure was unfathomed greed and mantra — the ‘rule and exploitation by repression’. Authorities staff noticed themselves as bosses and never as public servants. They thrived upon corruption in any respect ranges.
There at the moment are two competing ideologies in entrance of Bangladesh – considered one of decaying fascism that wishes to resurface beneath previous management and the opposite is the younger management of equality and morality. Because the revolution demonstrated, the ‘New Bangladesh’ doesn’t approve fascist-supporting corrupt establishments. It wishes a corruption-free new society. It’s for paradigm shift – a transformational change.
The Chief Advisor and Pupil Coordinators have clearly highlighted the beliefs of New Bangladesh by means of their speeches and interviews. Dr. Yunus mentioned, ‘We’re all one nation’. This can be a clarion name to ascertain a holistic change in society. Such a radical change in society requires a change in values. A change in values lies within the change in public ideology.
The brand new Bangladesh isn’t the previous Bangladesh with a brand new cowl. It calls for a change within the elementary values of human conduct, actions, and beliefs. These embrace structural adjustments, private adjustments, expectations.
To know the ideology of this modification, one has to pay attention rigorously to the speech of Mahfuz Alam, the ‘thinker’ of the motion. 5 factors might be deduced from his current talks: (1) unity, (2) ‘language is their inspiration’, (3) group management, (4) they’re youngsters of time, and that (5) they don’t seem to be a slave to conventional considering. His views replicate at this time’s meta-modernism.
For any transformational change to succeed, the change brokers should personal it, direct it, and in the end excel in it. We expect that this revolution of holistic change can profit from the revolutionary approaches adopted in China and Cuba that had been additionally led by youths. They owned the revolution and didn’t permit it to be hijacked by the reactionaries. We see a few of these traits within the minds and mission of the Bangladeshi revolutionaries.
The underside line is, bringing any adjustments in previous tradition habits was by no means a simple job. This revolution has introduced a possibility to alter the future of Bangladesh as by no means earlier than.
The meta-modernist youths of Bangladesh have come to guide and transfer ahead; they won’t return to the previous methods. Their message is obvious: if you don’t be a part of us, the nation is not going to look forward to you. If older generations don’t undertake the brand new view of change, we worry additional instability and chaos to return, whose final result can’t be nice.
Dr. Mawdudur Rahman, Professor Emeritus, Suffolk College, Boston, USA. He might be contacted at: [email protected].
Dr. Habib Siddiqui is a peace and human rights activists. His newest guide – ‘Bangladesh: a polarized and divided nation?‘ is out there within the Amazon.com. Each are members of the steering committee of Esho Desh Gori – Let’s Construct Bangladesh.
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