Complicitous Zen
A famous reworking of a Tolstoy quote is in order, which today would read something like this: “Politicians are an association of men, who do violence to us.” Time and again, it’s been proven beyond doubt, my fellow readers, that that seems to be the best they can do for us.
Wonder why we tolerate them, let them lead us, or for that matter, decide the way we live? Why do we fight for them? Why do we lose friends, long associations and family for them? What do they do for us? When was the last time you were directly benefitted from a politician without having to give something in return? While the rest of the world deals with politicians with severe cynical scepticism, we tend to put them on a pedestal and worship them.
This madness has got to stop. Something needs to happen so that people stop suffering endlessly like this. That something is you pressing the mute button. What is a democracy without your vote? Nothing.
The violence, the criminal damage, the retribution. The claims, counter-claims, and unsavoury justifications. There is absolutely no reason for this. What is happening now is disgraceful, immature and sickening. How the nation watches the actions of spoilt kids with power and influence is staggering.
There is no way out of it. You cannot teach those who have tasted power derived from violence the merits on nonviolence and decency. You are treading a path that leads to a dead end. You can put in front of them many examples of how peace can easily be attained from discussions and nonviolence, and they would still carry on with their constipated blockades, uproot trains and chargrill your fellow countrymen to suit their taste buds.
Whether 10, 20, 100, 500 or even a 1,000 people die, it doesn’t concern those who play this game. It’s for us to recognise the greatest con ever played on man and not participate. It’s time for us to realise that a politician wanting to make your life better is just that, a myth, a con, an age-old snake-charmer selling you premium snake oil by mystifying you. Why be complicit in their game?
What we have seen happen in the past few months is a criminal movement bordering on terrorism that has demanded, like a spoilt kid, that the exam set for them be reset because the questions will be too hard to answer, even when that is likely not the case in an anti-incumbency country like ours.
BNP’s alleged popularity in all but one opinion polls had them ahead. Why not just contest polls? Because both our leading parties are suffering from PTSD, and both have reached a level of paranoia that requires medical attention. One suffers from a superiority complex, and the other from an inferiority complex whose brunt we have to bear.
How much rigging can happen in a country like Bangladesh, which has had three internationally monitored fair elections in the past, and is likely to have one going forward, where an immense media presence both international and national will be active?
None. Contrary to previous post-election allegations by both sides, none of the past few elections were rigged. There are no chances of any significant rigging with a voter list that now stands corrected, and by and large, free of ghost voters.
So, fighting a big bad wolf (that doesn’t exist), that BNP and its allies allege to be doing right now, is simply a case of opposition tantrum-throwing, to get their own way in a game of one-upmanship.
The big brother to this spoilt sibling has shown all the leeway possible, including an offer to share toys amongst each other, yet the small brother won’t play. So, what does the small brother do here? He goes and punches another kid, and tells mom he did it because big brother wasn’t sharing his toys.
When mom says, the younger brother is wrong, he seeks the father’s intervention in the matter. You must be the fair parent and recognise that intention, or forever hold your peace in such incidences in the future.
I know what I said in my last few op-eds, and I stand slightly corrected. I take back the part where I told you to go vote for AL as the only logical option. After the last month, I have come to realise that if you want to absolutely stop the total desecration of your country, then on election day 2014, do not go out and vote at all.
Stay at home. Treat election day as just another noisy celebration of self-mutilation. At least that will ensure that you don’t have future blood spilled in this game on your hands. If you absolutely must vote, ensure that you don’t encourage the smaller sibling here, as it will set a wrong example for all kids in the future. Big brother is in the right this time, and has done as best as he possibly could under the current circumstances.
“Violence, even well-intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself,” said Lao Tzu. I think it’s good advice that none of the parties will recognise. So, let Zen deal with bad karma. Cut your complicity out of the equation. Steer clear. Don’t encourage bad behaviour. Your vote is simply too important to waste on this load of rubbish.
Originally published at www.dhakatribune.com on December 4, 2013.
