PERISCOPE

Is Facebook ventilation of political anger somehow replacing the actual necessity of taking to the street and thereby taking the steam out of effective and change making agitation? This is a question more often asked by the facebook politivist than by the actual protester taking the issue to the street in Bangladesh. The point being that they should all come out and ventilated the anger in the street. The correct thing is of course to agitate out of a conscious political choice and not out of anger. But agitate one must.
Persistent effort to oust that imbecile government is not an anger management issue. Many have fallen to this trap of thoughts that somehow if anger is ventilated then action does not follow. What we should promote is that there has to be a conscious and educated understanding, punctuated and supported by actions that this criminal regime must go.
If decisions are taken out of anger then as soon as it subsides you question the justification of your actions. This then questions the honesty of your purpose and sincerity of your actions. Thus undermining the legitimacy of your demands.
This government must go from our land not as a reaction to our anger but as an action to our thoughtful and conscious desire to have better governance and accountability for our people.
Those school kids who are occupying the streets have every right to agitate, remonstrate and remonstrate demanding justice for their murdered classmates and demanding safe roads. This spark could simply become the life giving fire that the pathetic, arthritic and prurient political system needs to be purged and purified. Those who are now pontificating peace and gradual system change are simply acting as agents of the criminal misrule. Everything goes to the mother goddess who gives these permits of impunities and the change must start by removing the head of this hydra. The rest will automatically fall to order and accountability.
The single most important purpose of political party organisation is to formulate opinions and opinionate the masses to supporting its plans. So far the largest opposition BNP is resoundingly absent by its silence on the issues that move the people. This party has massive support base and good organisation. Hence this failure to capitalise on this support is structural and vertical leadership failure; its not because they are too busy on Facebook!

Afzal Zami
Dhaka