A common enemy
I don't get it. To me, the most inexplicable aspect of the fallout from the Pilkhana massacre is the wedge that has been driven between the army and the ruling Awami League as a result of the incident.
This is no minor consideration. In fact, prior to the massacre, one of the major developments of the past two years of caretaker rule had been the resultant detente between the army and the AL. The implications with respect to the balance of political power in the country were significant.
Equally significant was that the working relationship between the in-coming government and the army had appeared to be in good shape after the elections, with the army apparently content to return to the cantonment and take a back-seat role in affairs of state.
In that sense, come to think of it, the wedge that has been driven between the army and the government is not exactly inexplicable: the whole point of the massacre was to, at the very least, drive a wedge between them.
But what I suppose I find inexplicable is that such a transparent ploy appears to have been so successful, and how easily emotions and grief can be manipulated in the service of such an obviously ill-motivated political agenda.
Let us stipulate, for the sake of argument, that the government did indeed err in its handling of the siege (and for the record, I still maintain that, given the difficulty of the situation, the government did a creditable job).
Certainly I can understand that there might be some anger against the government on the part of those who feel that it should have performed better during the crisis.
And even though I believe that all the evidence suggests that to have ordered a storming of the BDR compound would have most likely precipitated an even greater catastrophe, I can understand the emotions of those who feel that this would have been the correct course of action.
But surely anger is more appropriately aimed at those who perpetrated the carnage rather than those who arguably should have done a better job of preventing it. The fury that has been directed at the government seems to me to be almost entirely misplaced.
But that, of course, is the point. The anti-government campaign that has been ginned up in the aftermath of Pilkhana is part of a systematic effort to continue to manipulate public opinion and misdirect public anger away from those who are truly culpable for the carnage.
Just as the perpetrators of the massacre manipulated misguided BDR jawans into revolting, and manipulated public opinion in favour of the mutineers in the early hours of the siege, now they are manipulating the nation's (and, more troublingly, the army's) grief and fury to deflect attention and anger away from where it belongs: at the feet of those who were behind the killings.
We shouldn't fall for it. There is a massive campaign of lies and misinformation being undertaken, attempting to suggest that the government itself is behind the massacre that has plunged the nation into crisis. Anti-government conspiracy theories in the most intricate and implausible detail are making the rounds, both of the print media and on-line.
It is astounding to me that anyone could believe some of the transparently false and ill-informed conspiracy theories that are out there, but there appear to be no shortage of takers.
But those who do not have a political agenda but are spouting the same mendacious talking points need to wake up and understand how they are being manipulated by those who do.
As for the government, this should be, in fact, if handled correctly, an opportunity for it to cement its detente with the army. The enemies of the government, and make no mistake, it is enemies of this government who were behind the massacre, have committed a fatal error, which should be the key to their eventual downfall.
They have killed 57 army officers in cold blood. In doing so, they have made an enemy of the army. Thus, the government and the army now have a common enemy. The army should now be fully on board when it comes to the fight against the enemies of the government who attempted to destabilise the country by wreaking mayhem at Pilkhana.
The government needs to redirect the anger that exists within the army towards those who were behind the massacre. If it succeeds in doing so, not only might the perpetrators be brought to justice, but, with the army on board against them and making common cause with the government, our entire domestic political landscape could be transformed.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments