Prothom Alo :

Asif Bin Ali: The uprising showed us very clearly how devastating the consequences can be when the social contract reached in the 1990s among political parties or alliances and citizens over the process of transferring power is broken. Whoever breaks the social contract between the people and democracy, the people will eventually take to the streets and throw that political power out of office. That is how I would like to view July. Compared with other mass movements or uprisings of previous decades, the 2024 mass uprising involved a much greater degree of brutality and violence. The Awami League government and the state used extreme violence to suppress the movement. There were also retaliatory incidents in some cases. Now we need to see whether, after July, when the situation became normal and a new elected government came to power, they are addressing this violence through the law or ignoring it. In Bangladeshi society, political violence has traditionally gone without proper justice. As a result, victims have no real avenue for psychological closure.
The state must acknowledge the losses suffered by victims regardless of their identity and provide them with a means of healing. The only way to do that is through justice. The government must ensure it. Otherwise, lasting peace and stability will not come to society.The uprising showed us very clearly how devastating the consequences can be when the social contract reached in the 1990s among political parties or alliances and citizens over the process of transferring power is broken. Whoever breaks the social contract between the people and democracy, the people will eventually take to the streets and throw that political power out of office. That is how I would like to view July.

Compared with other mass movements or uprisings of previous decades, the 2024 mass uprising involved a much greater degree of brutality and violence. The Awami League government and the state used extreme violence to suppress the movement. There were also retaliatory incidents in some cases.

Now we need to see whether, after July, when the situation became normal and a new elected government came to power, they are addressing this violence through the law or ignoring it. In Bangladeshi society, political violence has traditionally gone without proper justice. As a result, victims have no real avenue for psychological closure.

The state must acknowledge the losses suffered by victims regardless of their identity and provide them with a means of healing. The only way to do that is through justice. The government must ensure it. Otherwise, lasting peace and stability will not come to society.