When satire becomes reality in Bangladesh
There is now no satire in Bangladesh. Only reality.
Bangladesh Politico 2 December 2019
Six months ago, Sheikh Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, wrote a couple of outrageous fact-free articlesarguing that the police had investigated every single allegation of an enforced disappearances in Bangladesh and found them all not to be genuine! In fact, he argued that all allegations of disappearances were “fictitious attempts by accused criminals to avoid prosecution and accountability.” Yes, really. He said that!
So, at the time I thought then I should write a satirical post setting out some other definitions that Joy might come up with.
Six months on, and hearing now the kinds of things said by Joy, his mother and other Awami League leader are saying about the election, a few of my satirical definitions seem quite prescient.
Here they are.
Caretaker government – a mechanism of ensuring more fair elections in Bangladesh which had to be stopped as it risked allowing the election of a party other than the Awami League;
Democracy – When elections results in the victory of a party led by Sheikh Hasina;
Election Commission – a group of trustworthy and incorruptible administrators who say and do exactly what the Awami League asks it to say and do;
Freedom of Speech – freedom to speak about the greatness of the Awami League, its current leader and her family members;
You can see the others here
