This article was co-written by Sameeha Rahman and Tabassum Haider Risha.
Bangladesh achieved independence on the 26th of March, 52 years ago today. Even though it meant being freed from the shackles of oppression for many, to this day many people in the country still grapple with inequality on a daily basis. In a strictly patriarchal cis heteronormative Bangladeshi society, anyone who does not fit into that specific box is oppressed in one way or the other. Let’s take a look at how this oppression manifests for different people in our society:
The Digital Divide
With the ever-expanding digitization of Bangladesh, there exists a large gap between those who are privileged enough to have access to these digital tools, and those who are not. This divide has only increased with the development of technology. It prevents different classes of people from having equal access to knowledge, which in turn slows down their progress in life.
By the time an underprivileged child gets their first phone, their peers from the privileged background have already started using ChatGPT efficiently.
This divide was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when education institutions worldwide were forced to shut down. Schools were closed for the longest time in Bangladesh-a whooping 543 days (Al Jazeera, 2023). During this crisis, to continue education in a safe environment, online classes or distance learning was proposed in Bangladesh.
While some schools and colleges had chosen to offer online classes and tests, others had not. There were questions about the availability and affordability of the technology and infrastructure necessary to conduct remote learning. The lack of such facilities demonstrated that the country’s education system has yet to fully embrace digitalization. Most households lacked the fundamental devices necessary for digital education, such as computers, smartphones, and internet access prove that a large portion of households. They simply could not afford these tools. There was also a scarcity of training on effectively using such devices at home to obtain digital education. Even teachers faced problems when teaching remotely; many struggled to afford the devices necessary, and/or lacked the knowledge on operating them effectively.
The Income Disparity
Bangladesh has seen outstanding economic growth during the last 20 years. But so has the income inequality between those at the top and the bottom widened.
Wage exploitation by large corporations is one of the prime causes of rising income inequality. Such corporations actively keep the wages of lower-level employees as low as possible. On the other hand, upper management like the shareholders reap heavy profits.
Another cause of this disparity is the lack of access to credit. We see banks giving loans worth billions of taka to influential businessmen backed by political leadership. Many small businessmen and poor farmers/sharecroppers usually have little to no access to credit because of collateral requirements like land, buildings, etc. There is no denying the fact that the wealthy enjoy disproportionately higher advantages in the current financial and banking system operated by Bangladesh.
Perhaps the biggest benefit that comes with wealth is freedom.
The wealthy do not have to worry about where their next meal will come from, whether their family will have a home, or whether they can afford to fall ill. They can pursue their dreams, seek self actualization, and try again and again when they fail. At the very least, their financial situation does not stand in the way of doing so. In Bangladesh, when many of us talk about dreams, we end up saying things like “owning an apartment”, or “getting a good job”- as if the wealth gap has managed to limit our ability to dream.
Income inequality is largely due to a lack of economic opportunity, especially for the people on the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder. These people are often unable to improve their situation and their children are then faced with the same issue, creating a vicious cycle that only serves to further increase the disparity between the privileged and the underprivileged.
Gender Inequality
Even though 50.4% of Bangladesh’s population is female (Kemp, 2023), Bangladesh has a heavily dominant patriarchal society. The feminist struggle within our society has led to some important changes. In recent times, the movement has achieved success in many aspects, such as causing the Parliament to make amendments to the Evidence Act 1872 to remove the capacity of the defense in a rape case to question the alleged victim’s character or past sexual behaviour, etc.
But there is a lot more work to be done. Even now, crimes against women are at an all time high. Over the last 5 years, 999 received 9,313 calls about domestic violence by husbands. Of these calls, 45% came in the first eight months of 2022. Not only that, but also the labor force participation rate is only 37% for women, which contributes to the weak socio economic standing of women, trapping them in a vicious cycle of not being able to provide for themselves, thus trapping them in abusive relationships and other dangerous situations.
Women in Bangladesh are also victims of microaggressions that may not be as easily quantified. One such way is through fear. Women constantly have to live in the fear of assault and harassment, whether it be on the street or in their own homes; in a crowd at daylight or alone at night – the fear is as omnipresent as it is real. Most cis-het men do not have to constantly fear being sexually harassed or assaulted. That is not to say that men do not get sexually assaulted; they do and such individuals are also severely mistreated. However, the fear of sexual assault is ever-present for the women of Bangladesh, and it impedes their freedom of choice, self expression, mobility etc. on a daily basis.
In Bangladesh’s patriarchal society, women do not get the same freedom and voice as men. This is especially prevalent in rural areas. Whether it be for their education, freedom of self-expression or freedom of choice, these women have to struggle constantly. Few women get control over their basic life decisions, like who they marry or indeed, whether they wish to get married at all. And even fewer get to chase their own dreams and be ambitious. While there have been great strides in achieving freedom for all Bangladeshi women, the patriarchal society acts as a constant reminder of never trying to fly too high, unless you want your wings clipped.
The LGBTQ+ Community: The Struggle for Existence
When we talk about our independence and freedom as Bangladeshis, we often forget that there exists several minority groups in Bangladesh who are forced to live in fear and shame, unable to enjoy the most basic rights. One such group is the LGBTQ+ community.
The Bangladesh Penal Code 1860, section 337 criminalizes same-sex relationships, with a sentence of up to ten years in prison for “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”. This criminalization has subjected the LGBTQ+ community to not only public humiliation and rejection, but also deprivation of their basic human rights. The legal system has failed several times to punish those who commit hate crimes against this particular community. Even if justice does arrive, it often does so way too late, by which point even more hate crimes have been committed.
The murderers of Xulhaz Mannan, an LGBT-rights activist, were sentenced to death in 2021, 5 years after the crime.
The people of these communities are left with two options in order to exist: either hide who they are, or flee Bangladesh. The latter option cannot be afforded by most, so they end up stuck in a society where their safety is heavily compromised.
Many pro-lgbt bloggers and their publishers were hacked to death by religious fanatics in 2015 for promoting tolerance and secularism. Religious extremist groups have claimed responsibility for murders and even published a hit list of activists and bloggers, many of whom were pro-lgbt. While the government offered police protection for those on the hit list, it was inadequate as several on the list have been killed since (Bangladesh: Investigate LGBT Murders, 2022). The solution proposed by our Prime Minister was to use restraint in the exercise of free speech or leave the country to be safe.
It does not seem fair to have to leave your motherland just to experience safety and exercise basic human rights.
In this way, the very human rights we all expect to be able to exercise become a privilege for those in the LGBTQ+ community. Perhaps the struggle to conceal who you are from everyone in your life takes away the biggest privilege cis heterosexual Bangladeshis get to enjoy which a homosexual Bangladeshi can not have: the ability to be at ease.
There is never a moment of peace in your life when you’re constantly pretending to be someone you’re not, you don’t know who you can trust; and that you can be murdered for being who you are. And the murderers might just get away with it.
In our 52 years of Independence, not everyone in Bangladesh has gotten to taste freedom to the same degree. While moving forward, it is high time we ensured no Bangladeshi was left feeling like a second-class citizen of their own country. On the surface, a lot of what has been discussed seems like basic human rights; and they are. But in Bangladesh, for those who do not get to experience these, these are nothing short of special privileges reserved for only a lucky few who fit the box as desired.