Did Nero Fiddle while Rome Burnt?

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”-Martin Luther King Jr., “The White Modem” speech

History is dynamic rather than linear, and we learn from its actions. We remember the great victory against enemies, the unity to defeat the malice and the silence of the ones we expect to hold hands rather. Instead, is this reflection relevant to the recent revolution in Bangladesh? When the mass people were threatened, arrested and killed for loving their motherland, and even children weren’t spared, we saw our influencers come forward and take the steps they ought to. Meanwhile, on the other side of the thread were the ones, who couldn’t care less. But why?

Before seeking an answer to this question, let’s first identify these influencers and why we care. 

Influencers are widely accepted through online communities. Hence, they are the voices of the generation- prototypes of the generation’s tastes. Expectedly, they have implicit commitments toward their audiences- to represent their sentiments, preach the right, and reflect the strength of the youth. That’s why it was expected of them to rise and raise their voices when the peaceful protesters were labelled as Rajakars, Jamaat-Shibir, and even terrorists by the authoritarian regime, and raise their voices even louder when many students and other citizens were being killed. However, the reality didn’t match. Many of these influencers were blindfolded during the movement. 

What silenced these influencers and youth leaders? 

Freedom of speech was less practised during the Awami regime, and the final nail in the coffin was put as the Digital Security Act (DSA) was passed in 2018. As per the act, many activists and journalists were arrested, and a bunch of cases were filed against people who posted criticizing the government on social media at different times. We know of photojournalist Shahidul Alam getting arrested and tortured in police custody during the Bangladesh road safety protests in 2018 because of criticizing the government for their corrupted stands in an interview with Al Jazeera and also documenting the protests through Facebook Live. Actress Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed was arrested during the same protest for standing against the brutality of the government and was imprisoned for approximately 6 months.

Senior reporter of the Daily Prothom Alo, Rozina Islam, was arrested in 2021 for publishing reports on the government’s corruption details.

The government had yet to change the rules and the ways of application. On top of that, public figures fell the most victim to such outrage of the government. Hence, the fear of getting targeted refrained the influencers from standing on students’ behalf. The fear was proved right when 10 Minute School lost its investment from Startup Bangladesh Limited. Startup Bangladesh later claimed that there had been no reason to withdraw the investment, but the government officials forced them to. The arrest of rapper Hannan once again questioned the freedom of cultural activities in the country. With time, the regime even tried hiring content creators to make videos requesting protesting students to return home. Predictably, due to the decline of the proposals, the content creators had to worry about their safety.  Influencer Tasrif Khan informed in a video that a few influencers like him had to flee home to ensure their safety. Given the scenario, even if many supported the movement, they succumbed to their dilemma and zipped their mouths.

However, insecurity was not the only reason underlying their silence. The likes of Tawhid Afridi, Solaiman Shukhon, and others fostered a positive relationship with the ruling party through various campaigns at different times, and a few expected to retain this relationship as they couldn’t yet anticipate the dictator’s fall. Few such leaders, on the other hand, were Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) activists and abided by the party’s actions and intentions.

But do these genuinely justify their silence?

The anti-discrimination students’ movement led to the apostasy of the regime when people, regardless of their identity, were being attacked. Injured. Killed. This aperture to a revolution was not confined to student-identity but rather a call to the nation to speak up. So when every identity started entering the hall of a rebel, influencers were expected to join hands, too. 

Influencers like Tawhid Afridi, Faraaz Karim Chowdhury, and others held influential social positions.

As Members of Parliament, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan held power to influence the regime’s decisions and student identity, and public figures like Pritom Hasan, Chanchal Chowdhury have global audiences. Had their name, fame, and competency been used in favor of the protest, their motherland would have been the beneficiary; at the least, their popularity wouldn’t have waned. People were infuriated at their silence because their expectations for celebrities to be in action weren’t a mere courtesy call- not at least when Abu Sayeds and Mugdhos were being killed, at least 32 children were killed as per the report of UNICEF, over a thousand people had to shed their blood to regain victory and even more were injured.

What infuriated people the most was that many of these youth leaders took political advantage, taking shelter under the shade of the Awami party. Arguments might arise that any individual, including influencers, has a right to politics. But when a particular political party was exploiting the entire nation, it was somewhat expected of the youth leaders to use their wisdom, recognize the felonies their party had been doing, speak against these wrongdoings, and stand by the people who offered them support year-round. This is where people lost faith in many influencers, so whether they had their tacit support or not, they failed the nation by not doing the bare minimum.