Bangladesh politics is entering into another crucial juncture as ruling Awami League is set to win for the fourth consecutive times through yet another one-sided, questionable and farcical national election. 

With all the state apparatus and oppression, the regime is going to another massive election engineering managing all the political pressures from home and abroad.

With the ignominy of so-called night-time’’ vote, most of the voters can anticipate what is going to happen on January 7 and the enthusiasm is almost non-existent to most of the voters who not only consider the quinquennial arrangement their most potent right in democracy but also a great occasion of mass festival.

People in this part of the world historically envisaged national elections as a colourful programme and most joyous universal celebration. But, even before a couple of days it is evident people has already rejected the fiasco.

However, media are trying to create a bullish atmosphere. Most of the newspapers are covering election campaign news and try to depict a scene as people are enthusiastic.

Some clever media are even more focused on who are breaching the so-called election rules, how much sincere or insincere the election commission is, how much tension the big leaders of the ruling party and so forth. These all are tactics to divert people from the truth and an ill attempt to establish an illegitimate scheme.

A one-sided election in the name of constitution is not a new thing in Bangladesh. But, never before the regime showed this much audacity to express that the opinions of their opponents let alone a consensus with them is beyond question. Even the West Pakistanis refrained from such election manipulation back in 1970.

And there comes the betrayal of media. Be in 1970 or in Ershad regime or in 1996, when ruling BNP held an election just to continue the constitution and dissolve the parliament in just three months to pave the way for an inclusive election, media always played a strong role on behalf of people.

Media always showed the constitution is made for the sake of people and absolutely not the vice-versa. Amidst all the atrocity and odds media stood strong to uphold the people’s right.

The worse piece of journalism is when one feeds the narrative of ruler, the average journalism is assembling the surface level fact that can be seen by everybody, good journalism is digging out the profoundest facts and best journalism is analysing those facts with integrity, holistic sense and the inclination to public rights.

Unfortunately, our media these days are worse or at best average. They are at most incompetent if not submissive to regime. They are reluctant to ask tough and pertinent questions and almost dancing to the tune of the ruler. Indeed, the situation for journalism is getting tougher throughout the world but as mentioned above, the basic of good journalism is to ask the tough questions and fight against the powerful on behalf of hapless.

During this dark epoch of the country, our media are spectacularly failing. So much so, this may be seen as their betrayal to people, to only whom they are accountable for, in the eyes of forthcoming generations. 

The Boxer: The author is one of the indefatigable working-class Bangladeshis who have been trying to change the fate of the nation but were betrayed by the ruling elites and autocrats. The name is inspired by a character in George Orwell's 1945 novel Animal Farm.