Let me start with a joke. Once a notorious dacoit, who was infamous for his heinous crimes, in his death bed summoned his sons and asked them to do something so that after his death the people will say, “the dacoit was a good man.”

The sons kept their words. They started even more looting, arson, killing and what not! At one stage, the people started saying, these bastards were intolerable and, compared to them, their father was a ‘good’ man. 

One may find the uncanny resemblance with the story with Bangladesh politics if they have knowledge of the 1973 election and the recent ones. 

Another dark chapter in Bangladesh history is written on January 7, 2024 when the ruling Awami League staged yet another farcical election not only to deprive the citizens but also bring ultimate ignominy to the latter. 

For the third consecutive time, the ruling party staged massive engineering all with novel style and the latest came with an unprecedented ‘dummy’ style election.

Most people in the social media are lampooning such an act while some are showing grievance; many others are fuming silently. But the most pertinent question now, is it akin to doom’s day? Has Bangladesh ultimately lost?

The answer is a big NO. Human history suggests however mighty the tyrants are, their fall is inevitable. Ironically, the more they do the menace, the harder they fall.

Apart from the staunch supporters and accomplice of this regime every other people vehemently rejected the election, but why did the Bangladeshi people have to face the ignominy again and how may they revive?

It will be a long and arduous walk. Over the years, it is seen that the opposition parties failed to gain the soft powers. The powers that come from media, cultural organisations, sporting clubs and so forth. It is high time to stamp authority through gaining these sectors. One thing is for sure, it is soft power that gives the platform to harness hard power. 

The second thing is social resistance. It is high time to encourage people to boycott all the accomplices of this regime. It may be tough and sometimes impossible, but making sure that being accomplice to this shameless regime is a matter of indignity. 

Human beings live with hope, but it is baseless hope that kills. Over the last few years, we have seen some people tried to sell baseless hopes for their own good. It may satisfy the ego and give some mental solace but it makes people oblivious to reality. 

The regime is a brutal one, it has the history of doing anything and everything for its own sake. Ousting them shall not be an easy task. Only greater unity and mobilisation can do that.

It is said the morning comes after the darkest of nights. We still may have many dark nights to endure and fight. But this is not the end, just another beginning of a glorious struggle that will reclaim Bangladesh, people’s Bangladesh.  

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.