Naya Bandobosto .... has come full circle :::: "India is not today's nation. Mahabharat and Ramayan were not created today" ... this is being debated in Bangladesh ::: Is 'New Bangladesh' already around ?? Are they debating India with "refreshing" elements of candidness ?? :::: How should India take a closer look ??

It is a universal fact that Social Media feed is absolutely polluted.

A free and independent media is not a privilege. It's an organic necessity. 

There are narratives and videos - often fake - and monologues by self-appointed moral teachers with their version of their 'motivated stories' that with even a small portion of investigation can easily be debunked. 

But many media outlets across the globe are not doing their best to do the job honestly.

In India - 'editors' are hardly Editors. Like DGPs hold their position at the mercy of chief ministers and home ministers; editors hold their position at the mercy of owners.

Hence, what Editors and journalists should be doing is not being done. In turn, in Indian context, the Editors are ambitious to be Rajya Sabha members in months and years to come.

Take Kolkata media and analyse closely how they did not bother much to cover the killings and attacks on BJP workers and supporters after 2021 elections.

Tarique Rahman with his doctor wife and barrister daughter

In India - the peculiarity is discussed in whispers. But seldom people want to ask tough questions and holding those in power accountable. One example is good example - the select way some media outlets are pro-BJP or pro-Rahul Gandhi and so on. 

Prior to 2014 under the UPA regime -- things were worse !! Leading so-called bold and courageous newspapers etc etc -- behaved like extension counter of AICC headquarters. There was a fictional write up that Gen V K Singh wanted to stage a coup. 

In Bangladesh; it is clear that the Yunus regime exploited the social media and mainstream media narratives for last 16 months. 

In the process; Talibanisation was almost normalised. The fallout led to the attack on the two media outlets. They were hardly pro-India organisations. 

And it has been reported that the night these two newspapers and journalists were attacked; many tried to reach the Advisors and powerful people in Dhaka - and there was no response !  

But the issue here is more fundamental ? Has Bangladesh realised that enough is enough and the radical elements ought to be disciplined.   

Bangladesh's vernacular TV channels are these days discussing former US President Jefferson 

He may have had his issues with the media. But Jefferson's one quote talks highly about the importance of the fourth estate -

"The people are the only censors of their governors. Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."  

Hence what is being discussed in Bangladeshi TV channels are important.  One 'sane' voice is coming out -- ** There is a general discussion on how anti-India narratives built up over the months -- prior to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina has harmed the nation.

Look what one Bangladeshi journalist has said -- "We made India our best friends to push our selfish agenda. We are making India now our Enemy NO. 1 .. also for our own benefits". 

"What's India's fault today in all these .... As a neutral observer, I can say ... we have taken our stances according to our own programming. It is never a case that India has sent in army to Bangladesh for last 100 years. Our narratives have been created in our own way.

"Some of us wanted to be India's friends (obvious reference is to Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League)... often in a shameful manner. 

At the same today ... we are making an enemy out of India even without applying any reason or rhyme. Sometimes we behave like fools... This loss of balance is our own making".

"If you someone's scarf from his shoulder ... will he also not pull you... Why should we go so much deep either way. We should maintain our independence. 

"The manner Bangladeshi people are over enthusiastic about being anti-India ... look at India .... common Indians are not so much excited about us. India is not today's.

Mahabharat and Ramayan were not created today ... When was Zero discovered". 

A few analysts on TV channels have been trying to push a line ---

* In Bangladesh today .... some leaders feel if there is anarchy in the country ... it's good for them. That is fishing is possible the best way in muddy waters.

** One commentator said -- even the worst of any situation in this world will create some set of beneficiaries and exploiters. This happened with the World War and Bangladesh is no exception.

*** Another refrain is -- some people in Bangladesh (hooligans) who have suddenly got the street power to burn a newspaper office or attack a passer by for no reason or rhyme -- feel a sense of empowerment.

(This we have experienced in north east India. The locals enjoy thrashing the faceless Bihari rickshawallas and robbing helpless office goers. This happened in Meghalaya and Nagaland. In Mizoram; they call it Vai-bashing.... And all these happened in the 1990s ... far before the chaos of Manipur of 2023)

* Anarchists are enjoying this. This is labeled as Revolution. 

** In Bangladesh - an effort was made to give a forceful definition of Revolution (ghar-dhore Biplob)

*** People in Bangladesh already realise that the delay in holding election under the interim regime was part of a vested interest move.

**** Attacks on media outlets were purely orchestrated".

Army is slowly being seen as part of the Doctrine of Necessity 

  

Tarique Rahman - Past has been politics of 'anti-India' 

Now what does the Bangladesh's print medium says ::: 

"The National Citizen Party (NCP) was born with a claim that it would not practise politics as usual. Emerging from the July uprising, it asked people to see it as a break from Bangladesh's old habits of convenience and compromise. It promised to distinguish itself with its own political language and its own sense of responsibility," says an article 'The Daily Star'.   

It adds acidly:

"Two developments have turned speculation into a moment of reckoning. 

Tasnim Jara, a senior and one of the more visible leaders, in her own right, resigned from the party. She announced she would contest the Dhaka-9 constituency as an independent. 

At the same time, 30 members of the party's central committee have formally written to Convener Nahid Islam, opposing any political alliance or seat-sharing arrangement with Jamaat-e-Islami."  

The article also says :  

"Any understanding with Jamaat-e-Islami also carries a weight far beyond seat numbers. Jamaat's opposition to independence in 1971 and its role during the Liberation War are not fringe allegations. 

They are part of Bangladesh's mainstream political history. 

That history has shaped alliances, exclusions and public trust for decades. It cannot be set aside through electoral arithmetic."

In other words - the Bangladesh's intelligentsia's honeymoon with pro-Pakistan Jamaat is seemingly over as of now.

New Delhi's matured diplomacy and patience may work again. 

ends