Photo: Collected
Umama Fatema, former spokesperson of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, has remarked that there is no difference between Jamaat and the Awami League. She made the remark in a status posted on her Facebook account on Thursday. In that status she set out her anger and concern about the country’s post-movement politics, the leadership of the movement, the shaping of public opinion on social media and the role of various political groups.
In the status, Umama Fatema wrote that through the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, even people with not the slightest connection to 17 years of movement and struggle flew in and became leaders; Salauddin Ammar is one of them. She alleged that during the July movement, all student organisations were left out and people of Shibir and the Chhatra Shakti coterie (covert Shibir) were included in the coordinators’ committee, because of which anyone at all came along and became all-powerful after 5 August. Hurling abuse in extremely harsh language at those responsible for making the spontaneous July movement captive in the hands of the bhai-brother coterie and Shibir, she wished Allah’s wrath upon them and termed them a ‘band of hypocrites’. According to her, although the BNP is bad, its badness can be seen with the eyes; those who are toying with the country after the movement wanted to capture everything.
She further wrote that she does not view social media content as innocent at all. Facebook manipulation is enough to destabilise Bangladesh, so interest groups behind the scenes manufacture consent on social media in the name of July from time to time. In her view, there are many manufactured figures as heroes among the youth, who are working to make the present and future political potential of the youth captive in the hands of particular groups. She wrote that she feels afraid when she looks at Myanmar – Facebook was an extremely effective tool for the Rohingya genocide. All this became possible because the middle class, from its ‘I hate politics’ attitude, suddenly had its eyes opened in July, and because a different person was made a hero each day by manipulating social media.
Umama Fatema said Bangladesh’s journey had so far been one of 50 years, but now, because of Jamaat, history has to be started from the British period. According to her, the country’s politics has fallen into the hands of a band of hypocrites; there is no difference between Jamaat and the Awami League, and Jamaat is willing to take the country to any stage to cover up the stain of its genocide.
