BANGLADESH’S electronic media are now busy ‘reporting to normalcy.’ By ‘reporting to normalcy,’ÌýI mean a planned effort to provide the country’s citizenry with an image of how things are getting to ‘normal.’ As is expected of this type of media, photographs, voices, and texts are all used as part of its strategy. A typical moving image for this ‘reporting to normalcy’ may include visuals of some cars passing by, rickshaws, and pedestrians on the road in Dhaka or any other city in the country.
Such reporting often has some ‘vox populi’ slots integrated into it: interview segments where people are asked to comment on the road situation and the responder’s short reply. However, they are made with very careful selections, and only those views and opinions get air time that demands normalcy (a typical example could be the following: ‘trouble’ needs to stop, and people need to get back to work’). I haven’t seen a single case where the reporters were able to find a student responding to these TV events. At what level this filtering takes place may require some research. Of course, there must be an unwritten policy that everyone understands. Sometimes, TV channels take up the more challenging route for a vox populi section (ie, live reporting). This section is, of course, fun. Things can go wrong. Some unwanted remarks sneak in, and this happens from time to time. Filtering in these cases, I suspect, occurs at the grassroots. Only seasoned reporters are relied upon.
As if selected moving images and voices were not enough, one TV network, much to my amusement, installed a backgrounder that read ‘comfort in the public mind’ (janamane swasti in Bangla). Reporting to normalcy is aided by a set of technocratic intellectuals and partisan journalists who, instead of analysing what went wrong in the government’s efforts to address student dissent, decide to talk in terms of the future and what can be done now (‘now that what has happened has happened,’ in the words of an ex-vice chancellor, for example). The usual partisan chat show anchors and pundits who served Bangladesh in the past decade are missing in these times. This is a measure taken for the time being, I believe. Even the ones who’ve in the past most aggressively supported the government’s policies now seem heads down. I personally also noted a new set chipping in, mostly focusing on the country’s economy, the daily economic losses, and the imminent economic danger from the stoppage of the economy, hence providing an economic justification for reporting normalcy.
In its effort to report to normalcy, the electronic media lately has been very careful about its image selection. It excluded all those images of police violence perpetrated at the peaceful student protest, images that were available a week ago in our social media feeds, and images of mayhem unleashed on protesting students by the Chhatra League (which Amnesty International, in a statement issued on July 17, termed ‘a group affiliated with the ruling party’) on different university campuses. Students and protestors, pelting stones at police vans, were aplenty.Ìý
Reporting to normalcy, a technique of power if you like, had its own set of idealised images of violence. Images of violence were wrought on some key public installations. It certainly had a shocking effect, but if one reflected on it, it would be clear how strikingly they matched the government’s trope of ‘fire terrorism (agni santras).’ Sometimes, video footage of young people carrying out the arson attack was available. There was no shortage of these images of violence and air time throughout what I call reporting to normalcy, a phrase I cannot do without. However, to establish its meaning, the usual political rhetoric came in handy. Without them, these images of violence do not mean much. The effect of all this is a divided citizenry on the question of violence and its identity. Ìý
In reporting to normalcy, the media was swift to report on some of the government moves (such as the publication of the circular after the Supreme Court decided on quota reform; minute-by-minute updates were available in almost all the TV outlets), but remained confused and slow on reporting student responses. As it was clear (later confirmed by some of the country’s print media), opinions and demands varied after the Supreme Court’s verdict and the government circular. Nevertheless, electronic media detracted from reporting on these differences. The student’s continued grievances were perhaps perceived as a misfit in the current scheme of things.Ìý
Reporting to normalcy for the country’s electronic media could also be due to an existential threat. Some electronic media houses have become too biased and work in favour of the government’s policy, whatever that may be. As there were sporadic attacks on different electronic media houses, which I condemn, it cannot be ruled out that there may be some public anger against these media houses. Hence, reporting to normalcy could be a natural response to an existential threat in addition to being the government’s will.
The government’s current strategy, as it seems now, is to supply intermittent, slow, and almost useless internet connectivity for the masses and effect a calm-down policy for its citizenry via its traditional allies found in many of the country’s privately owned media outlets on which it has tight control. These cannot be right if Bangladesh is called a democratic society (perhaps, a misnomer, given all its limitations, corrupted election system, and poor political culture).
Reporting to normalcy goes hand in hand with the countrywide internet shutdown. It smacks of foul play. In a democratic environment, this is the last thing one expects. Finding solutions in such voids will only bring havoc to the country’s citizenry and diaspora. We’ve already seen how this void plays out in people’s minds, both in the country and abroad. It is high time electronic media played its due part in the greater democratisation of society and people’s representation in all spheres of life.
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Mahmudul H Sumon is a professor of anthropology at Jahangirnagar University.