Mr. Sakhawat Hossain, Read the Room!

The people appointed in the interim Government of Bangladesh are all competent in their own right. The honorable advisor in charge of the home ministry is no exception. But there is such a thing as reading the room, or acknowledging the elephant which does not need to be acknowledged.?

The so-called elephant is the legacy of the Awami League. Once a beacon for those who seek freedom from oppression, now a symbol of the mightiest oppressors themselves. The good old days of Awami League were in the? 50s and 60s. A clear enemy to fight against, a group of young idealists, and a leader afraid of nothing and no one. Reminiscing about those days will not land you credibility in 2024, because the Awami League of then couldn't be further from the Awami League of now.?

Politicians have the ability to read the room, and not stick to the past propaganda. They are built for it, it is the innate ability they have to create new narratives and new propaganda. The Bangladeshi politicians rephrase this ability with “the ability to read the pulse of the people”. A fancy term coined to put excess frosting on a ten day old cake.?

Mr. Sakhawat failed to realize this. The people, fresh from surviving the killing spree, do not want to hear about the glorious past of those killers. The iron is still hot, people are still angry. Therefore this is not the time to show nuance in your conversations with the media.

The advisor is in a pickle. On one hand, he knows he didn’t say anything wrong, on the other hand, he should by now know that what is right or wrong is defined by the time in which this question is raised. This is the difference between a politician and a soldier. Sadly, following orders and achieving goals are easy especially when the entire unit has only one goal in mind. Our dear advisor should realize that there is no goal other than gaining power in politics. All is fair in love and war, and politics is full of everything but love. This is not the time to relive our fantasy of the past. Soldiers of your great nation are blindsided by the red of the revolution. Therefore my dear, learn to look forward, do not fall in the trap of nostalgia however glorified it may have been.?