Outrageous Bombings

Suddenly, my country, as I have known it for the last 25 years, is appearing alien to me. Suicide bombing, religious fanaticism, killing judges, processions by judges, judges calling strikes--are these things happening to our lives? Is this my beloved country, for which my grandfather sacrificed his life for, on 14th december, 1971? Almost 34 years after our triumph over Pakistan army, can we really say that we are an independent nation?

Yesterday, another bomb blast killed 9 and injured 70 people. This incident occurs only a few days before the month of victory. This is indeed a threat to our national security, sovereignty, and above all, the feeling of security that many of us have for being able to live in a free country. In fact, there was not much of that feeling any way. It got shattered long time ago.

I got mugged in 31^st December, 2003. It was a terrifying experience, but I took it easy. That incident eliminated the feeling of safety from my mind, and since then I try being alert while traveling. Before that, I would be in a light mood during journeys, but now I am extra cautious, and I try avoiding dark nook and corners after the sunset.

But what measure to take against bomb blasts? Maybe I will be shopping in Agora, buying a loaf of bread for tomorrow’s breakfast, and the middle aged, bearded, otherwise well respected and good mannered guy might turn out to be “one of them” suicide bombers. The bloody images of my dissected feet, burnt flesh and pummeled body will appear on the morning papers. For Prothom-alo’sinternet edition, the pictures might appear long before the morning. My mother would regret for the rest of her live for asking me to pick up a loaf of bread on my way back home from office. My sister will look at the broken mp3 player, probably recovered from my right trouser pocket, and cry. She keeps on asking me for it, and I keep on declining her request, stating "imminent HSC exam" reasons. I hope my dad will hear the news from my uncles, instead of seeing the gory depiction of what was my face even a day before, in the papers. He had two heart attacks, God, he won’t be able tolerate this shock.

I wonder how my friends will react. With a little laughter, I am also worried about my precious music and games collection. It took me a lot of time and effort to collect the music I have.

Who to blame for my imagination going wild? Can you really call me a paranoid if I start suspecting every bearded man that I will be coming across from today onwards? Would you blame me if I leave this country and settle abroad in a couple of years?

I never wanted to leave this country. I always wanted to do something for this country. Maybe it is because of the blood I inherited from my ancestors. I had to confront the idea of going abroad and settling there; multiple times. But I never felt an urge to do so; I never really got the green signal from the heart for this action. My brain always told me to try for an abroad MBA or masters, but my heart never instructed me to do so.

But today, my heart is in trouble. Today’s newspaper gave my heart a massive attack. Things will never be the same.

I never believed in the Hartal concept, and to me, Hartal is really an annoying and irritating event. The Hartal day passes quite normally, but it creates an extreme pressure on the weekly routine of everyone, and we see excessive traffic throughout the rest of the week, including weekends.

But this time I am going to support the Hartal that was called by the lawyers of the nations. There are rotten apples in every barrel, but that doesn’t mean you need to kill all the lawyers.

I mean, what is their point? I heard a few conspiracy theories, but none of them seems logical to me. Why would a Islamic fanatic group want to kill judges? What could be motive behind this massacre?

I need to read and think more for an answer to this. But I wonder whether my heart and brain will let me do so…..

It’s high time something gets done.

Is changing the government a solution? I don't think so. They are all the same. These politicians lack the creativity and dynamic nature that is required in order to solve critical problems. They can only solve some mundane problems, or allocate budget for solving it. They never do the follow up and check how the allocated resources and approved plans are being executed.

And we call them law makers, policy makers, and the Government.

I wonder why these stupid, incompetent and half-educated people should make laws for us.

Irony…