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Is the word 'Democracy' has been lost!

Published : Thursday, 27 March, 2025 at 12:00 AM  Count : 474
Anwar Shahadat
It seems that something invaluable and treasured has silently disappeared, leaving its territory without the inhabitants' knowledge. Once, I used to be one of the stakeholders of the asset.

Losing something that you once thought you owned and that would never leave you is a sudden discovery that makes you feel it's lost.

I am from the mid-southern area of Bangladesh, therefore we spent much of our childhood, adolescence, and youth going along the river trail by launch. The launch's inner wall had a sentence printed in bold, beautiful, handwritten script: "Are you leaving something behind?" That used to be a reminder.

This reminder method became part of our social and cultural practice, so in any departure, we would recall that phrase offering the reminder: "You haven't left anything behind, have you?"

That was clearly a protective measure against the possibility of losing something.

I was wondering what terms could be applied if someone had already lost something! Could there be a suggestive phrase like: "Have you already lost something? If so, do you want to recover it? How would you like to do that? Here are some suggestions!"

A couple of weeks ago, I was exploring the country and meeting people from all walks of life-ranging from rickshaw pullers to vegetable vendors to the next passenger on a local village bus.

People appeared politically up-to-date not because they were educated and conscious, but because their livelihoods were tied to the 'Governing process' led by the Awami League. The people didn't care if the process was democratic; what mattered was that they were connected to the group they belonged to within the authority (the government).

I follow political news updates, and I find that people are disinterested in democracy through elections.

Even if I discover people who are interested, they are not for democracy in general; rather, they believe they will win the election and obtain state control. The remaining political parties have little interest in elections or democracy.

While navigating around the country, I came across 'An Absence.' From metropolis to city, urban to suburban to mofussil, wayside villages to rural villages, there was a lack of conviction in 'democracy. It is not that democratic values have been lost; rather, the phrase itself appears to have been forgotten. I didn't encounter anyone in Bangladesh who mentioned the phrase 'democracy!' It is a virtually forgotten word.

Since its inception, the term 'democracy' has never taken a step back. There may be certain examples of backward stories for the sake of argument, but human evolution teaches us that we have never truly gone backward! This means it will not fail in Bangladesh either. Personally, it is disheartening to realize that the word that had the most capturing meaning during our childhood, adolescence, and youth has vanished. The word used to be shouted plainly and loudly throughout Bangladesh, but what I've discovered is that it's gone. The word 'Democracy' has been lost!

The writer contributes from New York


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