Us And Them
In recent times, Bangladesh has been given wide coverage in the international media as a turbulent country where a carnival of image-tarnishing events is going on. It has been endlessly debated whether the international media has been a little too harsh and sometimes even biased when portraying the country or whether it has been just stating facts.
Let's recapitulate some of the events that drew major attention from the international media lately. We had continued killings on the India-Bangladesh border and persecution of minorities, particularly in the south-eastern brink, the killing of the journalist couple Sagor-Runi, disappearance of BNP stalwart M Ilias Ali and death of labour leader Aminul Islam – all that called for investigation and transparency of state apparatuses, human rights and strategic interventions.
Events like the stock market crash, a minister's alleged involvement in vehicular movements where a huge sum was found stashed in broad daylight, the Padma bridge graft scandal and the infamous Hall-mark and Destiny scams and lately, the garments building-collapse tragedy has overshadowed our economic achievements.
Ripples of violence by political activists and the police, killings of innocents that usually go unnoticed, massive vandalism and bloodshed sweeping the country since the wake of the war crimes trial have only added to the persistent instability in politics. Prior to the slated election, the continued friction between the two major parties seems to have only increased the worries of the mass.
All cannot be addressed but a few certainly can be. Noted media analyst and author Muhammad Jahangir thinks we can of course accuse the international media of not publishing positive stories about our nation and politics. “But do we really have anything qualifying for that genre?” he enquires. “The tale of 'the two Begums' has been published time and again. If the international media wants to avoid 'negative' stories on our politics, they have to totally stop publishing stories about us altogether.”
Jahangir says the media cannot tone down news items having major international parties involved, such as the Padma bridge graft scandal. “The World Bank, the US and Canada are all involved here. It is a flagged item in the history of scandals and development aid,” he says.
Then again, Jahangir thinks we can be critical of news treatment in the international media. He endorses an example that the war criminals, at the phase of allegation and after their conviction in the war crimes tribunal, have been termed as 'Islamists' in the international media instead of 'war criminals'. It sends a different message to the world as though 'Islamists' are being 'tried' for 'war crimes', whereas the meaning of 'Islamism' covers a wide area in terms of interpretation and context.
Jahangir opines, “A war criminal could have been of a different religion yet a segment of the international media, for some reason, has made Islam a subject of interest. News items often tilt angles when a Muslim is convicted; religion gets primacy over crime which usually doesn't happen in other cases. This is the result of misconceptions and policy related error, some media are designed to cover news in this manner.”
He also mentions that despite both criticism and accolades of the war crimes trial in the international media, the disclosure of the skype conversation of one of its judges cannot go untreated without being an exclusive event. “From an international angle, the outflow of the skype conversation can hardly be imagined in another country. If an international media is sceptical about it and criticises the tribunal based on that scepticism, the media cannot be necessarily lined with the parties against the tribunal or with those who had been convicted. And in reality, nobody denied the conversations, the Economist has been alleged of eavesdropping, that's different,” he argues.
Apart from these portrayals, our journalists also have a tendency to ask foreigners about their view on the internal affairs of our country to push the threshold of news credibility. The analyst criticises this saying, “It is rooted in our subjugated psyche that opinions coming through foreign spokespersons are worthwhile. Our journalists should instead ask them about their affairs that they represent. But they tend to ask 'what do you think of our election?' I suppose the opportunity foreigners get to intervene in our matters is mostly created by our journalists,” he comments.
Also, he notes that in other countries a foreigner wouldn't get similar chances of opining about an internal affair. “Contrarily, a UN representative's opinion is highly valuable because he's not representing a country but an organisation with clear agendas. Our editors should brief their newsmen about carefully tackling these matters,” advises the analyst.
Jahangir suggests that instead of accusing the international media, the nation has to focus on good governance and try to rectify its people. He observes that the major flaws behind the garment building collapse in Savar boil down to the lack of good governance, the inability to properly handle a disaster and learn from the past. “These are the facts that the international arena learns through its media. It becomes clear to them what conclusion to draw about our country,” he says.
Jahangir concludes that despite nationalism being one of the pillars of our constitution, we are majorly falling short to uphold it. There is yet for the government to do as he puts it, “The external publicity wing at the foreign ministry must be strengthened so that it builds a positive image. Our governments think image building is similar to the government's image building. The real image building is that of a country, which has always been subject to political gain and agenda. The governments must realise they are temporary, their programmes are subject to change with the changes in the government but the country's interest is perpetual.”
Our economic growth is irrational because we don't fairly payor compensate our workers or look after their wellbeing. Photo: Prabir Das Professor Salimullah Khan, a noted essayist and academic, however remains dubious about how image building would help without a palpable change in politics. “Since liberation, the successive governments that have been in charge of the nation's affairs – they really did not do a very good job. The inefficiency of the bureaucracy is a legend. So the image of the nation is based on this reality. Unless you are ready to confront this, house painting or image building won't do. Instead, you have to do some house cleaning,” he alludes. The professor remains critical of the international press media. In summary, he says that when the international arena is not content with our performances, they indicate it through the stance of media reporting. “Media doesn't stand on its own feet but on some big giant's shoulders. Today, the way our ruling classes here are running the country is not to the best of the liking of their masters in the west.” Khan also reasons how the thin demarcation between fact and rumour are being obliterated every day by the misuse of social media and the way it is referenced by news organisations, even the international media. “When reporting about a third world country, they take less care and behave less responsibly. Take the rumours regarding the number of Hefajat casualties between May 5 and 6 in the capital. Reporting of media like the CNN and Al-Jazeera shows that their content is often based on pure rumour and speculation. First of all, the CNN reported, the number of casualties as several thousands, then they came down to several hundreds and then to 50 or so.”
The outflow of the 'skype conversations' can hardly be imagined elsewhere in the world. Photo: Star file
“Even a famed local human rights body incorrectly reported the casualties. When they were confronted by the journalists here, they said they took it from the social media. It was an example of a completely unsubstantiated report. So this totally speculative and wishful report has been given vent by a media as good as the CNN, at least for a few hours,” he adds.
Veteran journalist and researcher Afsan Chowdhury, also a former BBC correspondent, points to our failure in upholding a positive image of the nation, mainly due to unwholesome politics. As he explains, the western world is very likely to take an interest in our politics because they are also affected by the political instability of the developing nations.
Chowdhury notes our sense of being dependent on them for opinion and endorsement is very high. “For the last 42 years we have not shown any sign of political competence. We are forever running towards the western brink, asking what to do, they are suggesting because we ask. We suffer from a lack of a national self-confidence and we look towards them for solving our problems.” He exemplifies that it doesn't work this way as in the 1990s, Sir Stephen Ninian from the commonwealth came to Bangladesh to mediate between the AL and the BNP, which ended up in failure.
We have created a global image of a people who cannot manage themselves very well, adds Chowdhury. “To the international media, we don't figure as a country with political development although our economic development has received praises. But this economic growth, too, is irrational because we are not fairly paying and compensating our workers or looking after their wellbeing. Foreign buyers will obviously look for cheap labour and good material. But it is we, not them, who should ensure that our labourers get fair wages. But our garments owners are keener about keeping it inexpensive by exploiting the workers and risking their lives.”
He enquires, “Do we have the courage and strength to argue against what they say? What do we have to say if they allege us of not having a rule of law? We seem to be doing well without it.”
We have created a global image of a people who can't manage themselves very well. Photos: Star file
Despite all these, what keeps us running as a nation is a collective will to function amid dysfunction, summarises Chowdhury, “The west has probably categorised our areas of competence and incompetence. The executive and the legislative don't properly work here, the judiciary cannot properly handle all cases, people have least trust in them – the country is not likely to function but we are functioning. We have an increased coping skill through strengthening our social institutions; we defy political unrest by finding alternatives, for instance, shifting work to holidays in lieu of hartal days.”
These observations and critical commentaries clearly articulate the fact that blaming the international media, given its nature and role, is of little use when our nation is riddled with allegations, people speckled with corruption and politics fraught with plain nonsense. The veteran journalist also observes that we have become alienated because no one listens to us anymore. “We survive despite our politics; faced with such adversity, another nation would have crashed; we have instead created a parallel world by switching to a survivalist mode,” he says. That may be true, but for how long?
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