After a period of uncertainty, actress Jyotika Jyoti has officially been relieved of her position at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. She had been serving as the director of the Research and Publication Department on a contractual basis, a role she was appointed to during the former government's tenure.

However, the interim administration decided to terminate her contract early, formalised in a notification issued by the Ministry of Public Administration. The announcement, signed by Senior Assistant Secretary Nilufar Yasmin, was made public on September 30. 

The notice also ended the contracts of four other directors appointed under similar terms.

Photo: Collected

In response, Jyotika Jyoti expressed mixed emotions—relief, coupled with a subtle acknowledgment of the abrupt end to her tenure. "This notification officially ends my first experience in a government role. Although my contract was still valid, the interim government has decided to release me from my position. As of today, October 1, I am no longer the director of the Research and Publication Department at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy," she said.

Jyoti advised writers, researchers, and publishers who worked with her to contact the Research and Publication Department directly for ongoing projects or future correspondence. She also expressed gratitude, saying, "I am thankful to everyone who contributed to my growth during this one-and-a-half-year journey."

The actress had been appointed to the role on a two-year contractual basis, starting on March 13, 2023. Following political upheaval on August 5, she was unable to attend her office. On September 17, after Syed Jamil Ahmed was announced as the new director general of Shilpakala Academy, Jyoti briefly visited her workplace but was met with hostility from some officials and employees, leading her to leave shortly afterward.

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Jyotika Jyoti ousted from Shilpakala Academy amid colleagues' outrage

Beyond her acting career, Jyotika Jyoti has founded a production company and an agricultural product marketing firm. She had also previously sought a nomination from the former ruling party, Awami League, to run for a parliamentary seat from Gauripur.

On January 7, many people will not vote, but many others probably will. There are voters, not just first-timers, who are aching to go out even if just to see the inside of that hallowed ground called a polling booth. Having been twice disenfranchised through elections that have since passed into the annals of democracy as examples of "managed elections" or "elections without choice," it is safe to assume that these people would be desperate, seeking, even seething. Partisans will be happy to oblige calls for casting their ballot and add bodies to the count, like the tin soldiers on a game board; dissenters will be there to make a point; and those in between will be there because, well, they just would like to.

You've already met the dummy candidates, aka independents. Now, meet dummy voters.

For what are voters without any real choice, or power, if not glorified dummies? Now that BNP and like-minded parties are out of the race and unable to scupper its re-election plan, Awami League can again safely trust in voters. People can have the satisfaction, however temporary, of voting against it, or for it, and the party can have the satisfaction of still coming out victorious. In a climate described by a columnist as being "of the AL, for the AL, and by the AL," with it handpicking both its candidates and rivals, the outcome is a foregone conclusion. The dummies are just there to make the inevitable happen.

How much of a choice do general voters really have in this suffocating situation? Even if we disregard the "fear" factor playing in the background, voters, in a democracy, are entitled to have credible options to choose from, which clearly they don't at the moment. Their role has been reduced to that of a helpless participant, treasured so long as they are useful, with no guarantee of even coming out of this fruitless exercise unscathed. In other words, not only are people not getting to vote for whomever they want, but they cannot even not cast their votes. Even dissenters who are planning to vote as a protest will inevitably be strengthening the hands of the orchestrators of this catch-22 situation.

It is, therefore, no longer the sole responsibility of the Election Commission to ensure voters' presence at the polling booths. It is Awami League's too, and the party is going out of its way to get them to the booths—even those who are not happy with the government. Speaking to reporters, an influential leader from Narayanganj said, "Our appeal to voters is, vote for whomever you want. Don't vote for me [if you don't want to], but do still come to the polling station and vote, because it is your right. Don't squander your right. You have no right to criticise the government if you don't vote." Regardless of the problematic line of reasoning, the call to vote, for once, seems genuine.

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Forced voting to fool the world?

But there is still a tightrope to walk lest the motley assortment of independents, fake challengers, and allies-in-disguise somehow outperform Awami League in the final vote count, thus staging the biggest coup in the history of managed elections. It will be something of a disaster for the party's rank and file if, after all the scheming and browbeating and in the absence of any real opposition, it doesn't have a landslide victory. But it will be equally disastrous if it does—at least for its attempt to show a competitive election to the outside world. So voters have their job cut out for them: they will be expected to vote against AL, but not too zealously, so that a decent, respectable-looking victory can be achieved in the end.

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A Potemkin election in Bangladesh?

In such a hazy situation, we can only speculate about what the minds behind Awami League's re-election campaign are really thinking. It is a testament to the complexities of this election, and the expanding AL multiverse, that so many conflicting theories seem plausible at the same time. The official line is an insufficient measure for understanding the whole situation, and can be at odds with the messages coming from grassroots. For example, how to ensure the presence (and compliance) of voters? Partisan voters are not a problem but they don't likely form the majority either, despite extravagant claims by the party of having 70 percent of the total population ready to vote for it. So, there seems to be a "carrot and stick" policy afoot to both court and intimidate general voters.

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Elections without choice: A leaf out of autocrats’ playbook

Officially, besides frequent entreaties to vote, Awami League has already trained over 200,000 campaign workers, each responsible for bringing 200 voters to their local polling station, as part of an offline scheme. Unofficially, there have been a number of instances of threats being issued to noncompliant voters since the election campaign began. Among them were threats of breaking the hands and legs of opposition supporters, cutting non-voters or dissenting voters off from social safety net benefits, cutting off their utility lines, etc. These warnings are not to be taken lightly considering how swift past retributions were, and how a big party like BNP was all but incapacitated within mere months through mass arrests, ghost cases, and rushed convictions. According to the finance ministry, there were more than 1.28 crore beneficiaries of social safety net programmes in the 2022-23 fiscal year. BNP has alleged that the government is "targeting" these beneficiaries to fill up polling booths.

Read more

How to make dissenters out of citizens

How much of a choice do general voters really have in this suffocating situation? Even if we disregard the "fear" factor playing in the background, voters, in a democracy, are entitled to have credible options to choose from, which clearly they don't at the moment. Their role has been reduced to that of a helpless participant, treasured so long as they are useful, with no guarantee of even coming out of this fruitless exercise unscathed. In other words, not only are people not getting to vote for whomever they want, but they cannot even not cast their votes. Even dissenters who are planning to vote as a protest will inevitably be strengthening the hands of the orchestrators of this catch-22 situation.

Read more

The facade of a competitive election

What Awami League seems to want is a restaging of the 2014 election minus the stigma of unopposed wins and voter-less polling booths. This is being done "to fool the world," as a columnist of this daily has recently argued. However, it cannot take away from the unfolding farce of an election that will be fair, competitive and participatory on paper but none of the above in reality, whether the world acknowledges it or not.

Badiuzzaman Bay is assistant editor at The Daily Star.

Views expressed in this comment are the author's own.

Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.

August 5 was a historic day for Bangladesh for more reasons than one. The Awami League (AL), the party whose cause was a cornerstone in Bangladesh's history, was ousted by the masses.

Since independence, political turmoil has been part of narratives closely related to Bangladesh. One of the factors which worked in the AL's favour, from the time the party assumed responsibility in 2009, was that it was regarded as the most progressive and liberal party to have gained power following liberation. At that point in time, AL's values struck a chord with the secular middle-class Bangladeshi. The preceding regimes association with elements such as the military, fundamentalism, and state-centric politics aided in this regard.

Fast forward to 2024, and one finds that the AL-led 14-party alliance's rule is being labelled "fascist."

The AL regime has been somewhat of a conundrum. The Perspective Plan of Bangladesh 2041 (PP 2041), which was published in 2020, envisioned to build on economic advancements and enhance the lives of people. The AL accommodated more public-private partnerships within the media world than any other party before and oversaw the widespread introductions of leading social media websites such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Indeed, the regime looked outwards and allowed creative media productions to be released, which did not always comply with the more conservative National Broadcast Policy of 2014. Accordingly, the party is largely responsible for digitalising a new generation of Bangladeshis, many of whom have smartphones and global aspirations today and took to the streets during the recent protests. Student coordinators such as Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud are surely part of that generation and are, in fact, products of "Digital Bangladesh."

"Digital Bangladesh" was a pillar that supported the party's return to the centre in 2009 and represented its defiance of right-wing politics. AL's reformist approaches resonated with the masses in the context of globalisation and the interrelatedness of international networks in the 21st century. Their alliance with left-wing parties enabled the AL to stay in power and inspire many in the country. But, as it has transpired, the 14-party alliance seems to have paved the way for more dreams than stairs to reach those ambitions.

The recent movement portrayed the angst and frustration of the people from various sectors in Bangladesh, including journalism. The protests that began in the first week of July should be credited for capturing on-the-ground reactions. The mass killings, detentions, disappearances and violence against unarmed protestors that took place during this movement truly called into question the ethos of AL's political mandate. Over 400 people have lost their lives during the quota reform movement between July 16 and August 4, with some claiming that the number may well be understated. It has also been put forward that hospital records have been tampered with and bodies hidden, further putting into question just how many people have sacrificed their lives to bring an end to AL's rule.

Students have always been integral to the political narrative of Bangladesh. The fall of the Ershad regime was not brought about only by workers, but students as well, who endeavoured to take the nation forward on the path of democracy. Students again played their part in 2008 and 2013, when the Shahbagh Protests signalled their support for secular and not communal politics. In 2024, students took a stance once against the fascist practices of the Awami regime.

The tragic reality is that the AL committed to preserving democracy in the country, but backed the said promise by fascist means. The quota reform movement, which eventually led to the AL government's end, stemmed from opposition to fascist practices which often granted AL supporters, activists, and leaders the license to terrorise communities around the country. Throughout its rule, the former ruling party publicly branded opposition parties, such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and its allies as being fundamentalist and in conflict with the progressive agenda of the party.

While AL's statement may well be true when considering the realities of grassroots politics and the history of BNP and its allies, the Awami League's ideology also correlated with its globalist persuasions. The AL attained success in this sphere and was able to, for a period since 2009, be the flagbearer of the identity of the modern Bangladeshi. But, at present the premise of AL is being questioned and it remains to be seen how that plays out.

In essence, what the masses including the youths of Bangladesh have conveyed through this movement is that they are averse to right-wing politics in general, and both AL and BNP are considered part of that category today. This is very important to consider as we eventually transition to political-administrative rule again. Only time will tell whether progressive politics really do see the light of day in Bangladesh and who will be the leading stakeholders of the future. Meanwhile, the appointment of Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus as the chief of the interim government seems to be a step in the right direction.        

Nihad Nowsher works in business development.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan couldn't stay away from the field for too long despite being occupied in campaigning for the upcoming general elections where he will be contesting for the ruling Awami League from the Magura-1 constituency in his hometown.  

The ace all-rounder, who is recovering from a finger injury, gave the crowd at Magura city's Nomani Maidan a glimpse of his genius with both bat and ball in a tape-tennis exhibition match involving former local players organised to commemorate Bangladesh's Victory Day on Friday.

The venue is a special one for the 36-year-old as it helped kickstart his cricketing journey. After the match, he reminisced about his beginnings as a cricketer at the ground and revealed what made him make the switch from being a pacer to Bangladesh's leading spinner. 

"Gorki bhai told me to come here and play for his team. He saw me play in a tournament and took a liking to how I played. I was so shy that I couldn't come for training on the first day. I came back again the next afternoon. Then I waited and waited, almost till the stroke of dusk before going to him.

"I told him that he asked me to come. He told me to get on and bowl. I bowled a bit on the first day and then bowled spin and batted on the second day. He [Gorki bhai] told me to stick to bowling spin and after that, I became a spinner. Till then, I was a fast bowler or someone who bowled whatever was needed," Shakib told attending journalists after the match on Friday.