Tis the season for riots in places as far apart as Britain and Bangladesh. Both nations are otherwise considered high on social and economic parameters in their relative contexts – nobody would have believed that there would be an eruption of violence on the streets. Of course, the situation in Bangladesh is comparatively much worse, but the reasons for the unrest have commonality. There are marginalised sections who believe they have been further rendered ‘invisible’ by government policy who have come out in protest.
In Bangladesh, it is about the securing of privilege through the revival of a reservation policy in an already stressed employment situation. In fact, the unrest would have broken out much earlier had it not been for the fact that, for decades, that country has been unloading its jobseekers on India. Despite that, however, Bangladesh has been on a rising curve in economic terms and, till now, was one of the blue-eyed boys for international development agencies.
Similarly, despite Brexit and its fallout on Britain’s economy, there was a balance being maintained. However, this was disturbed by the defeat of the conservatives in the recent elections. Policies of the Liberals, which have tended to overlook the interests of those they describe as fascists, are now going to be further boosted by the new government. As such, the anti-immigrant sentiment has intensified, with the riots being triggered by the killing of three children at a dance class. The much-touted policy of multiculturism has not been able to take hold, with one section of the population being expected to make far greater concessions than the other. Legal action will be taken against the perpetrators of the street violence, but what about addressing the issue politically?
Governments cannot afford to exit in an illusory world, blind to the grassroots reality. Pragmatism has to play a large role and, with all their adherence to differing ideologies, the approach has also to be transactional. The Conservatives may not have had much of an impact but did concede the point that too many immigrants could not be absorbed either socially or economically. So, there was the plan to send illegal entrants off to Rwanda. It could not be implemented but did assuage public opinion. The first thing the new government did was to ditch that, thereby rejecting outright the legitimate concerns of a section of society. It is not enough to win an election; it is important also to fully read the mandate received. That applies to democracies everywhere.
