July Uprising, public goods and free rider problem

In economics, public goods are defined by two core characteristics: non-excludability and non-rivalry. Non-excludability means once the good is provided, you cannot stop anyone from benefiting from it, regardless of whether they helped pay for it.

For example, a citizen cannot be excluded from the protection of national defense or the benefits of clean air. Non-rivalry, on the other hand, refers to the fact that an individual's consumption of the good does not diminish the quantity or quality available to anyone else. One person walking under a lit streetlight does not make it dimmer for the next person.

Public goods give rise to the free-rider problem because users cannot be excluded from consuming the good, consumers have little financial incentive to pay for it voluntarily. They can take a "free ride" on the contributions of others.

Now let’s apply this textbook definition of public goods and see whether it applies to the outputs of the July Uprising. This uprising did not just overthrow a ruler and replace it with another. It produced tangible outputs. Foremost among them are: (1) freedom of expression, and (2) restraints on the use of state force. Both are non-excludable and non-rival in consumption and thus qualify as public goods.

The non-excludability is evident: even enablers of the ousted regime now exercise freedoms of expression that did not exist before July 2024, without fear of the security apparatus that once hunted dissenters.

The non-rivalry is also clear: a recent cartoon by Mehedi body-shaming Nahid Islam, the top-ranking leader of the July Uprising, depicting him as bloated following the uprising and hinting at unfair means, circulated freely—something unthinkable under the previous regime.

We must remember the repression that came before. Cartoonists and satirists faced draconian laws, intimidation, and detention to silence dissent and erode press freedom. Cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore was arrested in May 2020 under the Digital Security Act (DSA) and tortured in custody before being released on bail in March 2021.

The Digital Security Act (DSA) was passed in 2018. It was widely criticised by human rights organisations for its broad, vague provisions that effectively criminalised online expression. The government routinely used it to jail or harass artists and writers who drew critical illustrations or published anti-corruption satires.

The constant threat of arrest forced cartoonists and mainstream media into self-censorship. Major newspapers frequently censored their own cartoons or chose not to publish critical caricatures of government leaders to avoid state retaliation.

Creators on independent platforms faced surveillance and visits from state intelligence, forcing many illustrators to go into hiding or abandon political satire altogether.

The climate of fear broke only with the July 2024 student-led mass uprising, which unleashed a wave of anti-government cartoons that defied the authoritarian regime before its ousting. Nieman Reports documented the erosion of press freedom during this era.

Why do some now call the July Uprising a failure? The free-rider problem provides an answer.

The gains of July—freedom of expression and limits on state violence—were paid for with immense sacrifice: 1,400 people were martyred, according to the UN, and 30,000 were injured, many losing limbs, eyesight, or suffering bullet wounds. Together with the courage and sacrifice of the leaders of Boishomyo Birodhi Chatro Andolon and countless citizens, these sacrifices made the revolution successful.

Yet these public goods cannot be withheld from those who opposed the uprising or stood by as spectators. Some now use these freedoms to malign the movement and its leaders with abuse and unsubstantiated allegations of extortion. We want everyone to enjoy the fruits of the July Uprising responsibly and preserve them.

Those who participated in the uprising and later committed crimes must be prosecuted and handed the severest punishment under the law. But baseless allegations must stop. I know personally how some leaders of the July Revolution struggled to fund even their own 2024 election campaigns.

I pay homage to the martyrs of the July Uprising, remember those who suffered injuries, and salute the courage and sacrifice of the leaders and participants of the movement.

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Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan is an economist. The opinions expressed in this article are his own and not those of any institution with which he is associated