Farooki calls for action against 'consent producers' of 'Awami Fascism'

Eminent filmmaker and former Cultural Affairs Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki has called for legal measures against those he says helped "manufacture consent" for Bangladesh's former authoritarian Sheikh Hasina regime, arguing that the state must protect the memory of the July uprising's victims and their families from continued denial and ridicule.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Farooki welcomed recent remarks by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on holding political parties accountable for collective crimes, but said accountability should extend beyond political actors to include public figures who legitimized or continue to defend what he described as fascism.

Farooki alleged that some senior journalists, artists, models and other public personalities were still attempting to shield the deposed Awami League through "subtle tactics" while mocking victims of the July uprising and the alleged human rights abuses committed during the party's 16 years in power.

"The issue is not what I think," he wrote. "The issue is the mothers, fathers, spouses and families who lost their loved ones. Shouldn't we care about their feelings?"

He argued that dismissing the July uprising as a "meticulously designed" event or claiming "nothing happened in July" amounted to retraumatizing the families of those killed.

"Every time such remarks are made on television or in newspapers, our martyrs are killed a second, third and countless times," Farooki said.

The filmmaker said the state had a responsibility not only to prosecute those responsible for killings and abuses during the previous regime but also to safeguard the dignity of victims and prevent what he called the continued production of narratives that justify authoritarianism.

He proposed legislation to hold those who "produced consent for fascism" accountable or, at minimum, the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He also called for laws prohibiting public statements that disrespect the memory of victims until their families have had time to heal.

Describing the July 2024 uprising as Bangladesh's bloodiest mass uprising, Farooki said the country should not treat the post-revolution period as ordinary times, arguing that protecting the historical memory of the movement was essential to safeguarding its democratic gains.