Bangladesh at the moment has turned into a fertile ground for rumours to germinate within the minute the seeds are thrown in the air. They do not need meticulous tilling of land or time to time watering. In no time one will find branches and leaves sprouting and spreading out in lightning speed.
Favourite topics of rumour? Well, the current state of lopsided politics, the next parliamentary election, the interim government, the CA and his advisors, Jamaat, Awami League, BNP, new political party of the fiery student leaders, bureaucrats, business leaders, film actors, poets, writers et al are hot topics for the rumour mongers. They know which advisor has already earned 50,000 crore or has 100,000 crore stashed under the bed in the village. They know about suspicious transactions of 150 crore taka in the CA’s account in the last six months. They even know where the money has come from!
The irony is even the armed forces are not spared by the rumour mongers. The latest rumour that circulated in the air was about the CA’s name not being there on the list of award recipients in London. So, what was he doing in London, they asked? Then a few days back we heard that the army chief was being shown the door. And the ‘news’ also included who was going to replace him. These rumour mongers know exactly what is going on inside the cantonment right at the moment and who is trying to launch a coup d’etat!
The rumour mongers in Bangladesh can precisely narrate which country among America, China, India or Russia are funding which particular group and with what sinister purpose in mind. They sound incredibly real as they claim to have heard directly from the horse’s mouth about the conspiracies being hatched in the jungles of India and Bangladesh.
Rumours are veritably endemic in this country and no measure can stop them really from germinating and spreading far and wide. They will tell you in sardonic details about the covert operations of undercover agents like RAW, MOSAD, CIA or FBI and also those belonging to our armed forces, Rab or police. Such ‘news’ gives details of which parties or groups are working underground to sell the country to foreign powers. The details sound absolutely mind-boggling.
False news has ready customers whereas one has to walk miles to sell the truth. This is a phenomenon one has to live with, especially in a world of the burgeoning evil called ‘social media’, where a life can be made or destroyed with the touch of your fingertips. Rumours have been present in the world since time immemorial, untiringly spinning grotesque tales of persecution, deaths and transmutation. Incredulous stories are found in ancient books of knowledge as there was no way to cross check. Who knows what really had happened in those dark and misty days? But that does not stop the rumour mongers.
Remember the horrific tales of ‘burning at the stake’ of innocent old and young women after tagging them as witch on the basis of rumours? Even famous French military leader Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for heresy. Yes, most heresy was actually untruths, concocted stories aimed at harming one’s enemy. And hundreds of victims of rumour were either hanged or guillotined. Tragedy is, no victim of this social evil got no chance to prove his innocence before any court of justice. They all became victims of public frenzy.
That is why scholars warned: “Always remember… Rumours are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots.”
Social scientists described that it is only a rumour that can travel faster than light. That is surely something one cannot confront once it is loose, like the arrow from the bow or a bullet from the pistol. That is why humourists claim a rumour can travel around the globe twice before ‘truth’ can tie the shoe laces. This infectious bug can annoy and amuse writers and poets as they opt to live unconventional life. There is this rumour that a famous American writer had supposedly commented: “Writers prefer a monastery at day but a whore house at night.” Now, there is no way to find out if there is an iota of truth in this despicable utterance.
Mark Twain hit the bull’s eye when he wittily said: “The news about my death has been highly exaggerated.” Now, who else but Mark Twain can pass such a hilariously side-splitting comment on news of his own death? It worked like magic. It stopped the misleading notion going around about his supposed death.