Opinion, Politics

Why the Colour Revolution in Bangladesh Lacks Philosophical Legitimacy: A Kantian and Weberian Critique

Robi Das 6 August 2025

We must admit that what happened in July – August 2024 is not a “revolution”. The present government is not a legitimate government and they do have any authority to issue a charter, whatsoever.

6 August 2025

The so-called July 2024 “Colour Revolution” in Bangladesh, which led to the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s long-standing government and the formation of an interim government, has been widely celebrated as a democratic breakthrough. Yet, from the perspectives of Immanuel Kant, Max Weber, and several contemporary theorists, this revolution raises serious questions about its philosophical and sociological legitimacy. This came to my attention while talking with another author Jahanara Nuri, who has already published an article on this platform after Yunus announced a “July Charter” at the anniversary of the so-called “revolution”. We must admit that what happened in July – August 2024 is not a “revolution”. However, the National Citizens Party (NCP), Bangladesh Jamat-e-Islami (BJI) and its students’ wing Islami Chatra Shibir (ICS), and other Islamist right wing political parties are claiming it as “revolution”, while Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and left-wing political parties are claiming it as “mass uprising” or “resurgence”. The Bangladesh Awami League and its allies are claiming

it as a “coup”, since it is a part of a “meticulous design” as Yunus and his team claimed it. After having this conversation with Jahanara Nuri, I understood that there is a necessity to explain why philosophically this is not a “revolution”. Hence, in this article I have discussed Kant and Weber’s philosophies to explain why this is not a revolution and why the government lacks the legitimacy to declare this July Charter. Kant: Revolution Is Morally Impermissible Immanuel Kant’s political philosophy is grounded in legalism and moral duty. In his Doctrine of Right, part of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant categorically states: “There is… no right to sedition, still less to rebellion, and least of all is there a right against the head of a state… to attack his person or even his life on the pretext that he has abused his authority.” Kant’s rejection of revolution stems from his belief that law is the condition…

Opinion

Milestone School Tragedy: Everything ‘Under Erasure (Sous Rature)”?

Shweta Irina 29 July 2025

A water color image of Mahreen and Masuka

‘Now we begin to see how Derrida’s notion of ‘sous rature’ differs from that of Heidegger’s. Heidegger’s Being might point at an inarticulable presence. Derrida’s trace is the mark of the absence of a presence, an always already absent present, of the lack at the origin that is the condition of thought and experience.’ [Translator’s Preface in ‘Of Grammatology’ by Jacques Derrida, page: xvii (Translated from French to English by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, The Johns Hopkins University Press; First Published; Maryland, 1976 and First Indian Edition by Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi).] Although renowned French philosopher Jacques Derrida had explained the term ‘sous rature (under erasure)’ from a linguistic, philosophical and metaphysical viewpoint, today the epithet ‘sours rature (under erasure)’ is being used from a more comprehensible prism. ‘Under Erasure’ seems equivalent to ‘self-censorship.’ Now what is ‘self-censorship?’ ‘Self-censorship, also known as self-censure, is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals purposefully choose to limit or restrain their own

expression, thoughts, or actions. It often arises out of fear or apprehension of potential consequences, such as social backlash, legal repercussions, or professional harm. While self-censorship can be seen as a means of self-preservation or complying with societal norms, it is a complex and intricate concept that warrants deeper examination (https://psychologyfanatic.com/self-censure/). To put in more lucid terms: do the authors, journalists or even common people feel ‘self-censured’ before writing anything which may challenge authority, hierarchy or hegemony? Be it state, government, religion, patriarchy, culture or anything with a cumulative force against an ordinary individual or a group of individuals with less power to bargain? How much free are we in the real sense? Can we speak up, write or claim for our just demands within a coercive state machinery? If Derrida seems too difficult to be understood, novelist Milan Kundera may sound somehow easier who underscored ‘the struggle of man against power as the struggle of memory against forgetting.’ Kundera,…

Analysis, Bangladesh, Opinion

Rampant destruction of sculpture since so-called ‘July Revolution’: What a savage nation we are becoming!

Shweta Irina 14 July 2025

Actually, how much civilized is a nation can be well measured by its intellectual properties as reflected through literature and culture, music and poetry, paintings and sculpture. Every nation which is a connoisseur of paintings and sculpture, protects its heritage with utmost efforts and their celebrated painters or sculptors are recollected through ‘larger than life’ novels and movies. The author narrates the curious case of Bangladesh after the color revolution of 2024.

14 July 2025

Destruction of Bangabandhu's sculpture 'Mrityunjaya' at Bijoy Sarani

‘সুতনুকা নাম দেবদাসিকী তং কাময়িথ বালানশেয়ে দেবদিন্নে নাম লুপদকখে!’ “Sutanuka by name, Devadasi. The excellent among young men loved her, Devadinna by name, skilled in sculpture" is the translation of the aforementioned line in the Magadhi Prakrita language of the ancient age India and inscribed upon the sculpture of a temple-based artist (in terms of singing and dancing) cum courtesan. Once celebrated Bengali novelist Narayan Sanyal, who is still evaluated within the critics, had authored a complete novel (সুতনুকা একটি দেবদাসীর নাম) on basis of this one single line inscription on the sculpture in the cave temple of Ramgarh mountain in Madhya Pradesh, India. A more loose and easily comprehensible Bengali translation of this line in Magadhi Prakrita goes on like: 'সুতনুকা নামে এক দেবদাসী, তাহারে ভালবাসিয়াছিল/ দেবদিন্নে নামে এক রূপদক্ষ। ’Generally the sculptors were termed as ‘রূপদক্ষ’ in Sanskrit which reads as ‘লুপদকখে’ in Magadhi Prakrita and ‘ভাস্কর’ in Bengali. Michelangelo Buonarotti, one of the greatest sculptors of all

ages, thus depicted his perception about sculpting: ‘I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.’ The creator of ‘David,’ ‘Pieta,’ ‘Sistine Chapel’ and so many other monumental art-works further narrated sculpting as ‘In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.’ Actually, how much civilized is a nation can be well measured by its intellectual properties as reflected through literature and culture, music and poetry, paintings and sculpture. Every nation which is a connoisseur of paintings and sculpture, protects its heritage with utmost efforts and their celebrated painters or sculptors are recollected through ‘larger than life’ novels and movies. Remember how Akira Kurosawa paid his tribute to Vincent Van Gogh in one of his…

Bangladesh, Dr Yunus, Opinion

When the Tulip unfurls her petals!

Shweta Irina 24 June 2025

The article discusses Yunus' recent trip to the UK and the corruption allegation of Bangladesh government against British MP Tulip Siddique.

24 June 2025

‘Mandar dafa bajna /Abir gul lala kum kum/ Keshor charato karawato/Kutuhal has e/Mandar dafa bajna.’ (Mandolins are being played/colored powders getting sprinkled/ Tulip unfurling her petals/Women have curious smiles on their lips). (Hindustani Dhamar on the spring festival) …It was the year of 1989. Me and my immediate elder sister used to attend a Hindustani classical music class (as many other middle-class Bengali girls attend in their childhood or adolescence days and later most of them cannot continue for studies, work or etc. etc.) where our teacher used to train us in ‘Dhrupad’ and ‘Dhamar’- two unique forms of Hindustani classical music besides the too commonly practiced ‘Kheyal.’ Sometimes we used to ask the teacher meaning of all these Hindustani lyrics and he tried to explain at his best. The aforementioned lyrics of Dhamar was composed by any of the classical lyricists of the sub-continent (or to be more accurate, by the lyricists from Persia or Afghanistan up to

the Indian sub-continent) to welcome the advent of spring and the word ‘gul lala’ means Tulip in Urdu and this Tulip is opening her petals in the spring (Keshar charato karawato). We know how much our Hindustani classical music has been enriched by the composers from Persia like Ameer Khasru and others. In fact, the word ‘Dafa’ means ‘Mandolin’, a particular type of musical instrument which used to be played in any festival in Persia and the adjoining regions and still it is played across a long route from Persia or central Asia to the Pakistan-North Indian territories. Although reputed Bengali musicians like Kabeer Suman are now-a-days advocating for writing Bengali Kheyals for better comprehension of the Bengali learners (as language often seems to be a barrier in understanding the North Indian classical music and learning Hindustani classical is a pre-requisite for achieving minimum skills in music of this region), but can we ever deny that how the ancient and…

Analysis, Bangladesh, Current Affairs, India, Opinion, Pakistan, Politics, Secularism, War

A Region Unravels: From the Indus to the Bay of Bengal, the Secular Order Faces Its Greatest Test

Iconus Clustus 25 April 2025

The Indus Treaty has collapsed. The Shimla Agreement lies suspended. From Pakistan’s proxy warfare to Bangladesh’s creeping Islamism and great power maneuvering, South Asia is entering not just a geopolitical spiral—but a civilizational eclipse. What we’re witnessing is the slow disintegration of the pluralist soul that once defined this region.

25 April 2025

I. Introduction: The Breaking of a Compact When India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following the terror attack in Pahalgam—carried out by The Resistance Front (TRF), a group with clear operational and ideological ties to Pakistan's deep state—it did more than nullify a water-sharing agreement. It shattered one of the few remaining symbols of post-Partition cooperation between the two nuclear-armed rivals. For decades, the treaty withstood wars, diplomatic breakdowns, and public rage. That it should now collapse in response to yet another incident of state-proxied terror speaks volumes—not only about India’s strategic posture but about the region’s crumbling secular compact. Now, that compact has fractured even further. In a retaliatory gesture of its own, Pakistan has suspended the Shimla Agreement (1972)—a foundational accord that once governed diplomatic protocols, bilateralism, and conflict resolution between India and Pakistan. If the Indus Waters Treaty was the hydrological pillar of cooperation, the Shimla Agreement was its diplomatic spine. Together, these two treaties formed the

last architecture of mutual restraint between nuclear neighbors. Their dual collapse signals a freefall into a pre-1970s strategic environment—one where war, not negotiation, is again the default setting. However, to treat the Treaty’s dissolution as a bilateral escalation alone would be myopic. It is better understood as the tremor before a regional quake. From the Indus in the West to the Bay of Bengal in the East, a new geopolitical alignment is taking shape—an alignment that threatens to undo the fragile, secular, and postcolonial order that had once offered a vision of stability. Across South Asia, terror proxies are resurgent, Islamist politics is infiltrating interim governments, and foreign powers are circling zones of instability under the guise of humanitarian concern. India, at the heart of it all, finds itself in a two-front dilemma. In the West, Pakistan continues to serve as an incubator for transnational jihadist ambitions. In the East, Bangladesh’s descent into political instability and Islamist resurgence—combined with creeping…