Bezmenov's Leak Still Relevant: From Awami Policing To Moral Policing

Test your belief while bringing the dawn, Otherwise you may become just a pawn.

Yuri Bezmenov was a soviet journalist and diplomat. He defected to the West in 1970 and disclosed the psychological warfare model,which he had learned during his stint into his country's intelligence agency, used by the Soviets during the cold war to instill a new ideology into a society uprooting the prevailing ones. He publicly spilled the beans to Edward Griffin, an American journalist in the US,in 1984(see references: 1 and 2) . YouTube video is still available. I do not subscribe all his explanations and views about the 1971 and 1975. The timing of his defection and that of his interview depicts a different time. Lots of things were happening at home and abroad back then.The interview in particular is used to tell a particular narrative, to convince a particular audience. By the time the interview was aired, his subversion model had already been known to the world. Moreover, I find it a bit oversimplified and exaggerated. It is not that easy to fool a whole country. But there are some facts in that interview and you just cannot throw away the subversion model he exposed. So what is this subversion model he was talking about?

It comprises of 4 stages(see references: 3 and 4): Demoralization, Destabilization, Crisis and Normalization. Demoralization takes 15-20 years to complete and in this phase society's core values,beliefs ,traditions and identity are questioned in a bid to disorient the population. Methods employed include politicization and monetization of creed,monopolization of media,controlling flow of information,discrediting others, educate generation to accept things without challenging, glorifying the ideology comparing it with others,antagonism among political parties,less spontaneous response from individuals to address social issues etc.

Destabilization takes another 2-5 years to complete and in this phase subvert ideology is projected to be an alternative. Methods employed include diminishing bargaining process in the economy, unreasonable power struggle,populism in politics,mobs reigning laws and society,growing isolation in foreign relations. Solution is "grass is greener on the other side" or other ideology is better.

Crisis phase lasts 6 months. In this phase people lost their trust on existing institutions and discard them. They are ready to embrace radical change,including welcoming ideology they were taught to despise.

Normalization describes the phase when subverted ideology becomes the ideology of the ruling regime. Military takeover is also a feature of normalization.

In general, the whole subversion process takes 20 to 23 years to complete. But there is no specific timeframe. But I find it a bit hilarious because it is almost part of a political thriller's manuscript and it considers a whole nation as cattle stock. There are many competing interest groups within a nation and it is not easy to fool them.

Now coming back to Bezmenov's subversion technique. If we consider it in the context of Bangladesh, then we can see two major ideological shifts took place in Bangladesh: one in 1975 and another in 2009. Ideology dominating post-75 finally gave in in 2009. The demoralization phase lasted till 2006. Destabilization and crisis phase lasted till 2008. And in 2009 the so called normalization came.Then another demoralization phase started. Another ideological shift took place in 2024. I would rather say we are still in the destabilization phase according to the psy warfare process. Another ideology has yet to take over.

But what I find most interesting about Yuri Bezmenov's interview is the mention of "Colorado bug". When Yuri was a school kid ,they were told to kill as many " Colorado bug" as possible to save the wheat. Teachers told them Americans had dropped them to harm the Soviet Union. Back in the 1990/91,when we were school kids a campaign was introduced to eradicate the pink morning glory trees,known here as "Dhol Kolmi". The bushy tree was used as perimeter hedge of a house. It was disseminated that a bug that kills human, known as "dhol kolmi poka", lives on it. In China, we knew how millions of sparrows were culled during the cultural revolution ,resulting in deaths of millions in the famine.

This cultural revolution phase is going on in Bangladesh. Before people were harassed/ beaten to death,being tagged as "Jamaat/Shibir". Now people are being harassed/ beaten to death, being tagged as "Awami League/Hasina's man".From schools to office rooms, the vigilant mob's justice spares none. It should be stopped. Where is the transformations?Change? The more obvious is the change of role between the conqueror and the vanquished.

Even if Yuri's subversion is in work, I do not think normalization would end up in military take over. Why? Any such misadventure will stall the ongoing talks between Bangladesh and the IMF to bail out the economy. Moreover, punitive sanctions will be imposed by other donors and the West. UN mission, foreign study of military bureaucrats' kids will also be hampered. And Bangladesh may hinge on costly options for budget support. The Army will prefer a civilian look of the ongoing status quo.

Kind of capital dominating the country dictates the future ideology. Nowadays, Chinese investment is growing. Saudi,UAE money is coming in port and infrastructure development. The upcoming US ambassador to Bangladesh worked in China and his job there focused mainly on economy. It indicates more Chinese investment,particularly in manufacturing, is coming to Bangladesh. So the upcoming ideology is a combination of the lefts and the dominant creed to safeguard the investment. We can clearly see where the "charismatic","photogenic", "Ja Kicchu bhalo...(Everything That Is Good...)","Shot Loker Sashon(Honest Men's Rule)" alternative lies. It is not necessary that they will share the power but they may use the proxies or switch the roles of ruling-opposition parties by becoming the dominant parties.

Now the question is how peaceful this transformations from "Awami Policing" to "Moral Policing" will be. Ongoing experience is bitter and troubling. I went to a customer service center to complain about my revoked bonus data. I was told " Amader ekshomoy AAJIBON Ek Desh Ek Rate ... Taka Chhilo. Oitao bondho koira dichhi.Eita to kichhui na. ( We once offered One Country, One Rate for ... Taka for life!We stopped that! This one is nothing compared to that)". I tried to convince them in vain that they agreed in principle to provide the offer for a certain period ,applicable to all subscribing the SIM. It violated my consumer rights. How various groups adapted to the new narrative and use it in their own interest. This operator tries to collect syndicated loan from local market for upgradation.Satan! Both the outgoing and upcoming ideologies practice cadre-based politics. So individual, group,organizational freedom under such ideologies are not in a comfortable zone. Reforms are still being prepared. But a new proposition emerged saying "redemption" before "reconciliation". I think proper probe under the UN is the first important task: who are responsible behind so many deaths and injuries. Then come out with a draft reform policies. After that go for a referendum to get people's mandate to carry out the reform in a mandated timeframe. Without any mandate, any such "redemption" proposal may be seen as retributive justice. I always cross check information, views propagated in the press or in the internet. I always put a "?" on any narrative, hypothesis mooted.I test my conviction before accepting it. We should respect all our heroes. Demonizing them, demoralizing them only weakens our own identities and position. If they have flaws ,let the historians judge them. Judging heroes through binary prism is prolonging the problem. I think we should not do that mistake. Otherwise we may just become pawns in others' game.

References:

1. Yuri Bezmenov. Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Bezmenov
2. Interview ; Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2b-I0Yqisc
3. "4 Stages of Ideological Subversion According To Yuri Bezmenov", Nitigya Pant,February 24,2024. Link: https://medium.com/@nitigyaraj/4-stages-of-ideological-subversion-according-to-yuri-bezmenov-psychological-warfare-in-action-4ea01e2268c7
4. " Bezmenov's Steps(Ideological Subversion)", Porlando,July 14,2020. www.unintendedconsequences.es. Link: https://unintendedconsequenc.es/bezmenovs-steps/