NOTHING in nature repeats itself. No two rivers carve the land in exactly the same way. No two leaves bear the same pattern. No two human hearts think or feel exactly alike. Life thrives on difference: diversity is the law of survival. Yet humanity has for generations fought this truth — substituting difference with sameness, variety with uniformity, freedom with conformity. This is the disease of monoculture, and in Bangladesh today it is not just an ecological issue: it is a political crisis.
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Agricultural mirror
IN THE fields of Bangladesh we already know the cost of monoculture: vast tracts planted with the same crop, soil drained of nutrients, ecosystems collapsing. Just as monoculture weakens the land, the same logic is weakening our polity. The soil no longer sustains itself; likewise, a society built on ideological uniformity cannot renew itself.
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Rise of ideological uniformity
IN BANGLADESH, the post2024 political churn has opened dangerous channels. The mass uprising in July–August 2024 toppled entrenched leadership and set the stage for turbulent change.Ìý But with the vacuum came the rise of forces demanding sameness in faith and identity. Hardline groups such as HefazateIslam Bangladesh mobilised in large rallies (e.g., 3 May 2025 in Dhaka) opposing reforms to women’s rights, rejecting diversity in ideas and gender.Ìý Reports of hatecrimes against minorities between August 2024 and June 2025 numbered 2,442 incidents, signaling that ideological uniformity is no longer latent — it is active.
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Education and the factory of sameness
OUR schools and universities are likewise caught in the same trap. Rather than fostering curiosity, they often reward conformity. Rather than questioning power, they replicate obedience. If you teach only one version of truth, you kill chance. If you insist on one identity, you erase many. In a country with multiple ethnicities, faiths, genders and identities, this is not just bad policy — it’s political fuel.
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Disconnection from nature and humanity
MEANWHILE, we are repeating the ecological error in the human realm: believing humans are separate, superior, onetype. The deforestation of the Sundarbans, the destruction of wetland ecosystems, the disappearance of indigenous voices — all reflect one thing: we made a monoculture of identity and power, and now the ecosystem of justice, environment and culture is wilting.
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Bangladesh’s critical moment
BANGLADESH is standing at a crossroads. The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has been criticised for a softer counterextremism stance and for relaxing former bans on hardline parties, raising concerns about ideological infiltration.Ìý The political ban on the longruling Awami League and the legal changes against it (May 2025) demonstrate how identity politics is shifting fast.Ìý If the forces of culture, religion and nationality insist on uniformity, they become as brittle and vulnerable as a monocrop plantation.
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Unity through diversity, not uniformity
THE antidote lies in recognising the truth of life: difference is strength. In Bangladesh there are Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, indigenous peoples, LGBTQ+ individuals, secular thinkers — all distinct, yet all part of the same living system. To demand uniformity is to demand extinction of complexity; to find sameness within diversity is to secure resilience.
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Political call to action
SCHOOLS must teach questions, not only answers.
Political parties must protect pluralism, not exploit uniform tribal identity.
Government must enforce rights of minorities, not signal impunity.
Citizens must demand recognition of difference — not fear it.
Bangladesh’s future will not be secured by one culture, one religion, one identity. It will be secured by a society that embraces its many colours and voices. When you plant one crop you risk famine; when you plant many, you grow a forest. Let Bangladesh choose the forest.
The next revolution isn’t just environmental — it is social, political, spiritual. It rejects frantic sameness and embraces the wild richness of difference. For only then can we build a Bangladesh that thrives in this century — not as a monoculture of belief, but as a polyculture of hope.
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Anusheh Anadil is a singer and activist.
