THE recent spate of protests against communal violence and demands for justice are undoubtedly justified and laudable. And, participation in these demonstrations on the streets appears to be significantly higher compared with any mass protests held in the past few years. However, one special feature to be noted here is that all these solidarity against the worst communal violence in the country’s history came too late. It could be argued that had those political workers, student activists and members of the civil society taken to the street immediately to show the unity against the evil forces, immediately after the incident in Cumilla, some of the spiralling troubles in other parts of the country could have been averted. It is, therefore, a crucial question why the delay and what were the reasons for the hesitancy in social and political activism? Are we becoming less sensitive to human sufferings? Or, have we become too communal? Could the political environment be the reason that mak...