Fear of extinction is unlike other fears. It is not a fear of death, but one of annihilation. It cannot be equated with other everyday fears. It is a collective emotion that often precedes mass violence or genocide, and its language is silence.
This fear is powerfully expressed by Bangladeshi refugees who believe their very existence is under threat. Their fear is an existential dilemma that pitted them against their neighbours, alongside whom they had lived for generations. It forced them to confront the question of whether they should flee, leave their roots, forget who they were, and be defined as aliens in their country of birth.
Minorities under threat: Voices from Bangladesh
Fear of extinction emerged strongly in the testimonies of minorities from Bangladesh as documented in a recent study we conducted. The minorities belonged to three different faiths – Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity – which are virtually extinct in Bangladesh, their numbers in dangerous decline.
Refugees who fled Bangladesh last year often spoke of an overwhelming fear that their communities would vanish. In their view, the new government gave free rein to militants who took to the streets demanding that minorities stop their religious festivals and convert to Islam. Their biggest fear was the kidnapping of girls for forced marriages to local Muslims. The refugees described their fear in deeply existential language, saying they felt it in their gut, thinking their end was imminent, with nothing except fleeing to India releasing them from their predicament.
So, what does this fear actually feel like, deep down? As one refugee from Bangladesh said, “It is the feeling when thousands of men from the majority community chant that we leave, when we see our temples desecrated, our women targeted, and covering themselves in chadors to escape kidnapping.” Many said that while these conditions had persisted for years, recent events acted as a final trigger – a point of no return. As one refugee put it, “It is similar to the Jews hiding in attics from the Germans or a Tutsi in Rwanda knowing he can no longer trust his neighbour.”
Many described the feeling of extinction as a continuum between two extremes: one banal and cloaked in a trust that they will surely somehow survive; the other an overwhelming bodily sensation that the end is near. They also described the fear of extinction not as a one-time event but as a longitudinal, cyclical process that repeats many times, with its end the sudden realisation that one’s safety and control over oneself is in jeopardy.
Across the interviews, six major themes emerged as part of the fear of extinction – humiliation, threat, violence, loss, persecution and coping with an unbearable reality. It is the concentration of all of them at a given moment that gives rise to a fear of extinction and spreads in a contagious way.
From denial to exodus: The psychological journey
The interviews revealed a recurring psychological arc: six stages leading to a fear of extinction. They were, respectively, denial – witness/hear an overwhelming event that shatters one’s sense of identity – an awareness of escalation – a belief in an existential threat to one’s survival – community or collective angst – detachment from roots/emotional ties. The last was the final nail in the coffin, leading to the desire to flee, believing the end of one’s community is imminent.
Many interviewees recalled historical traumas like the 1971 war in which millions of Hindus were killed, or the 1947 Partition. They had believed that it would not happen to them this time, yet recent events had broken that bubble and activated the memories, prompting a sense that the current event is a continuum of the old.
Cultural survival beyond trauma
Many of those who fled told us they saw themselves not only as victims of prolonged persecution, but as guardians of a vanishing culture, civilisation and religious heritage. Only time will tell whether this is true. They spoke not only of survival but of responsibility – of carrying forward a legacy, a faith and a belief that their identity can one day be rebuilt. Their voices, rarely heard beyond refugee camps or border towns, are part of a much larger story – one of survival, memory and the struggle not to disappear.
Rajat Mitra, a professor of psychology at Amity University, is a distinguished psychologist, writer and speaker specialising in grief, trauma, historical injustice and collective healing.
Pankaj Singh, an Associate Professor at Amity University, is an accomplished researcher with a keen focus on human behaviour.
Nidhi Mitra, PhD, is a clinical psychologist specialising in working with survivors of sexual assault and violence.
Where do my people go? Fear of extinction among minorities fleeing Bangladesh by Rajat Mitra, Pankaj Singh and Nidhi Mitra for the Journal of Psychosocial Studies is available to read on Bristol University Press Digital.
Bristol University Press/Policy Press newsletter subscribers receive a 25% discount – sign up here.
Follow Transforming Society so we can let you know when new articles publish.
The views and opinions expressed on this blog site are solely those of the original blog post authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Policy Press and/or any/all contributors to this site.
Image: Tonmoy Iftekhar via Unsplash