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40 year old civil war in bangaladesh displays identity crisis
40 year civil war in Bangaldesh displays identity crisis | Rupee News
Clashes have intensified between security forces and conservative Islamic protesters of the Bangladesh National Party and the Jamat e Islami who claim that the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas government is the blunt club of so called war crimes tribunals (no approved or sanctioned by the international community) to unfairly persecute followers of the BNP and hound religious conservatives. Two BNP/JI supporters were killed by the trigger-happy police.
If we look into the seeds of time, the crisis in Bengal dates back to the year that America declared its independence. It has been almost 300 years when on June 23rd a seminal even occurred in this history of Bengal. Bangladeshis will decide their fate on a new government, almost to the date. Three centuries later Bengalis cannot forget the ghosts of colonialism, the foreign imposed ideas, the idealogical threat to their existence and the racial cohesiveness that they strive for.Muslim Bengal today is as divided today, as it was four decades ago, or a hundred years ago, or some would say since Lord Clive defeated Siraj Ud Daulah at Plassey in 1757, and founded the East India Companys first foothold in Sough Asia . The crisis is not about the death of a blogger, the inane politics between the two major political parties, the ego clash between the two begums, or the grab for power by the militarythe issues are a bit more profound and a bit more deep. The issue is a deeply divided country which rose out of the rivalry of the two giants of South Asia, India and Pakistan.
The civil war in Bangladesh is actually between those who wanted a united secular Bengal, and those who wanted a Muslim Bengal separate from Hindu Bengal is still going on. In 1906, it was the Bengalis who formed the Muslim League to support the partition of Bengal. It was the Hindus and the Indian National Congress who opposed the partition. The partition was annulledand Bengali discontent continue to grow. In their isolation, the Muslim Bengalis found the Muslim Punjabis, the Muslim Kashmiris, the Muslim Sindhis, and the Muslim Baloch who supported them. The alliance kept on becoming deeper, culminating in the partition of Bengal and victory for the Muslim Bengalis.
However the civil war in Bengal and in Muslim Bengal continued. West Bengalis kept on telling the Muslims of Bengal to fight for a secular sonar Bengal as proposed by Tagore. The idea was seductive and many Muslim Bengalis, especially those who felt disenfranchised, fell for the ephemeral Sonar Bengal. Conspiracies were hatched at Agartala and other places to form a united Bengal based on a secular non-Islamic identity. Some even dreamed of including Assam, and Bihar in the new country.
Because those Muslim Bengalis who wanted a separate country could not support an Islamic identity, they chose the secular mantra of Bengali nationalism. On December 16th, the Bengalis raised the flag of Bengali nationalism, fully expecting that their Bengali brothers who had supported them in their cause would join the new country and create a greater secular Bengal. To their astonishment, on December 17th, 1971, the Hindu Bengalis washed their hands off the East Bengal and assisted in the process of looting East Bengal. West Bengal rejected the call to join the new country and Muslim Bengalis were left to fend themselves with an Indian owned and operated occupation army called the Rakhi Bahni. If the Muslim Bengalis thought that were independent, they were sadly mistaken. The leaders were busy signing a 25 year treaty of friendship which would have reduced the power of the state to the that of Sikkimand ultimately absorbed into Bharat as a province.
So secularism didnt get them where the Bengalis wanted to go! On 14th August, 1975 (a date not taught in Bharati schools), patriotic officers of Bangladesh rebelled against the subservience, killed the authors of BAKSAL (which had declared himself president for life), kicked out the Rakhi Bahni (Indian forces in Bengal), and declared that Bangladesh was an Islamic republic. The Two Nation Theory was described as the basis of the separation between the West and East Bengalis, and Bangladeshs identity was described as Islamic. So thats how it has beena see saw. Once the pro-Mujib leaders come into power, they try to resurrect the pro-India legacy; once the BNP and Jamat e Islami leaders come to power, they move towards the center and an Islamic legacy. Every decade or so, the power has been shifting back and forth. What is strange is the fact that even after four decades, the forces that favored a union with Pakistan are still active, and all attempts to extinguish them have failed to eliminate the link between the hearts of Muslims all over the world. Till 1873 Urdu was the language in the land of Sir Ud Daulah. All Indian states surrounding Bengal have Urdu as a state language. Despite forty years of independence, most Bengalis sitll speak and undertand Urdu, they many wont admit it. Today Muslim Bengali blood is being spilled in Dhaka and other places in the civil war that has failed to describe the identity of Bangladesh (a country for the Bengalis). Why is that the country of Bengalis does not include Hindu Bengalis, or Ex-Bengalis like Biharis, or Ex-Bengalis in Orrisa. Muslim Bengalis left alone to fend for themselves obvously turned to Islamtheir real and only identity. This profound truth runs contrary to the leadership of the Awami League which is hell bent on imposing its secular ideology on the Bengali youth. The Al won a rigged election but uneasy lies the crown on a bed of thorns! Ms. Hasinas tenure has not been a peaceful one. On the verge of being annihilated in the impending polls, Hasina and company came up with the scheme to unleash programs against her political opponentsthe BNP and the JI. Rupee News has held a close watch over the vents in Dhakaand have written several dozen articles reads of hundreds of thousands of people. 10 million readers have read our site of the past several months. We have had several distinguished authors from Bangladesh who continue to visit our site and leave comments and write articles for us. Here is the WSJ describing the events exactly as Rupee News has defined them. Both sets of protests illustrate how the country remains polarized over the events 40 years ago, despite pledges from Ms. Hasinas secular-leaning administration the war crimes tribunal would be a model to the world and heal wounds of the civil war era. What we see on the streets of Dhaka is not a rally against murder or crimes of passionit is a manifestation of the identity crisis faced by Bangladesh.
40 year civil war in Bangaldesh displays identity crisis | Rupee News
Clashes have intensified between security forces and conservative Islamic protesters of the Bangladesh National Party and the Jamat e Islami who claim that the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas government is the blunt club of so called war crimes tribunals (no approved or sanctioned by the international community) to unfairly persecute followers of the BNP and hound religious conservatives. Two BNP/JI supporters were killed by the trigger-happy police.
If we look into the seeds of time, the crisis in Bengal dates back to the year that America declared its independence. It has been almost 300 years when on June 23rd a seminal even occurred in this history of Bengal. Bangladeshis will decide their fate on a new government, almost to the date. Three centuries later Bengalis cannot forget the ghosts of colonialism, the foreign imposed ideas, the idealogical threat to their existence and the racial cohesiveness that they strive for.Muslim Bengal today is as divided today, as it was four decades ago, or a hundred years ago, or some would say since Lord Clive defeated Siraj Ud Daulah at Plassey in 1757, and founded the East India Companys first foothold in Sough Asia . The crisis is not about the death of a blogger, the inane politics between the two major political parties, the ego clash between the two begums, or the grab for power by the militarythe issues are a bit more profound and a bit more deep. The issue is a deeply divided country which rose out of the rivalry of the two giants of South Asia, India and Pakistan.
The civil war in Bangladesh is actually between those who wanted a united secular Bengal, and those who wanted a Muslim Bengal separate from Hindu Bengal is still going on. In 1906, it was the Bengalis who formed the Muslim League to support the partition of Bengal. It was the Hindus and the Indian National Congress who opposed the partition. The partition was annulledand Bengali discontent continue to grow. In their isolation, the Muslim Bengalis found the Muslim Punjabis, the Muslim Kashmiris, the Muslim Sindhis, and the Muslim Baloch who supported them. The alliance kept on becoming deeper, culminating in the partition of Bengal and victory for the Muslim Bengalis.
However the civil war in Bengal and in Muslim Bengal continued. West Bengalis kept on telling the Muslims of Bengal to fight for a secular sonar Bengal as proposed by Tagore. The idea was seductive and many Muslim Bengalis, especially those who felt disenfranchised, fell for the ephemeral Sonar Bengal. Conspiracies were hatched at Agartala and other places to form a united Bengal based on a secular non-Islamic identity. Some even dreamed of including Assam, and Bihar in the new country.
Because those Muslim Bengalis who wanted a separate country could not support an Islamic identity, they chose the secular mantra of Bengali nationalism. On December 16th, the Bengalis raised the flag of Bengali nationalism, fully expecting that their Bengali brothers who had supported them in their cause would join the new country and create a greater secular Bengal. To their astonishment, on December 17th, 1971, the Hindu Bengalis washed their hands off the East Bengal and assisted in the process of looting East Bengal. West Bengal rejected the call to join the new country and Muslim Bengalis were left to fend themselves with an Indian owned and operated occupation army called the Rakhi Bahni. If the Muslim Bengalis thought that were independent, they were sadly mistaken. The leaders were busy signing a 25 year treaty of friendship which would have reduced the power of the state to the that of Sikkimand ultimately absorbed into Bharat as a province.
So secularism didnt get them where the Bengalis wanted to go! On 14th August, 1975 (a date not taught in Bharati schools), patriotic officers of Bangladesh rebelled against the subservience, killed the authors of BAKSAL (which had declared himself president for life), kicked out the Rakhi Bahni (Indian forces in Bengal), and declared that Bangladesh was an Islamic republic. The Two Nation Theory was described as the basis of the separation between the West and East Bengalis, and Bangladeshs identity was described as Islamic. So thats how it has beena see saw. Once the pro-Mujib leaders come into power, they try to resurrect the pro-India legacy; once the BNP and Jamat e Islami leaders come to power, they move towards the center and an Islamic legacy. Every decade or so, the power has been shifting back and forth. What is strange is the fact that even after four decades, the forces that favored a union with Pakistan are still active, and all attempts to extinguish them have failed to eliminate the link between the hearts of Muslims all over the world. Till 1873 Urdu was the language in the land of Sir Ud Daulah. All Indian states surrounding Bengal have Urdu as a state language. Despite forty years of independence, most Bengalis sitll speak and undertand Urdu, they many wont admit it. Today Muslim Bengali blood is being spilled in Dhaka and other places in the civil war that has failed to describe the identity of Bangladesh (a country for the Bengalis). Why is that the country of Bengalis does not include Hindu Bengalis, or Ex-Bengalis like Biharis, or Ex-Bengalis in Orrisa. Muslim Bengalis left alone to fend for themselves obvously turned to Islamtheir real and only identity. This profound truth runs contrary to the leadership of the Awami League which is hell bent on imposing its secular ideology on the Bengali youth. The Al won a rigged election but uneasy lies the crown on a bed of thorns! Ms. Hasinas tenure has not been a peaceful one. On the verge of being annihilated in the impending polls, Hasina and company came up with the scheme to unleash programs against her political opponentsthe BNP and the JI. Rupee News has held a close watch over the vents in Dhakaand have written several dozen articles reads of hundreds of thousands of people. 10 million readers have read our site of the past several months. We have had several distinguished authors from Bangladesh who continue to visit our site and leave comments and write articles for us. Here is the WSJ describing the events exactly as Rupee News has defined them. Both sets of protests illustrate how the country remains polarized over the events 40 years ago, despite pledges from Ms. Hasinas secular-leaning administration the war crimes tribunal would be a model to the world and heal wounds of the civil war era. What we see on the streets of Dhaka is not a rally against murder or crimes of passionit is a manifestation of the identity crisis faced by Bangladesh.
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