Bangladesh in Turmoil: Unfortunate and Utterly Condemnable Bloody Attacks on the Hindus: Response from the Government

[Sukla Sen]

All, or at least almost all, religions - founded upon the principle of unquestioning acceptance of "sermons", are essentially anti-democratic.

One of the cornerstones of "democracy" is rationality.

Yet another is egalitarianism - very distinct from charity.

"Therefore "democracy" demands that the civil society frees itself of the stranglehold of religion - even if not completely but very substantially.

That's precisely what was happening with the Protestant world, in particular, making it suitable for ushering in "democracy".

Subsequently, many others started following its lead - with varying degrees of success.

Not for nothing, the standard-bearers of Hindutva in India keep proclaiming that the Indian Constitution - aka democracy, is not in conformity with our "civilisational values" - whatever that may mean.

For whatever reasons, the Muslim world, by and large, proved least successful.

Bangladesh, however, has a large modernist, secular, democratic constituency.

(Perhaps much larger than in Pakistan or maybe even India.)

But, it has also a very large section - the toilers in particular, steeped deep in bigotry.

That's how we find rationalists and freethinkers - mostly of Muslim origin, getting slaughtered periodically.

"Democracy" in the subcontinent, no doubt, has a very challenging future ahead.

Sukla

[The above comment takes off from the FB post below, though it opts not to directly deal with that.]

From: Bhaskar Sur

BANGLADESH : THE  SEIGE[sick] WITHIN 

 Bangladesh ,till recently has been a success story .Bangladesh economy performed performed better than India ,not to speak of Pakistan. In human development indices it was ahead of India .In an article Pervez Hoodbhoy ,the Pakistani liberal thinker, showed with facts and figures how Bangladesh had  stolen a March over Pakistan in almost all respects .After a tumultuous journey through sectarian holocaust, civil war, prolonged military rule ,Bangladesh was flourishing as a democracy which is no mean achievement.It seems all the more remarkable when compared with the fate of most of the Muslim majority nations which have only seen conflict ,corruption and chaos .What is equally important is that Hindus and Buddhists who form a sizable minority were feeling secure after decades of persecution , genocide and forced migration .This year there were no less than 32000 community Durga pujas,  celebrated with the usual gaiety. This was too good to last .This celebration provoked the righteous wrath of the religious who attacked Puja pandals, destroyed images ,murdered Hindus and ,not content with this, attacked Hindu localities setting houses  on fire.This has met with resistance - from peace loving Muslims ,civil society organizations and from the  minorities themselves- a ray of hope in the gathering darkness .

     This is certainly a macabre celebration of 50th year of Bangladesh's birth as an independent nation.Bangladesh or the eastern part of the undivided Bengal saw horrendous sectarian violence in October 1946 directed against Hindus who ,till then were the dominant minority. The worst atrocities took place in Noakhali district where temples were desecrated ,Hindus  butchered,forcibly converted and the women raped .Bengal did not go through the civil war that Penderel Moon in his Divide and Quit narrates with all its horror .In the pre Partition riots more than a million lost their lives yet in the narratives prepared by the Congress court historians it was a peaceful freedom movement successfully led by the Mahatma. The Noakhali riots set the pattern of all subsequent riots before and since the partition. Such riots were partly planned and partly spontaneous but their object was clear - to force out the Hindus and grab their properties. This worked .Traumatized Hindus began to flee the land of their forefathers in search of security and honour in India .Till now West Bengal alone has accepted no less than 12 million Hindu refugees from East Pakistan which after the independence came to be known as Bangladesh .In the war for independence Hindus suffered and sacrificed most.Of the 3 million people who lost their lives ,the number of Hindus was  disproportionately high .The birth of Bangladesh held up the dream of a secular and egalitarian society .The 1972 constitution declared Bangladesh to be a secular and socialist nation .But shadow falls between the intention and the act .The new born nation struggled between the claims of  a secular society  with equal citizenship and the Muslim nationhood that Pakistan embodied. On August 15 , in a military coup sponsored by CIA and Pakistani ISI ,Mujibar Rahaman the Prime Minister along with his family members was killed and the military junta scrapped secularism and made Bangladesh an Islamic republic. It virtually reduced the minorities into   second class citizens .Under Ziaur Rahman and Ershad Islamization gained ground and as a consequence nearly 4 million Hindus and Buddhists emigrated to India - perhaps the largest peace time migration in world history.Despite all the persecution and discrimination, some Hindus ,mostly Dalits ,showed the courage to defy all intimidates and remain in the land that had been theirs since time immemorial. The recent violence seems to be targeted against them. 

     As the historian Ashim Roy has pointed out ,in Bengal islam was not forced on the people but the oppressed and exploited lower castes and Buddhists came to embrace Islam as it held up new  opportunities before them .Most of the Bengali Muslims retained much of their folk culture while becoming nominally Muslims .Nirad C Chaudhuri in his autobiography writes most of the drummers in the Durga pujas were Muslims as were the  partuas- those who painted Hindu icons .All this changed with the coming of Wahabism which entered Bengal in the early 19th century .Wahabism was an Arabic response to increasing western influence in the beleaguered and dying   Ottoman empire .It sought to rid Islam of all the cultural acrretions and acquisitions from other cultures particularly Iranian, Byzantine and Hindu and take it back to Bedouin simplicity with which Islam began its journey .What it little known is that  in Bengali countryside it created much conflict .Thousands of Muslim youths left their home to fight both the British rulers and the Kafir Hindus that thrived under them .The Wahabi evangelism made the nominally converted aware not only of  of their separate identity but their superiority over idolatrous Hindus .Ahmed in his " Bengali Muslims" writes " By 1905 the building blocks of Pakistan were ready" .The Swadeshi Movement exacerbated the conflict but later Jinnah,a secular liberal espoused this Wahabi indoctrinated section to achieve his end - the creation of a Muslim majority republic .

               Even before Wahbism ,Indian Muslims came under the influence of the Naksbandi sect of Islam whose best proponent  Sirhindi believed '" The honour and security of Islam were dependent on the humiliation of the unbelievers .Whoever held infidels in affection or kept company with them ,dishonoured his own religion ." This ,in turn ,alas ,is closer to the scriptures of Islam .Islam allowed for the people of the book-  that is to say the Jews and Christians who could live in an Islamic state by paying the jiziya or poll tax but it leaves no quarter for the kafirs - Hindus ,Buddhists and others .In India Muslim conquerors found themselves in the midst of a sea of kafirs and had to extend the Quranic provisions to idolatrous Hindus as well .The Wahabis ,following the scriptures ,taught Muslims to hate Hindus and also taught them it is no sin to rob them or abduct their women as it would humiliate them and undermine their confidence. In Bangladesh the toxic Wahabi ideology has seeped deeper through islamic banks ,charity and fervid evangelism- all funded by Saudi Arabis and the Gulf states .Bangladesh is not only an Muslim majority country but also an  Islamised one .It means for many ,maybe most ,Bangladesh is a Dar ul Islam where kafirs are an anomaly who must not be tolerated .This follows the global pattern of conflicts in Muslim countries with non Muslim minorities such as Egypt and Pakistan . In Bangladesh even most secular leadership is incapable of protecting the minorities and secular sections, despite their courage are too small to resist them .The progressive intellectuals of Bangladesh most of whom are Marxists or Liberals ,fail to understand the real problem .They blame Awami League of compromising on  its ideals but they fail to see without compromise it would cease to exist .The real problem of Bangladesh is not imperialism, nor certainly remote  Israel but Islam in its Wahabi variety. It is a global problem much worse than imperialism. After all ,imperialism is dying while Islamist fascism is on the rise .Vietnam was one of worst victims of American imperialism but it is thriving .On the other hand , the lands under the grip of Wahabi barbarism face the grim prospect of endless persecution, fanaticism and terror. Wahabism must be resisted but what is needed most is a critical approach to the Islamic tradition which ,as revelation, is above criticism.

END

Also relevant:

I/III. From my FB wall:

How so very glaringly different from what goes on in India.

Bangladesh Education Minister visits damaged temples.

Talks to the members of the attacked minority community.

<<Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni has said that the culprits are carrying out the attacks at different places of the country in a planned manner.

"Wherever these incidents have taken place in the country, it is visible that these attacks are being carried out in an organized manner. The culprits have been identified and the government will take action against them,” she said while talking to reporters in Hajiganj of Chandpur.

She visited the Sri Sri Raj Laxmi Narayan Jiur Akhra and the Ramakrishna Sebashram in Hajiganj municipal area.

During her visit, she exchanged views with the leaders of the Hindu community.>>

(Ref. "Dipu Moni visits damaged temples in Hajiganj | Dhaka Tribune" at <https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2021/10/20/dipu-moni-visits-damaged-temples-in-hajiganj>.)

II/III. 

<<Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sounded a tough warning, saying anyone involved in the attacks on Hindu temples and Durga Puja venues in Comilla will not be spared.

"The incidents in Comilla are being thoroughly investigated. Nobody will be spared. It doesn't matter which religion they belong to. They will be hunted down and punished," she said on Thursday.

The prime minister made the remarks while exchanging greetings with people of the Hindu community during an event at Dhakeshwari National Temple in Dhaka on the occasion of Durga Puja. She joined the program from Ganabhaban through a videoconference.

Terming the incident of vandalizing temples in Comilla "very unfortunate," she said that those who are unable to earn the confidence and trust of the people and have no ideology can carry out such attacks.

“We are getting a large amount of information. We will definitely trace those who carried out the attacks… This is the age of technology,” she added.>>

(Ref.: "PM Hasina: Those involved in Comilla attacks won't be spared | Dhaka Tribune" at <https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2021/10/14/pm-hasina-those-involved-in-comilla-attacks-won-t-be-spared>.)

III. "Bangladesh: Massive protests by Hindus amid widespread communal attacks | News24Online" at <https://news24online.com/amp/news/world/bangladesh-massive-protests-hindus-amid-widespread-communal-attacks-968e979e/>

(Widespread protests have been and are being held in Bangladesh by various political parties, students and, of course, Hindus - with no obstructions from the Government.)