The Politicized minority issue and "Ami Ek Minority Bolchi"
Shakil Sarwar
soul' (liberated from the moderated awami yahoo group alochona) in
this unmoderated forum. The presence of Sarcar in this newsgroup
basically proves my point that there are innumerous lurkers of scb.
Whether regularly or irregularly, they check up discussions in scb at
their own time. They don't have to bother with getting their mailboxes
cluttered with unmanageable number of email messages everyday.
Readers might have also noticed an increase in posting by new faces in
this newsgroup in the last week. How did they come to know about this
'dark, dingy place'? There are moderated groups who even refuse to
post any matrimonial ads? But who is going to prevent them from doing
so in scb? Again, this is the beauty of scb that is unbearable by bura
bodmash ullah.
In a separate post, I am posting some compiled messages of Sarcar from
(ku)Alochona forum to reveal more about this sensible man. Also, note
how the awami hateful moderator MS {Mohammed Shahabuddin} tried to
downplay the sensible posts of Sarcar.
Sarcar correctly pointed out that it the BJP-BBC coomunalist clique
that established the communal organisation called
Hindu-Buddha-Christian Coalition. This communal elements are
responsible for creating all the minority troubles in the country.
There are no Buddha or Christian representatives in that organisation.
Communal hindus like C.R. Datta are at the forefront of this
organisation. The names of Buddha and Christian are used to get
political leverage only. They are not party to that communal
organisation. Mayer Dak is their communal mouthpiece. A visit to BBC
website will reveal that this media janwar BBC is also party to this
communal campiagn.
Asif, thanks for your courageous comments on the hate propaganda
campaigns launched by the two go(rdo)v servants. If Janwar Hasan had
any shred of influence on DOJ, he would have gotten the extradition
treaty out of the door long time ago. He even initiated a vicious
propaganda campaign during the awami rule to catch one razakar
'Asaduzzaman' as if FBI was about to apprehend him. What have we seen
so far? Although Janwar Hasan ran out of gas, the libertine mullah
jaffor shamelessly appears in scb to get 'jutar bari' from the
readers.
On 18 Jan 2002 17:49:34 -0800, asif_h...@hotmail.com (Asif Hasan)
wrote:
>One Bangladeshi gentleman Mr. Samuel Sarcar has shown how the minority
>propaganda is filibustering the future journey of the minorities in
>Bangladesh.
>Upholding his faith in the pluralistic character of the Bangladeshi
>nation, Mr. Sarcar analyzes the 'politicized' minority issue. He
>concludes that it has not only discredited the Muslims but also
>disturbing for the communal harmony. This multi ethnic nation of
>Bangladesh is demographically dominated by liberal Bengali Muslims.
>
>The readers must have taken a note in the past that Syed Kamran
>Mirza's communal articles are borrowed from the work of other communal
>web sites.
>One thing to be kept in mind that many of the contributors of the so
>called Muktamona group are co-contributors of pro-BJP, RSS, RAW backed
>web sites.
>
>This Muktamona yahoo hate group is out to villify the pluralistic
>character of the people's republic of Bangladesh. Mr. Sarcar here, has
>unequivocally blamed the so called "Faith Freedom Foundation"
>(Basically the Muktamona Yahoo group) for playing the communal cards.
>Fire has no preordained route.The Muktamona hate group are hurting the
>minority plight as well.Down with Muktamona and down with their Fraud
>(faith) Freedom Foundation.
>
>In Mr. Samuel Sarcar's own words:
>
>"These days; new activists have formed who are playing the same
>communal card, ....FFF and Taslima Nasrin, and some Indian Hindu
>extremist who are nothing but enemies of the state of Bangladesh. They
>are trying to destroy, the traditional pluralism, the economy, and the
>image of Bangladesh to the world. "
>
>One should keep in mind that sitting in the heart of the United States
>the great democracy, misrepresenting one's position or influence in
>DOJ or USDA, to spread racist propaganda can be a punitive offence.
>An offence that Jaffor Ullah and Jamal Hasan group have been
>deliberately involved in for some times now.
>In BD related political polemic, these characters (especially AHJU)
>often ask others whether they got U.S. passports like them/him yet?
>Jaffor Ullah threatens others that Jamal Hasan has got unimaginable
>influence in DOJ.So be careful if you want to cross him. Jamal Hasan
>advises Bangladeshi intellectuals not to go back to Bangladesh ever.
>Because there is no future for Bangladesh.
>
>These Jaffor-Jamal will never go back to BD. These bozos in their
>fifties are still busy imbibing the last drops of milk and honey this
>wealthy nation has to offer.
>
>Do they really give a shit to Bangladesh?
>
>For some strange reasons Ex-Muslims like Jaffor and Jamal have
>launched amn uncivil war against the Bangladeshi muslims. As if these
>poor Bangladeshi muslims are all bunch of Talibans or some predating
>monsters from the Devil's Island. These Muslims persecute the non
>muslims. Come on, majority of these Bangladeshi muslims earn less than
>200 dollars a year. They work very hard, yet rarely gets the chance to
>see a trained physician or get vaccinated ever. They can not meet the
>basic needs of life. If Bangladesh ecomony is hurt hardly anything by
>the propaganda, the easy victims will be the impoverished Bangalee
>farmers. Not Jaffor,Jamal or Abul Kasem.
>
>Shall any normal human being be so insensitive? Just because of some
>petty difference of opinion over so calle projected secularism and
>Islam dychotomy,(whatever) wish that one of the poorest nation in the
>world goes to wrack and ruin?
>
>If it is the political Islam, that one has got problem with,
>taking his her words for truth, how can s/he turn the minority issue
>in to "political" minority issue?
>---
>
>Ami Ek Minority Bolchi
>Samuel Sarcar
>
>I wept! I cried! Yes I cried when I read the news about hundreds of
>Hindus being attacked by my fellow Bangladeshis. It was astonishing to
>read in the international media about my hometown being divided based
>on religion that were causing people to fight.
>
>Few questions came to my mind because of what was happening. How could
>that have happened? How could my fellow countrymen fight amongst each
>other just because some one had a different faith? I wondered about
>the communal harmony that I enjoyed, I knew for sure that existed
>among my fellow citizens, while I was growing up.
>
>Immediately I called my old friend in Chittagong to know if he was
>well or not. He was my friend, classmate, playmate and a person who
>was always ready whenever I needed help. He came to celebrate
>Christmas with our family many times when I was in Bangladesh. He was
>Hindu and his name was Shumon. I was worried about Shumon and was
>concerned about his welfare.
>
>Upon calling Shumon answered the phone, and I asked about his
>whereabouts, and I was relieved to find out that all was well at his
>end and all that I had heard was completely exaggerated. The fact was
>there was existence of some lawlessness but nothing compared to what
>was being portrayed in the international media.
>
>Recently some media and organizations are working hard to portray
>Bangladesh as a nation on its way to becoming Talibanized just like
>Afghanistan. They are writing articles in CNN, BBC and many other
>international medias about Minority atrocities in Bangladesh.
>Unfortunately some Bangladeshi journalists and few activists have also
>joined their numbers and have written biased articles that describe
>Bangladesh as a horrible place to live in.
>
>I am Bangladeshi Christian. I spent 19 year of my life in Bangladesh
>growing up in Chittagong. I was a student of St. Placid high school,
>I was active in Chittagong Nattoagon, Drubo porished, Khala Ghor. I
>had the opportunity to make friends from all walks of life with
>various religious beliefs: Hindus, Muslims and even Buddhists. We were
>like brothers and sisters.
>
>On every Christmas all my friends came over to our house to celebrate
>with my family and during every Eid-ul fitr, I used to wear new
>Punjabi and pajama and visited their houses to partake in the joy of
>Eid, every Durgapuja we danced in Kalibari all night long, every
>Boddhu purnima we used to fly FANUSH.
>
>We celebrated every festival, shared common interests, some times
>fought, some times argued on religious doctrines, but never thought a
>friend of different faith to be our enemy. This feeling was not only
>common amongst my friends but it is also prevalent all through
>out the Bangladeshi community.
>
>We Bangladeshis lived with religious harmony for centuries. Yes! There
>were isolated atrocities toward non-Muslim Bangladeshi but not in a
>large scale. We accepted those isolated situations as being committed
>by ignorant individuals and moved on.
>
>If this was the picture of our community then why do we hear about
>Minority bashing by the Majority? Why do we hear complains that
>minorities can't live in Bangladesh? Why do we even hear or use the
>word Minority? Majority and minority of demography cannot be based on
>people's religion, race, ethnicity, or skin color. To do so was
>the practice of the colonialists. It is the practice of the apartheid
>regimes. Does religion make a person any less Bengali?
>
>It is our Bangalee tradition not to malign another religious belief
>because living in such close proximity for centuries habituates people
>of different faiths to each other. I did not learn it from the West.
>It is my Bangalee upbringing, and I know that is how my friends of
>other faiths were also brought up.
>
>Well there is one answer to all those questions: politics. Some wicked
>politicians have created these news, fabrications, exaggerations,
>fear, and divisions as a gimmick to achieve what they otherwise failed
>on normal circumstances. They have done what Caesar always followed:
>Divide and Conquer.
>
>Ex President Ershad declared Islam as the "state religion" of
>Bangladesh. He sought to win the votes of the majorities. He
>disregarded the millions who sacrificed their lives to have a secular
>Bangladesh. That was just the beginning of tearing up a traditionally
>pluralist Bangladesh via the political leaders playing the Islam card
>for personal political gains.
>
>After Ershad's declaration foreigners took advantage of the
>situation. Remember the old enemy, the English who came to our
>sub-continent as a friend and inserted the seeds of hatred in our
>midst and took advantage of us along with Indians.
>
>Funded by British and Indian NGOs some Hindus, Buddhists and
>Christians organized a coalition called " Hindu, Boiddha, Christian
>Oikko Porishad" This collation did more harm to the existing harmony
>that we had in Bangladesh. Now today this collation wants a separate
>country for non-Muslims. How dare they even think to divide the
>country my father and others have created by giving their lives?
>
>These days; new activists have formed who are playing the same
>communal card, thanks to the advancing and equally effective
>cyberspace: FFF and Taslima Nasrin, and some Indian Hindu extremist
>who are nothing but enemies of the state of Bangladesh. They are
>trying to destroy, the traditional pluralism, the economy, and the
>image of Bangladesh to the world.
>
>Those who are so worried about the current situation, I have a
>suggestion: please don't listen to these people. We Bangladeshis know
>how to live in peace and harmony. I am a non-Muslim Bangladeshi and I
>can tell you that I NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEM IN BANGLADESH NOR HAVE I
>SEEN ANY OF MY NON-MUSLIM COMPANIONS SUFFER IN BANGLADESH BECAUSE THEY
>OF THEIR FAITH.
>
>Yes, we do have some problem but we can resolve the problem ourselves.
>Ultimately, it is the question of the worsening situation of law and
>order that is miserably incapable of protecting the hapless citizens.
>We do not need to bring international organization to crack the
>problem.
>
>Samuel Sarcar writes from USA , His e mail : ssa...@execpc.com
>--
>Although the title says " Ami ek minority bolchi" Mr. Sarcar has
>echoed the voice of countless majority Bangladeshis regardless of
>their faith,creed and caste.
>
>Mr. Sarcar trusts us, let us not let Mr. Sarcar and his community
>down.
>
>Salute you and your honesty, Mr. Sarcar. May Allah (whom you call God)
>bless you.
>
>-Asif
Tarek Ali
Don't hold your breath. Janwar Hasan has not run out of gas, he is
just hiding and writing hate materials against Bangladesh and Islam
using many of his false names. These people are not wary of 'jutar
bari', they are used to that very much from their Brahminic masters.
The khochchor Jaffor has developed a rather thick skin and it shows.
Asif Hasan
observation also has some relevance in this regard.
Manosh Chowdhury (32)is not a Hotmail bug a la Sirajuddin Shopon or
S.A. Montu. Manosh Chowdhury is a young teacher of anthropology
department of Jahangirnagar University,a teacher member of the
anti-rapist Dhorshok Protirod committee in Jahangirnagar university
campus.He was involved in fist fighting with some of the rapists. He
was co-organizer of the tribal summit that was held in Dhaka last
year in February.
--
From :
"Manosh Chowdhury" <...>
Subject : [Shetubondhon] An Irony Indeed!
Date :
Sat, 01 Dec 2001 20:52:19 +0600
An Irony Indeed !
This note is just to say only a very few words on 'The Hindu Issue.'
Well, there are the Hindus in Bangladesh called 'minority', as you
know it. And all of a sudden, they are now
a 'major' issue. Even after Shahriar Kabir was arrested, they are the
ones being put in every sort of scholarly pieces made by the
intellectuals. Some of them called 'secularists', though caught in the
politics of secularism illustrated in the dichotomy of
'fundamentalism-secularism', do feel really pity for the Hindus. But
the Hindus had nothing to do in this regard.
And there are the net-people, particularly who are engaged into the
scholarly works abroad. They know everything about what is happening
on in Bangladesh and they do feel a great responsibility to talk on
the current issues, for example 'Hindu issue'. I do have every respect
for their intention to do something for the 'nation'. Some pieces are
very sensible.
But, some tried to link Taliban and Osama-Bin Laden in this 'issue'.
Why? My point is very simple. There is no point to link Osama-Bin
Laden with the violences against Hindus (minorities). Did Osama
declared a war against them? Was Taliban-led Afghanistan reported for
attacks on the minorities? 'Fundamentalism' is a convenient term to
adopt if one wishes to escape the hardship of analyzing
social/political process. And there are some people always scared of
politics, screaming for 'politicizing..' an event. When the
relashionship is political, how can one be a-political and why? Do the
net-people really know about Taliban regime except the image created
by the Western media? Probably most of the (educated) people from this
region are not capable to handle the fact that the Afghans are only of
those few who dare to challenge the imperial superpower. They
(educated people) are engaged in self-worship for being modern and
secular. Let them carry on. But they are not assigned to judge Afghans
or even Osama.
Some pieces are put here simply to defend the (BNP) government.Why
they need it? Hindus, in there essays, are being subjected. Does
everyone feel that there is no such thing as 'majority arrogance' in
Bangladesh? This has nothing to do with BNP or Awami League government
as such. Because some would argue that Awami League is as much
responsible for trivializing the Hindus, of course in a very subtle
way. And the state-power that is used by the government to charge
against Shahriar Kabir is a different and distinct matter regardless
of what he has done or what has been said.
The people abroad are encountering a situation where identities are
being trivialized in so many ways - the Muslim identity, the Asian
identity, the Arab identity. And they know how the (modern) state
power is being organized to surveillance the 'other' people in the
'most-civilized' state/s. And they themselves are being agents to
extend that state-power into Bangladesh by defending a government and
thus, subjecting a community (Hindu, in this case). An irony indeed!
Manosh Chowdhury
Asif Hasan
tension among the Muslims of West Bengal would be dealt with stern
action and force by the people....People of West Bengal have started
searching out the friends of this group in New york ( they work here
in the name of Bangabhumi movement). People of West Bengal are very
annoyed and angry against these jokers...we are taking these signals
very seriously and would not tolerate any foolish pranks."
-Shoumitra Bose,on the players of HRCBM and Swadhin Bangabhumi.
Forwards:
HRCBM or Swadhin Bangabhumi is not an all India phenomenon, it is
supported by a tiny section of naturalized Indians mostly comprising
of Hindu refugees from Bangladesh.What are the main stream Indian
Hindus are thinking about Bangladesh's much publicized Hindu
persecution situation?
Mr. Soumitra Bose's article is reproduced from Aalaap, where he
clearly says he is frustrated with the activities of the so called
Swadhin Bangabhumi players.
Before Shomitra's article take a minute to read Farida Majid's
observation on a petition made to the US Congressmen and the US
President by the Hindu Buddha Christian Oikyo parishad NY
chapter,This article has a relation with Shoumitra's article.
Dr.Farida Majid's observation:
--
From: "Farida Majid" <farida_majid@h...>
Date: Fri Jan 11, 2002 1:08 pm
Subject: A Band of New Yorkers
Friends:
There are several angles to the following story. Some positive,
some negative. The action taken by the Bangladeshi Hindu Bouddha
Christian people living in America is a good one. They should make US
aware that a political party in alliance with a fundamentalist Islamic
party is in power in Bangladesh and that it is fully responsible for
the communal violences last year, and that it forebodes constant
communal tension in the future.
From my past knowledge of working with this group in New York, I
know that there is a bunch of rotten apples in that barrel. I would
have loved them to place the blame squarely on the govt. and say
something good about the ordinary people of Bangladesh. But neither
Sitangshu Guha nor Dr. Mina
Farah has the intelligence to make that distinction.
What is the purpose of writing to Atal Bihari Bajpeyi -- the
leader of the most virulently communal party India has ever seen in
its half century of independent existence in the modern times? Every
sensible Indian is against this BJP government. Indian cities, towns
and villages are regularly
terrorized by the RSS or Sang Parivar who start a communal riot
killing, raping and burning Muslims. I heard a paper at a conference
held in Columbia Unversity that 80,000 Muslims from indigenous strata
of the society in various locales of India are presently in custody
without any specific charges.
Could not this group of Bangladeshi New Yorkers point out to the
US Congressmen and the President that Bangladesh is a pluralistic
country naturally, and religious intolerance is a purely politically
motivated ploy? Could not this group point out that ordinary Muslims,
who have been helpful to the Hindus who were affected by the violence
last year, are prey to the same Fascism of the fundamentalist Islamic
groups in Bangladesh? One mention of that fact would have proved how
tolerant they are themselves.
Regards.
Farida Majid
---
Shoumitra's observation from across the border:
--
From: "Soumitra Bose"
To: FutureOfB...@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: A Band of New Yorkers
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 06:31:01
Even if this gang at New York does not believe one single Muslim of
Bangladesh (to think in that line is simply horrendous and racist as
per my analysis), what legitimacy do these people have to write it to
the prime minister of a neighbouring country? (simply from protocol's
point of view). As it is, India is reeling under the horrendous rule
of BJP led by Vajpayee.The statement is proved in general through the
various mass movements within India, and in particular India is really
reeling under the POTO (Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance). the whole
of India is up in arms against it.
Yesterday we had a Bangla bandh called by Socialist Unity Center and
all the naxalites(which was really successful even as it was opposed
by ruling CPI(M)). One of the issue was POTO and POCO in West Bengal.
India is under pain by the weight of the corruption of Vajpayee
government and the war effort against Pakistan. Simply due to the
opposition from all political parties the BJP government has not been
able to wage war against Pakistan but has already increased cess and
tariffs to beef up the war effort.
We definitely do not want another war front against Bangladesh.
Writing letter to Bangladesh means adding fuel to the fire of BJP in
the war effort. People of West Bengal have started searching out the
friends of this group in New york ( they work here in the name of
Banglbhumi movement). People of
West Bengal are very annoyed and angry against these jokers. Any
effort to make a war against Bangladesh and thereby creating a tension
among the Muslims of West Bengal would be dealt with stern action and
force by the people. An all party team of West Bengal have actually
chased and are hounding these nincompoops in the Southern Border area
with Bangladesh.
From the WB point of view, we are taking these signals very seriously
and would not tolerate any foolish pranks. Let that be known to all.
Concluding remarks:
While some hate mongerers of so called faith (/fraud) freedom
foundation, Jaffor-Jamal gong, Muktamona hate group are trying to
paint Bangladesh as a communal Muslim nation, we are not alone in our
battle of proving them wrong.
Shoumitra is not a paid agent of ours, he speaks his mind and
willfully so.
Friends :never undermine the power of truth,we would not be proven
guilty of a crime we did not do. But we also need some time off for
our soul searching, if we did something wrong. We must protect our
minority.(And yes, some miscreants carrying Muslim names has a
responsibility to cause forced immigrations in this regard.)