"POLITICS OF PRACTICE" OR "POLITICS OF ETHICITY"BANGLASEH CHAPTER

[mohammad]

By Muhammad Khalid

Man is endowed with reason. Which is an attribute of conscience that
implies the existence of an inner cognitive agency which allowed us to
arrive at moral & ethical truths and to judge moral states of affairs
what aided men to be a rational human being. In this setting modern
political ideas as constitutional government, consent in political
decision making, the right of political & legal representation, the
power of adjudication & jurisdiction & so forth have been determined.

We in the present day world constitute a variety of preeminently modern
ideas about freedom of _expression, equality & justice. Freedom of
thought is the unequivocal pre-requisite faculty which led the present
day world at the road for global or universal civilization. The nation
of the present day welfare state rationally be based on economic and
political factors such as "income" or "class". State will secure the
interests of every of its citizens irrespective of caste, creed and
religion. Legal and political principle as actors as a single entity
- a corporation establish political ideas as constitutional
government, the power of autonomous legislation. The real essence of a
modern state is the promotion of equality, equity, justice,

Tolerance apart from cult, culture, sect, religion, dogma etc. Any

attempted dash towards the state's structure either from religion or
from any identical culture shall truncate the nucleus essence of modern
statecraft.

Ironically the heterogeneous element for modern statecraft has been
hatched in Bangladesh by a Major Political Party. This Political party
which is believed to be one of the major political life lines of modern
politics in Bangladesh have sized up themselves by identical or
ethnical fervor. I like to call it "BANGALISM". Identity based
politics in the country basically is jeopardizing harmony and unity
among different ethnic groups. Also stimulating Muslism or
fundamentalism. Modern state cannot provide anthropological identity on
ethic criteria or fundamentalism as the life line ideologies.

Actually this anthropologic ethnicity should not be a political
"straitjacket which allows for only a particular viewpoint on political
matters.

'Politics of religion" or 'politics of ethnicity' are both 'identical
Politics. If religion based politics is noxious then this
"Bangalism" is also detrimental for modern politics". The rage of
religious politics as it is demonstrated some parts of the world shows
nothing but militancy on the other hand culture as employed and
propagated by the political parties are also inexorably linked with the
idea of racism with all its pernicious implications. lt is obvious that
talking in terms of culture in politics is fundamentally discriminatory
Fundamentalism and racism both in this periphery are abominating. They
are the both side of the same coin. Racism provokes religious
fundamentalism. Both lead to reactionism. This is why we as a modern
state is still facing problems in the Chittagong hill tract region.
This racism leaded the Chakma's to go for bloody reaction. Anyone
would be alarmed at how remorselessly selfish and narrow interest
ethnic, cultural, religious hatred-can infact lead to mass
destructiveness. Our country already suffered a lot at the pulpit of
this the identical politics. After the birth of Bangladesh cultural
politics caused the burning issue in the Chittagang hill tract.
Bangladesh simply cannot afford this for many more times. Extremism of
any kind be it is religious, racist or secular nature is to be
abolished. Violence of any kind from any of the following movements are
to be abandoned.' Cultural polities' should be said much more noxious
than any other issue because of it's invulnerable nature. As we know a
Muslim can become non-Muslim a communist or extremist can become
capitalist or liberal, poor may become rich but a Bangali cannot become
Punjabi or Tamil. So by exploiting one's identity for the sake of
politics or injecting it in at the people of a modern democratic
society would bring an everlasting side effect. We have to part our
company with those who abuse human right or resort to violence in
pursuit of their political goal. If "Identity politics" cannot be
stopped then it will ultimately provoke a sort of racism in the
society. In the focus of identical politics culture and race are not
two autonomous categories; they represent two side of the same coin. We
simply cannot expect another "Milosevic" or "Hitler" in our country.
Culture is an amalgam of alternatives that have presented themselves at
various stages in the history of that culture. Its boundaries are
porous. A Modern state cannot got painted by these elements. Modern
state promotes "Politics of Practice" by which is meant a politics in
which its citizen is judge based on what he or she does rather than
what he or she is. When the head of the state from his or her chair
proclaim "We are Bangali of thousand year" then the other citizens of
our country like Chakma's,Marma's, Shaotal's, Anglo Christian & other
sects got themselves perplexed.