Bangladesh -Betrayal
By Mohsin R. Siddique
12 January, 2006
Countercurrents.orgI think it was Lenin who had cautioned about the propensity of petty bourgeois political parties towards opportunism. Not that the progressives should avoid working with them, just that they should be alert! Awami League's alliance with the Khilafat Majlish Party behind the back of its 13 party allies is not an entirely surprising betrayal, especially given the past instances of AL 's efforts to get on the good side of the proponents of Islamic theocracy. The progressive allies should have been cautious and made provision for escape hatch - even if only to save their faces! Still it is devastating to see AL actually enter into alliance with a group that
demanded, and AL agreed in principal to primitive, alien rules and norms, purportedly replicating those of 6th/7th century Arabia , in a country desperately in need of finding its place in the 21st century. The disappointment is mostly because despite many of its intrinsic regressive tendencies, liberals see AL as the last viable broad front vehicle that might steer the country out of its suicidal conflict between the demands of overdue social and cultural progress, and the pressures to become a concocted model of an Islamic state dreamed up by psychopaths.The country faces death by decay and disintegration if it is overrun by the fanatically militant assault of a religious creed that is itself hopelessly mired in conflict with modernity in its outlooks and ambitions. Those ambitions are outdated to such an extent that they are demonstratively and dangerously destructive, as we have seen in Afghanistan . AL's nonchalance regarding the cruel and inhuman material and psychological impact of its action on segments of the country's population, its traditional supporters, i.e., the minorities - religious, ethnic and tribal - who have, in this promised land of secularism suffered more indignation after 1971, have been relegated to second class citizen status, are subject to forced conversion, intimidation, humiliation, physical elimination, etc., is incomprehensible even by the standards of the worst Machiavellian rationalization. Each of the clauses of the MOU that AL has agreed to is brutally primitive, oppressive, reactionary, regressive, inhumane &
fascistic, against freedom, and harbinger of more evil. Bluntly put, the so called ulema in remote villages will be free to blame little girls when they are raped by the thugs, and fatwa will be issued to whip them for good measure, because the girls would be unable to prove their innocence by producing eye-witnesses.It will be OK to burn the Ahamadyas alive. Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and atheists will face ultimatum to convert to Islam or face retribution. Those who doubt that Islam is the religion of peace will be hanged from the nearest tree, or get their throats slashed. AL 's action as such is reprehensible; in the context of the declared aims of the Talebanites, and especially the proof of their willingness to commit murder and mayhem to impose their beastly practices on the citizens of Bangladesh , AL 's capitulation is simply repulsive. No decent human being can or should stand for it!
The calculation of the intellectual giants of AL who came up with this plan is hard to figure out. Is it an expression of their insecurity that they will not come to power without votes of the Islamists, and therefore, to tell the voters that AL is not much different from those BNP-Jamat? Is it a way to announce the failure of their dubious approach to secularism and that the majority of the country, in a radical shift from the time before 1971, is moving towards accepting Islamic theocracy? Or, are they fearful that the jig is up: since it has taken them for granted repeatedly and took no steps to secure their status as full citizens of the country, minorities and many sympathizer progressives have given up on AL anyway? It should be recognized that by agreeing to the terms of Khilafat Majlish, even if AL does not gain power and in stead BNP-Jamat cabal does, because AL now has given them the political cover, they can be expected to adopt and impose same or similar rules. It seems that the country is screwed
either way.This action has now legitimized the ideology of Islamic theocracy in the country by three major political parties: AL, BNP & Jamat. The damage it has caused to the nation by this action is far reaching; if they are aware of it, AL 's leaders and operatives stand accused of knowingly committing crime against the citizens of Bangladesh ; if they are not, they have made bare their moral and intellectual bankruptcy. No amount of desperate efforts at damage control by hollow verbal gymnastics by its leaders and huckster can obfuscate that.
Which brings one to the matter of more opportunism, that of the so-called progressive/left among the 13 parties that have gotten on the AL gravy train! It is well known that the Communist Party of Bangladesh, after many years of support and close collaboration, has in recent years publicly expressed its concern about the sincerity of AL 's commitment to a secular democratic progressive program for the country. The skepticism follows from many years of experience with AL : its evolution since 1971, policies and practices, activities in and out of power, its despotic tendencies, etc. In light of the geopolitical changes of the last few decades, and because it is beyond their control, there remain no differences in the economic policies of the two major parties. Representing the interests of different segments of the same class, AL simply is not in a position to propose economic development agenda fundamentally different from what BNP/Jamat propagates. In addition, given the notoriety of corruption it has earned for itself while in power, only way for AL to distinguish itself for electoral gain is to appeal to its past commitment to secularism, ignoring the fact it has been unable to hide its inability to avoid the influences of Islamists in form or in content of its practices. How thin the veneer of its pretense was has just been proven, validating CPB's fears. Given all that, AL 's attraction to the lefties among the coalition is hard to not to be suspicious about. According to some one in CPB I had spoken to last summer, there was an agreement among the left parties to try to create a progressive coalition to offer the voters a real alternative in place of the current 'lesser of the two evils' option. Apparently, there was progress towards forming such a coalition, but it fizzled out as a result of betrayal by the leftists of the 13 parties who decided they had a more immediate chance to attain power & privilege with Awami League!
This is a particular manifestation of the tragedy of the left in Bangladesh today, as it has succumbed to the seduction allure of political power through the back door, and delusions about what they imagine they can achieve. The left in general is in a sad situation, no doubt, and the
epithet applies not only to the left in the 13 parties that became pawns in the hands of AL leaders, but to CPB as well. Late Mohammad Farhad long ago described the tragedy thus: in the absence of a sizable working class, and deprived of the experienced leaders of mass movements, who either migrated or became marginally operational due to extreme repression by the Islamist of that time, the leadership of the left in East Bengal have always fallen on the shoulders of former student leaders from among the petty bourgeoisie, whose instinct for personal gain seem to overwhelm all their good intentions, leading to opportunism.Over the years, many with progressive credentials have also drifted into AL frustrated by the inability to create a left-led mass movement. One cannot but note, given the timing of AL 's misdeed, how the elimination of the intellectual and political leaders of the country by the Islamists in 1971 has added to the deprivations of today. The left leaders today have been
unsuccessful in making inroads into the labor and peasant movements in any effective manner and bring those whose objective interests is in fundamental change into the rank and file and the leadership. The CPB person I spoke to bitterly complained about their own inability to recruit
the younger generation into progressive politics. Witness the recent movements of the garment workers in Bangladesh ! These and other mass movements have taken place as far away from the left parties as imaginable. The idea of the left coalition, I was given to understand, was to
create a political base through long term investment in grass root organization, political education, support of the labor, peasants', minorities', women's struggles, etc., by mobilizing the meager resources of the multitude of left organizations. It was both a tacit recognition of the left's lack of any substantive foundation in the country, and of the need to create one. It was also hoped that by remaining independent of AL , while supporting and pushing for progressive agenda, the left would succeed in creating pressure and incentive for AL not to fall victim to its tendency towards opportunism. The left parties ignored the lessons of history that only guarantee of keeping the social democratic forces committed to a relatively progressive agenda is the existence of a well-grounded independent left force. Now the 13 parties are caught with their pants down, out maneuvered by AL , and its action timed to ensure
that the so-called partners are incapable of taking any effective steps against it.Bangladesh is at a cross road, not at the one it had aimed for in 1971, but at one far behind. It is a victim of history, and crucial mistakes committed by its intellectual and political leaders in the past, which also emanated from narrow interests of the nascent Muslim petty bourgeoisie. Now, being a Muslim majority country, because of its vulnerability due to its economic dependence, social and cultural backwardness, in part all results of the past
mistakes, it has become the battle ground for resolving the irreconcilable differences between a world under the ideological an economic sway of the latest phase of capitalism's global ascendance, and the insane cave-mentality of a group adamant in its intent to drag the country and its people as far back as possible, close to the times of a mythical Arabia.In a comment on Selig Harrison's opinion column in the Washington Post (on 8/2/06) published in (the internet edition of) The Daily Star on August 9, 2006, I suggested that Mr. Harrison in his observations had ignored to point out the deep-rooted social change towards fundamentalism
that is taking place in Bangladesh. As depressing as the recent AL action is, and it obviously is connected to the trend, far reaching changes towards theocracy taking place in the fabric of the society is a matter of much greater concerns. These changes are simultaneously indicative of the decline of the ideological and cultural influence of the progressive forces and the absence of an aggressive, fighting left. As much as I miss it myself, listening to Rabindra Sangeet under Bot Tola is not enough 'political work' to stem the rising influence of anti-secular trends, while the Taleban is waging a low grade but clearly discernible well orchestrated civil war in the country in all fronts: ideological, social, cultural, educational, economic, political and military.The bloody conflict between the needs of living in a modern world and opposition to that world by the religion-mongers will not be resolved without confronting a basic truth: no matter what the prophets (and other sages) of the past may have said, change is essential. Old rules and norms must be abandoned and new ones adopted to live in changing times. Muslims of Turkey are Turkish Muslims; of Egypt , Egyptian; of Arabia , Arabian, etc.
These people are not divorced from their native cultures or their history, neither have they remained stuck in outmoded forms of statecraft, not to the extent the Talebanites would like, anyway. Problem with the Bangladeshi Muslims is that their religious leaders have not reconciled
with the fact that they are Bengali Muslims, that their history - both biological and the civilizational, is rooted here, and no disguise, western or Arab, can cover that up! Yet, they do everything possible to avoid any indication that their ancestors were Hindus, Buddhists, tribals, etc. In their mission to Arabize the culture as a part of their march to state power and impose Islamic rule of the most virulent kind, they are determined to wipe out any trace of link to our past. Their particular mission to wipe out the Hindu population is to be seen in this context. The pressure to alienate from its roots that Muslims as a community have suffered for a very long time from their politico-religious leaders is what has hurled them into this distorted and tragic trajectory - from the deception that was Pakistan to the cage of Islamic theocracy that is under construction. It is in this conflict with our identity originates our confusion about how to adopt to a rapidly changing modern world, while the regressive forces ideologically anchored in centuries past try to pull us back. Deprivation from the experience of living for sustained period under a stable democracy, and our refusal to learn, e.g., from neighboring India about it's fundamental advantages, have contributed to the present quagmire.The electoral crisis of 2006-2007 is yet another example of how miserably democracy has failed to take root, how the major political parties have undermined it by transmitting their own cynicism on to the voters by abusing power, replacing governance with corruption, emphasizing personal ambitions over public good, and making politics in Bangladesh devoid of any decency.
Bangladesh is never short of intelligent people, but there seem to be a lack of rational ones among leaders and apparatchiks of political organizations. That has to change, and require rational, humane and realist leaders. I suggest that a critical step to instigate that change is to demand the restoration of every secular component of the original constitution of Bangladesh , and make those even stronger. A commitment to do so should be the litmus test of any one claiming to be secular and democratic in Bangladesh . There is no rational justification for, neither is there any justice in imposing any parochial religious values in matters of public
civic life; to do so is to institutionalize tyranny of one religion over the others, including those who do not subscribe to any. In a democracy, an individual has the right to subscribe to any personal faith or no faith at all, but he or she has no right to require any of others.Hence, there is no democracy but secular democracy; every other variation is a fraud. What is necessary is for all democratic, progressive forces in the country to come together in this battle, no less significant than that of 1971, with a commitment to eliminate once and for all the forces of darkness, obscurantism and bigotry - the enemies of freedom, which the Islamists
openly claim to be. The coalition of progress must militantly confront every move of the fanatics, exposing their insanity & inhumanity, their repressive agenda, and their Mirjafari treachery. Divided, the democratic left are many; united, they can be mighty. To defeat the anti-democratic theocratic forces is a central task in Bangladesh today. The need for coming together of the progressives, including those within AL , to create an independent, alternate political entity to fight this battle has never been more urgent.
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