This blog has been quiet for some time. Though it was created to originally counter the Shahbag menace, it will now explore the deeper underlying reasons for the current crisis in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has held farcical elections, culminating in a dictatorship which is engaged in a campaign of terror, paralysing the opposition. The so called ICT has recently passed three death sentences. It carried out the execution of Abdul Qader Mollah last year. More recently, Jamaat Guru Professor Ghulam Azam died in prison, whose funereal prayer was held with thousands of supporters in the national mosque Baitul Muharram. Interestingly, Sayedees death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment.
Though, the ICT has served to weaken the opposition, we must realize that this trial has greater implications and highlights a long and bitter struggle between Islam and Secularism in Bangladesh. It is even greater than the historic significance of the trials. These two ideological forces have been engaged in an intractable battle, especially since the 1971 war of Independence. Most people do not realise that it has little to do with current politics in Bangaldesh or what these men at trial may or may not have done in 1971 or about Jamaat. It is primarily about Islam's role in the affairs of the state and society at large. Hence we must shift our focus from the political nature of these trials, to that of ideology and those who are the real driving forces behind the ICT.
The ICT should not be seen in isolation, rather it is part of a systematic campaign by the ultra secularists in Bangladesh, using the plight and suffering of the 1971 atrocities of the Pakistani forces, to further an agenda of secularism and to reduce and systematically eliminate the role of Islam in the affairs of the state and society. Hence one of the earliest moves made by the Awami government was to remove Islamic clauses from the Bangladeshi constitution, which was introduced during the rule of President Ziaur Rahman.
The spearheading of this campaign are done by people within the civil society of Bangladesh dominated by ultra secularist, such as Sahriar Kabir and others, whose sole role is to smear religious parties and clerics and to indirectly attack Islamic practises and customs. More radical and militant voices exist within the camp which Kabir leads. The organizers of the mass Shahbag protests were exposed by the incarcerated journalist Mahmudur Rahman, who exposed the Islamophobic nature of these people, using vile language in social media and blogs concerning the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), God and religious rituals. As a reaction, an obscure organization, Hefazate Islam came into prominence leading mass protests in Dhaka Mothijil Chottor and around the country to counter the militant secular ideology of Shahbag, rather than to overthrow, or even derail the trials.
Shahbag has its roots in the Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee (which roughly translates into Committee for the Annihilation Of Traitors), which reminds me of the medieval Spanish Inquisition. The Committee unified various elements of civil society, from journalists, lawyers, media etc in an effort to spearhead a campaign against Jamaat leaders for their alleged role 1971. It later became clear, especially during the protests of Shahbag, that the war crimes issue has been hijacked in order to drive the secularist agenda.
Why use 1971 as a pretext? Because the Bangladeshi people by and large are religious and have deep religious sentiments. It will be counter productive for secularists if they attack Islam directly, and the Hefazat mass protests prove this. 1971 carries deep scars in the memory of Bangladeshis and is the ideal pretext for secularists. After the rude awakening and exposure by Mahmudur Rahman, Shahbag's mass appeal reduced dramatically from hundreds of thousands of supporters in the streets to a couple of hundreds at most.
Despite this, the secularists are getting their way. The Islamic clause of 'reliance on Allah' has not been restored. Execution sentences on Jamaat leaders have not been stayed. Secularists and Awami Leaders (such Abdul Latif Siddiqui) continue making Islamophobic remarks with impunity in the 3rd largest Muslim populated country in the world. Is the future of Islam in Bangladesh at stake?
