Shimul Chaudhury
I have read Time's analytical news story, titled "Bringing a Forgotten Genocide to Justice", in its issue on August 03, 2010 (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2008085,00.html).
What the present government of Bangladesh is doing has little to do with the country's bloody past, and it has more to do with capitulating to, or rejecting, the overarching political and economic hegemony of a big neighbour and regional power, which the reporter Ishaan Tharoor deliberately or inadvertently did not mention at all. What is more, while providing links to Time's archive of the 1971 liberation war of Bangladesh, Mr Tharoor was very much selective. He also totally overlooked systematic brutal treatment of rival political parties by the ruling party. October 28, 2006 nearly a dozen unarmed men of an Islamic political party were killed in brutal daylight on the streets of Dhaka.
On June 29, 2010 the three top leaders of an 'Islamic' party were arrested on some preposterous 'blasphemy' charges. Soon after that, the people came to know very well that the blasphemy allegation against these leaders was not only unfounded and pointless but also ridiculous and laughable. The government then recycled its typical weapon of public sentiment of the 1971 liberation war to use and re-use it against political opponents.
Despite blatant undemocratic practices and cruel exercise of power by the ruling party, the dominant media (both domestic and foreign) is largely silent about its brutalities. What a section of the media usually highlights, for example, is the political stance of an Islamic party in 1971 in favour of a united Pakistan. After about four decades of the liberation of Bangladesh, the political stance of that party in 1971 can be interpreted in two ways: firstly, it was totally wrong to espouse the cause of retaining a united Pakistan, given all the inequalities that had existed between the then West Pakistan and the then East Pakistan; secondly, the way the border security personnel of a big neighbouring country are killing many innocent Bangladeshis on a regular basis and given that neighbour's economic and political exploitations of Bangladesh may vindicate the real or perceived fear of those in 1971 about a Bangladesh, axed from Pakistan, being subject to such hostilities, which are actually the present-day realities. However, this is a matter of political and historical analysis and should be done in an academic way. Importantly, even if the stance of a particular party was wrong (and I believe, it was), it can also be interpreted as its right to hold a political opinion.
The post-1971 Bangladesh is yet not a better place to live, and this is not because of the independence of 1971, but because of the failure of the successive governments that have ruled the country ever since and because of the hostilities by the big neighbour, especially in the border regions. The BDR carnage and the killing of dozens of military officers on February 25, 2009 have already weakened the national defence system of Bangladesh. As a result, post-February-2009-Bangladesh is much more vulnerable and more exposed to foreign aggression. The Islamic political party now at the receiving end of the ruling party's wrath is not the sole author of the wide range of political and social ills that have been crippling the country for a very long time. Even enemies of that party would not disagree that its people are no less responsible citizens than many others in other political parties. If such people are marginalized and penalized, the ultimate sufferer will be the country itself.
If the undemocratic practices by the ruling authorities in the country are overlooked because they use the slogan of secularism, and if the Islamic party under mention is demonised for its leanings otherwise, then that will not augur well for the future of Bangladesh and its people. The latter will have to bear the brunt of the consequences of all repressive actions by the powers that be in today's political power matrix.
The writer can be reached at: honestdebater@yahoo.ca
Bringing a Forgotten Genocide to Justice
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