Dhaka is not the Fool's Paradise
Abid Bahar
Abid Bahar
Research shows that Dhaka began to be neglected during the early British period but revived its importance again from the middle of the nineteenth century. This was the result of the shifts in perspectives between Indian and Bengali nationalism. We notice such shifts began from the time the British East India Company captured Bengal in 1757 and subsequently establishing the Zamindari system. As a result we notice a small number of people known as the Banyans, (middlemen) emerged to work for the British in Calcutta. These people were Bengalis. They dressed like Muslims; spoke Persian, English and Bengali but were deeply anti Semitic. One of such Bengali was Ram Mohan Roy.
Ram Mohan Roy
Ram Mohan Roy was also the Mogul ambassador to England and later served as a banyan in East Bengal for the British. After making a considerable amount of money he settled in Calcutta and formed the Brahma Samaj, a Hindu reformist organization. Brahma Samaj was the forerunner of most of the Hindu conscious political parties in India. Brahmo Samaj began with its two-fold aim, one was to bring reform in the Hindu society to modernity and the other was to identify Muslims as the outsiders in India. This was an outlook Britain from the beginning wanted to develop among the Hindus of India. The British began such a mission through its representative William James (originally a judge) who worked in the Fort Williams College, there were similar initiatives taken by Sirampur Missionary, and by the Asiatic Society in Calcutta. To develop this attitude, the British East India Company brought Brahmins from distant places of Bengal and settled them in Calcutta;one of such families was the Thakur family, anglicized as Tagore.
Inspired by such new development Ram Mohon Roy considering himself as a true Indian declared that Muslims were the "invaders of India." From this point onward, this was beginning to be a new way to understand Muslims of India in general and the East Bengali people in particular. Contrary to this communal understanding by Ram Mohan Roy in reality however most Muslims were converted to Islam. It was the unfortunate day when the common bond of Bengali nationalism was fractured right in the middle. When the prejudiced Hindus of Bengal accepted Ram Mohon as a great Bengali Indian reformer, but in reality was an exploiter of the ordinary Bengalis and an anti sematic, in East Bengal zamindars and banyans of Ram Mohan and his likes became a symbol of hatred to the East Bengalis. Such views by the East Bengalis were later documented particularly in the famous play "Zaminda Dharpon." Not surprisingly, the outburst of such religious partition
understanding of the Bengali people was the day the owl of East Bengal took flight from Calcutta and landed in Dhaka signaling the end of midnight of the illusion of a common Bengali people. This was however the darkest time of East Bengali history. Titu Mir, Dudu Mias fought to get to the day light through their struggle but it was still dark and East Bengalis had to struggle through Bangladeshi nationalism to their journey to independence.
Nawab Salimullah
Nawab Salimullah's establishment of Dhaka University showed the intellectual dawn of this new consciousness. Feared to this rising Sun Kobiguru Rabindra Nath Tagore of Calcutta even opposed the move for a university in Dhaka and eversince the Calcutta babus hatred of Nawab Salimullah continued till today. Many of the Bangladeshis following the illusion, continued hating Nawab Salimullah.
Suhrwardhy and Mujib
In 1947 Suhrwardhy renewed his faith in a united Bengal and tried tie both Bengalis together into forming a Bengal but it was the Hindu leaders of West Bengal who commanded by Nehru choose to join with India. Finding no other alternative to its struggle for independent, East Bengalis as Sher-e-Bangla and Bhasani struggle shows reluctantly joined with Pakistan (which is geographically far away from them) as a marriage of convenience with a minimal connection as predicted by Mountbatton to eventually become independent. Bhasani as the president of the language movement committee voted in favor of breaking section 144. He even founded the two leading institutions, the Ittifaq, and the Awami League party and later Mujib came out with the 6 point demand in 1966 similar to Bhasaniès autonomy demand then In 1971 the Sun finally rose in the East. East Bengal became Bangladesh.
Zia's Bangladeshi nationalism, Market Economy
Bangladesh became independent with great enthusiasm but the people woke up with the jolt of a shock that in the Farakka of West Bengal a dam was built secretly during the liberation war to block the water of the Ganges through the Padma. During the liberation war Mujib was away in Pakistan; his family in Dhaka. The work for the dam was completed and after the liberation it was inaugurated by the pro-Indian Bangladeshi leaders; the dam was constructed during the time of West Bengali Premier Joti Basu. Despite much protest and even official agreements between India and Bangladesh, water was not shared with Bangladesh. Bengal was also fenced by India with no reaction from West Bengali people. It showed Joti Basu and his likes were more Indians than Bengalis. Surprisingly, in 2010 when Basu died, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh spending Bangladeshi poor tax payer's money led a huge delegation of Bangladeshis to Calcutta to attend the funeral of her"beloved Joti Basuda." and she also said, "I love Calcutta" fortunately for the independent minded Bangladeshis, the owl had left the place during the mid-nineteenth century signaling the East Bengali renaissance.
Unfortunately, for Gaffor Chowdhury of the Ananda Bazar Patrika, Taslima Nasrin who wrote Lajja, to demonize Muslims, Mahfuz Anam of the Daily Star, and Motiur Rahman of Prothom Alo, romancing with razakars on the rooftop, have Calcutta not Dhaka is still the center of Bengal. In their such illusion few people doubt that they are working as the Indian wheels putting brakes within the Bangladesh wheels of progress in Zia introduced both market economy and multi party democracy; the former not realizing that Calcutta, the Indian city is only the Bengali fool's paradise.
(Abid Bahar author of Burma's Missing Dots teaches in Canada)
(Abid Bahar author of Burma's Missing Dots teaches in Canada)
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