The future of a country depends on the success and failure of her citizens. The people of Bangladesh abroad work very hard, and many of them are successful. A part of their hard earned money abroad flows back to Bangladesh, which keeps the country afloat. Today, garments industries are flourishing. But, political turmoil and corruption have been always a threat to this industry. Furthermore, obscurantist and ultra religious forces are also a longer term threat to the progress and stability of Bangladesh. The incumbent government’s rapport with sections of such forces of darkness and backwardness only deepen this worry.
Bangladesh had been moving in the wrong direction since its inception. Bongabondhu wanted to bring economic liberty for the people through socialism. He wanted to bring such a gigantic social change without building proper foundation through Cultural Revolution, which, in case of Bangladesh, will be the Bangalee-Jatiotabadi consciousness. It was a proper time to transform the national psyche towards that cultural movement. Instead of taking that route whole-heartedly, he was ill advised to appease religious fundamentalism, and became engaged in building relationship with recently defeated enemy, Pakistan, and other nations which opposed the very independence of Bangladesh. Friendly nations, like India and Soviet Union, started to desert him. He became a lone ranger, without learning necessary survival techniques. Rest is history.
Unfortunately, no one learns from the history. Today religious fundamentalism has overtaken politics in Bangladesh. The history tells us that – admixture of religion and politics may work for a while in a monolithic society, but it will become explosive as an admixture in a non-monolithic society. Bangladesh has moved away from the earlier pure and pristine secular ideals of Bangalee-Jatiotabad, and the result is right before our very eyes.
Sometime, political parties may think that they will only come to power using religious fundamentalism, and then shun it. Bongabondhu might have thought so also. Pakistani President Musharaf will attest to this statement as well. Even, USA will attest to it; they created Taliban and Al-Qaida. You know what happened after that. The fact is – once Jinni is out of the bottle, it cannot be put back. Therefore, such duplicity will never work; it’s against the natural rule.
Politics is not a faith, it’s a science; it follows certain laws. For correct results one needs to apply correct formula. For example, religious fundamentalism will create conflict in a non-monolithic society, and it will push the society backward. You won’t need to be a genius to figure it out; it’s dictated by social and political laws.
Religious fundamentalism is driven by illusions, not by reality. Even communism/socialism is partly illusion based, without much logic. It is true – one can organize a society using such illusions; Hitler did it, and it worked for a while. Religious fundamentalism will also work for a while, no doubt, but – it is bound to hit the reality at some point.
Bangladesh was born out of a secular spirit, and it was at the forefront of this new age. Unfortunately, what happened to this new country is really a sad story. The country is now witnessing resugence of religious fundamentalism of the Hefazat-i-Islan type, which is against the Bangalee-Jatiotabad. Religious fundamentalists are ashamed of being Bangalee; they want to destroy Bangalee culture and instill a foreign culture in its place. They want to go back to the pre-independence era . They know full well – they cannot succeed as long as Bangalee-Jatiotabadi sentiment is alive in Bangladesh. Ziaur Rahman wanted to introduce Banglaseshi-Jatiotabad in an attempt to erase Bangalee-Jatiotabad.
The fact is – there is nothing called Bangladeshi-Jatiotabad, it’s a fake Jatiotabad. His argument was – there are other ethnic groups in Bangladesh, and he wanted to be fair to them. Actually, that was a lame excuse on his part to erase Banglaee-Jatiotabad. Since 99% of Bagladeshi are Bangalee, and we have religious sectorial divisions, only glue that can unite the majority is Bangalee-Jatiotabad. There is no alternative to this option to achieve this goal. We need some leader who can make this case to the people, and say, without hesitation, Joy Bangla, and Joy Bangalee-Jatiotabad in front of the crowd. This is the only medicine that can cure Bangladesh from the illness of religious fundamentalism.
Religious fundamentalism is a social cancer. Even if – we cannot cure Bangladesh from this dreadful disease, we may be able to manage it, if we act early enough. If we wait too long, this disease will spread so much that – it will become unmanageable.
Some people may think that – we have our country, why we need secular ideals. It’s not enough that you have planted a tree; you need to water it and protect it from diseases. The story is the same here. We may have Bangladesh, but – it needs nursing and care. Bangalee-Jatiotabad is the fertilizer that will keep Bangladesh lush and vibrant. Bangladesh is independent, but the enemies of independence are not sitting idle. So, those who are for the independence cannot let the guard down.