Happy Blasphemy Day, Happy Birthday 'Mukto Mona
I wrote a piece in Bengali on Blasphemy day, 2013. I could not find time earlier to post this in English blog. Here it is:
From Partition to Bangladesh - on the Trajectory of a Troubled Quest
"Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form." - Karl Marx, Letter from the Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher to Arnold Ruge (1843)
A FEW QUESTIONS TO JAMAAT-SHIBIR
Jamaat-Shibir has been fighting to impose Sharia in Bangladesh as a first step to recreate old 'golden period' of Ummah in near future under a Caliph. This calls for a relook into a few aspects of Islamic history to find out if the endeavor of Jamaat-Shibir is justified or not.
When Freedom Emerges through Individuals
The Self I was born alone, and thus will I die. Am I a muslim, or a Bengali, or a member of proletariat? These are what others shape me into. But the identity that exists before all these constructs is my own self. The individual me.
BANGLADESH - Dar al-Islam Vs Dar al-Insaan
A big proportion of educated Muslims in Bangladesh read Qur'an without knowing the meaning and background of the verses. As true Muslims, they just believe that Qur'an contains the words of Allah (which is the highest knowledge of the world) and also includes science and miracle. They just believe whatever the Alim tells them about Qur'an. And why an Alim should dilute the absolute importance of Qur'an from where all his authority comes? So Qur'an is sacrosanct to vast majority of Bangladeshi Muslims (many educated and all uneducated) without being understood at all.
The 'Attack' on Sentiments
Four bloggers were put in jail and thousands of people agitated causing mass violence all due to one simple cause: the sentiment of some people got violated through the non-violent act of mere writings. Retaliation of a mental violation through physical aggression and punishment is unjust and disproportionate, but some people think that it is totally justified. In this writing, we explore how Farhad Mazhar and in general the post-modernist relativists may find this to be an opportunity to advance their own goal. It shows that an alliance between fundamental religious groups and the post-modern relativists is not all that bizarre. But before that, we first start with understanding the strict difference between a physical violation and a mental violation, and how putting the sentimental world before the physical world breeds injustice.
BANGLADESH AND TWO NATION THEORY
All the famous statements and arguments of Allama Iqbal and M A Jinnah justifying the 'Two Nation Theory' have been proved to be wrong. Had they been alive now, they would have found that their prophecies and convictions about the future of Pakistan (and inadvertently Bangladesh) have been utter disasters.
IDENTITY CRISIS - THE MAIN CAUSE OF "UNHEALTHY BANGLADESH
There is a book originally written in Urdu by Maulana Abdus Sattar and later translated in Bangla by Mustafa Haroon. The Bangla version was published by Islamic Foundation Bangladesh during 1980. This Bangla book is entitled "Aliya Madrasar Itihash". Abdus Sattar, in all probability, was an Urdu speaking East Pakistani. The original Urdu book was possibly written during Pakistan era of Bangladesh. In the narration of Bangla "Aliya Madrasar Itihash", it becomes clear that the concept of "Muslims are separate nation" was very much apparent even in mid-nineteenth century India. It is fact that in the minority Muslim ruled India, this was not an issue. But after 1857, the non-Bengalee Muslim aristocrats suddenly found themselves as a faceless and stateless population. The sentiment percolated to poor Muslims of Bengal without any socio-economic reason which was relevant to their aristocrat non-Bengalee brothers only. The poor Muslims of Bengal simply fell in line on religious ground only.
Unhealthy Bangladesh
Bangladesh is severely ill today; it needs proper treatment, which makes concerned people worried. I am surely concerned about the future of the country. 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.