Archive

There has been an ongoing massive protest happening in Bangladesh demanding prosecution and ensuring just justice for war criminals of its independence war in 1971. The peaceful protest of unprecedented scale has been taking place for the last eighteen days. The voices of Bangladesh have been tirelessly showing their conviction in protesting against the verdict of the prosecuted 1971 war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah. The verdict was announced on February 5th, 2013 and it has been broadly deemed to be too lenient. The smile and victory sign shown by Quader Molla to the journalists will make anyone search for the deeper context of this verditct. But it was a little too much for the Bangladeshi people who have been agonizingly waiting for the last 42 years to finally have some justice. Within hours, hundreds and thousands of spontaneous protesters gathered together in a central crossing of Dhaka city, known as Shahbag square.

For those of us, who learned about our liberation war of 1971 through history books or from our parents, the 2013's Shahbag has a different, unique and important meaning. Don't get me wrong, nothing can be compared with '71, nothing at all.

Radical Islamist supporting the political group "Jaamat e Islam" rebelled against the Shahbagh uprising today. Clashes with the police injured many including media and newscasters. Islamist flooded the streets of Dhaka after the Friday prayers to vandalize and burn vehicles in protest of the movement for capital punishment for 1971 war criminals.

It is a matter of great regret and anguish that, with the up-rise of Shahbag generation, some news papers in Bangladesh are openly utilizing the power of press in creating unrest and anarchy in the country. The distortion of news to create sensation is not uncommon in Bangladesh. Many under-radar news papers and magazines exaggerate and twist facts to attract readers and to increase their circulation. This type of yellow journalism, although considered unprofessional and unethical, was overlooked from the freedom of press notion. But some recent media involvement in the prosecution of war criminals of 1971 war of independence, the attempt to manipulate prosecutorial process, the spreading of historical lies in favor of the charged war criminals, leaking insider information of the ongoing prosecution and finally defamation of the brutally killed blogger Rajib Haider through unsubstantiated, inciteful and dubious posts crossed all boundaries of decency, ethics or even legal limits.

In the midst of the unforeseen uprising among people of Bangladesh in Shahbag, demanding capital punishment to the convicted war criminals, Baroness Warsi visited Bangladesh as part of the England prime minister and his team's tour of south asia. The visiting British Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi has said she does not believe that banning a political party is the best way to win the battle of ideas but the public can decide what kind of future they want for Bangladesh. I am sure this is a diplomatic statement, but how much does she really know about the ideas of Jamaat-e-Islami and their mandate. And before we delve into the violent history of this Islam abusing political party, has she taken into account the public out-pour in Shahbag who gathered there to let the world know "what kind of future they want for Bangladesh", to quote the baroness.

1. Formally established on 26 August 1941, Jamaat -e - Islami's (JI) intellectual inspiration came from the thoughts of Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi, a journalist, theologian and political thinker. The vision of its formations was (i) pan-Islamist in nature (Islamic state without boundary) (ii) to transcend the national boundaries to encompass all peoples and countries (iii) become the moral guardians of Pakistan: a holy community that did not dirty its hands in the mud of political wrangling” [1, 2]. 

2. Maududi vehemently rejected the creation of an independent state for Muslims and suggested that the new country Pakistani should be named as Napak-istan [19]. In Maududi's own words “The establishment and birth of Pakistan is equivalent to the birth of a beast.” “Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s place is not on the throne of leadership. He deserves to face trial as a traitor” [12, 13].
After years of strong opposition towards the creation of Pakistan, denouncing Jinnah as a religious lightweight and decrying democracy as satan’s handiwork, Maududi made an astonishing 180 degree flip and embraced Pakistan, Jinnah and democracy in 1948. This is when he moved from India to Pakistan [11].

I am starting with the name of martyr Zobayer Hossain Rimu, starting by remembering those martyr whose names are forgotten by Bangladesh! Even though Bangladesh has forgotten, Jamat-Shibir is still reminiscent of their success. Starting by remembering those parents who taught their children the true history of Bangladesh’s birth, but did not get justice for the murder trial of their own child.

Freedom of thoughts and speech is a fundamental right and it does not require the thinker or speaker to be believer or atheist. But if this purposefully goes for subversive and anti-state occurrences, of course, that’s not the rights.

The historical Shahbag movement in Bangladesh seems to have gained a momentum that alarms the biggest anti-liberation force in Bangladeshi politics -- Jamaat-e-Islami. The outcome we have seen in the murder of the 'controversial for preaching against religion or religious blindness' (depending on who's looking at it) blogger Thaba Baba aka Rajib Haider.

In the 1971 genocide in Bangladesh, more than 3 million civilians were killed by Pakistani army and soldiers. A meticulously planned intellectual extermination was carried out where physicians, engineers, professors, bankers, movie directors, writers, journalists were targeted and killed. In addition approximately 500,000 women and girls were systematically raped with many of whom later killed.