Killing Bangladeshis
(This post is rated R for violence and strong language)
If, like most Bangladeshis of all political hues, you are completely invested in the worldview of Indians and Pakistanis, you will not be able to follow the line I am about to draw. If you are too busy licking up the ideological crumbs from the tables at Delhi, Islamabad or Riyadh, then you will deplore my “tasteless comments”. On the other hand, if you are a self-respecting Bangladeshi, whose first priority is the preservation of Bangladeshi lives, you might still be offended but you will see where I’m coming from.
Two things happened the past few weeks. Firstly, a freedom fighter was humiliated at a Jamaat-sponsored “Freedom Fighter’s” convention. Secondly, around 4-5 Bangladeshis were killed by the Indian border guards, who carry the very deceptive title of “Border Security Force”(BSF).
These two events are not unrelated.
The first event underscores once again our complete, callous lack of willingness to try those who killed Bangladeshi citizens – rich, poor, Hindus, Muslims, civilians and armed forces personnel – between 25th March 1971 and January 10th 1972. This sends a signal to the rest of the world that Bangladeshi life is cheap, that killing Bangladeshis is an action without consequences. As a result, when they need to or feel like it, the rest of the world indulges in this murderous little exercise. Thus our migrant workers are fucked with on a regular basis by foreign governments everywhere. But more relevant to the matter at hand, the BSF guns down Bangladeshis at will, knowing full well that the only consequence they have to face is some hot air. Lip service without action. Hot air is the only thing Bangladeshis know how to dish out.
We need to ensure that killing Bangladeshis – at the centre, the border or outside – by anyone becomes a very, very, very costly venture.
And what better way to start than by trying the murderers and rapists of 1971? I have one very bloody, absolutely essential and absolutely un-Islamic suggestion: execute all collaborators found guilty of murder, take their dead bodies to the most volatile border areas and leave them hanging there with a small note (in all 23 official languages of India) stating precisely what their crime was and why their dead bodies are hanging there.
No, I don’t think that is going to stop the BSF shooting, but it will let those fuckers know exactly what we do to those who kill our people.
Whew. Enough about that. On the margins of each event are little points of interest I wish to touch upon.
Among the participants at the Jamaat-sponsored “Freedom Fighters” Convention were one Mr. Mahmudur Rahman and Mr. Rezwan Siddiky, both columnists for Naya Diganta. That speaks volumes. (Mr. Mahmudur Rahman, should you choose to sue me, please note I am implying that you are a piece of shit who does not understand the very meaning of the word “sovereignty” that he uses in every other op-ed piece, not a Rajakar.)
But my focus is more on Rezwan Siddiky. Last time I was in the country, I read an article on foreign policy by Mr. Siddiky, and almost threw up. He was bemoaning the current government’s perceived alignment with India (which I myself am not too fond of). But what induced vomit was his criticism of the current government for not completing the sale of Rupali Bank to a Saudi prince (which I consider a security risk).
According to Mr. Siddiky, “Saudi Arabia has always been our friend through thick and thin. They have been for a long time.” Even if this wasn’t written 3 days before March 26th, it would beg the question, “Where were the Saudis during 1971”? Unless of course Mr. Siddiky doesn’t think that 1971 fits his definition of “বিপদ-আপদ”.
Sometimes, spotting a Jamaati from a mile away is as easy as smelling piss at the stadium during lunch on day 4 of a test match.
All I wish to do by way of this little dot-connecting exercise is illustrate where Jamaat’s clout comes from. Maybe this gives us an inkling as to what keeps these lovely, “furry” people out of jail. Also, a clue as to why Jamaatis are ready to denounce “Western” ways of capitalism, liberalism, over-consumption etc. but never the environmental degradation that comes from fossil fuel over-use. Just something to think about.
I’ll conclude by taking a moment to remind myself and readers that all those killed that week were people like you and me: they had parents, they had loved ones, moments in their lives filled with unexplainable joy, moments spent just staring at space over tea and moments when they despaired of doing anything with life. They lived far away from the glittering lights of Dhaka city, all of them trying to put food on (perhaps non-existent) tables, some in the uniform of the Bangladesh Rifles and some without. They were all born in this green land, and born with Hope, which this land quickly snuffs out.
Is it then too much to ask the government, the media and Dhakabashis to make as much noise for those of its fallen citizens out of uniform as it does for those who wear the armed forces’ clothing? The reaction and coverage of the death of civilians and armed forces personnel deserve equal force. Note: equal.
Daily Star Coverage of the BDR personnel killing:
1 of 3 articles on 20th July
Daily Star Coverage of a cattle trader’s killing
I liked the piece. But mone hocchilo for part of it you were perhaps ektu ‘raag e ondho’.
The Jamaat conundrum cannot be simplied into collaborator-past-anti-bangladesh-friends-with-saudis. There are far bigger players involved and a lot more at stake.
With reference to the BDR killing: Now that Chaal er daam is nearing 50/kg, and the BDR stores have stopped selling it, why are our jawans leaving our borders unprotected and still selling vegetables? Desh e ki ei shot kaaj korar moton ar kono working group nai?
BDR shobji beche. BSF BDR mare. Advisor ra waaj koren. Mid-east tader kaaj furnor por e labor jhataye bidai kore. Notun coal policy draft hocche which might totally insult our phulbaria revolt. Jamaati ra (the ones with the collaborator past) shob diplomatic party te dawat pai. Op-ed lekha hoi je diplomatic interferece is a ‘moral right’. Shangbadik ra kichui ghotlei age diplomat der motamot nei, karon tader motamot er daam beshi ei desh e. Romjan mash e manush k sehri kore roja bhangte hobe karon drobbomullo aro briddhi pabe.
Desh ki eto shosta hoye gelo?
As I said, there are bigger things at play here. Ami nijeo ekhono purata bujhe uthte parchi na. Majhe majhe chinta kori, raag ta k kemon kore productively channel kora jai.
AND check your email. Apnake mail pathate pathate amra khanto!
But DS, treating Bangladeshi lives the same way sailors treat money when on break is a very common event in our history. You want to go back to the Razakars? I want to go back even further. What about our leaders in 1971, who should have prepared us fo a war and instead left us utterly defenseless to a marauding, pillaging, looting, raping army?
In the Second World War, the Soviets used the trading space for time strategy. But in our liberation war, the strategy seemed to be trading lives for time. The lives of three million Bangladeshis, taken. Countless other lives, sullied and truamatized forever.
Where is the accounting for the failure of leadership that wasted so many lives? Where is the analysis, dissection, and evaluation of the mistakes of 197, so that we are never left that defenseless again?
It is nonexistent. But the Bangladeshi state will not be complete until that task is done.
hello you two… sorry for the delay.
Fariha, “raag” is my trademark. It’s because of the heat. DhakaShohor after all.
I wasn’t simplifying it that way. I don’t think being pro-Saudi on any one issue is automatically being anti-Bangladesh because of associations with 1971. I’m very pro-Saudi when they send us aid after cyclones. Honestly. It shows a good heart and a willingness to help on their part. I am against re-writing the historical record and filling it with lies.
Do the Saudis see Jamaat as a tool for extending their influence (ideologically) farther than they could possibly hope to (economically or militarily)? I would think so. I don’t see anything terribly wrong in that statement.
Care to name any of these bigger players?
Tacit,
“What about our leaders in 1971, who should have prepared us fo a war and instead left us utterly defenseless to a marauding, pillaging, looting, raping army?”
A bit unfair if you ask me. Like blaming the BAF for not doing enough during WWII.
Yes, it is arguable that had Mujib moved sooner, more deaths could have been avoided. However, I think Jyoti bhai dealt with that angle fairly well here: http://www.drishtipat.org/blog/2008/08/15/how-generation-bangladesh-sees-mujib/#comment-154759
“But in our liberation war, the strategy seemed to be trading lives for time.”
Where exactly are you getting this from?
Lastly, I think the “mistakes of 1971″ category should encompass those who betrayed their countrymen rather than those who failed to protect. One implies active participation while the other implies failure despite their best efforts.
And by “BAF”, I obviously mean the RAF!
There is nothing wrong with what you have said. But when we discuss JI, I think it’s always more important to focus on their current agenda and who’s financing them now as opposed to their collaborator past. JI has evolved and become something much much more dangerous than what it was 36 years ago. I haven’t read their manifesto, but if this is anything to go by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaat-e-Islami then the fact that they are able to win elections via popular support is really an issue for concern. So is their continued alliance with all major political forces in BD.
Why BNP/AL seem to feel that they need to have align with JI or some other religious block is a ‘jaatir kache proshno’ by itself. But what interests me more is that no other credible Islamic bloc has been able to give JI some tough competition in 37 years. IOJ is a joke. Is JI the only option for the more conservative, live-by-the-sword, right wing-type Bangladeshis? Why so?
Spreading the sphere of influence can be credited to Saudi Arabia. Agreed. But we can’t discount the fact that JI is far more trasparent in showing their sources of finance than other parties. The Islami bank, Ibne sina, et al connections are open secret. So is the truth about who runs Naya Diganta or Shongram. But can we discount the facts that JI has made some very smart investments over time and that their goals are more strategically mapped out and long-term than either BNP or AL. JI is also consistently coherent on what defines their politics and have a clear political vision. They also seem to be leading the anti-imperialism movement with their current right/left/whatever backing.
And JI will not start talking about environmental degradation or food crisis. They don’t belong to the chattering class. But you will see JI sponsored brikko-ropon obhijans and they hold more ‘longors’ and give more ‘fitra’ ‘zakaat’ or aid officially, through their sphere of influence. What do you think sells more?
Im not sure how you follow ‘jamaati discourse’ but it feeds of a global knowledge pool in which there are many Bangladeshi/bengali contributers.
http://www.rsiss.net/%20islam/islamecolfore.html theres a chapter in the end by a deshi with islamic vibrations.
http://www.onlineislamicstore.com/b3717.html a pretty old book with a goofy cover. It wasnt published under UNEP or Asia Foundation auspices.
I spoke with BAPA once about spiritualising the whole poribesh andolon, the dude agreed with me in theory but said ‘You’ve got to understand that people here are coming from very different places’. the murgi. the kind of environmental neighbourhood action you get in desh is posh annoying biddies complaining about people hanging out their washing to dry across the street. Its nothing like Old Treebeard and the Ents laying waste to Isengard.
waqf is interesting also wrt practicality and romantic impressions of the past. http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=98317 but human behavioural issues. like eating the waqf of your ancestors inhibit their maturity. There are 10 times as many waqfs as NGOs in BD.
ive observed environment ministry officials using heavily quranic lyrics in their public speech, like lightning bolts. this doesnt get carried much in the internal press. such deeni moral vernacular isnt created in a vacuum, the BCS or the centrist parties i guess. AL, BNP and JI are all breeding with eachother these days anyway.
oh and you dont have anything left/islamic or liberation/theologic because a) they were extinguished by the awami leagues secularisation, b) leftism is practically associated with materialism and c) frankley the intellectual appetite for islamic mojo is absent amongst the bangali musalman at the moment. C will change, but only because of external more global currents.