Rashid Askari
Published in the Dhaka Courier, Thursday, February 14th, 2013
Published in the Dhaka Courier, Thursday, February 14th, 2013
What can we call that what is happening in Shahbag? A mass movement
demanding the death penalty for the war criminals of 1971! Does it
sufficiently denote the sense arising from the occasion? Perhaps not!
Can we then call it a revolt staged by the younger generation to rectify
the situation created by the War Crimes Tribunal’s announcement of a
guilty verdict and a comparatively light sentence meted out to Quader
Mollah?
Maybe not! Revolt or revolution often involves some degree of
violence and is motivated to overthrow the government. But the Shahbag
event is completely free of the frenzy of violence as is usually
noticeable in similar cases. How can we then define this unique storm of
protest in Bangladesh? Words fail me while I try to assess the
magnitude of this great public occasion.
The popular protest in Shahbag is sure going down in the annals of
Bangladesh history. People of Bangladesh were witness to similar events
not many times—they saw it once in 1969 mass uprising in the streets of
Dhaka and thence on historic March 7, 1971 at the Racecourse Maidan.
The event also bears a resemblance to that of Tahrir Square in Egypt in
recent times. But that was an uprising against the government and
involved the element of violence. The Shahbag event is completely a
non-violent resistance rally against the common enemies of the country’s
independence. Every inch of Shahbag Square is thronging with people
from all walks of life carrying placards and banners demanding that
Quader Mollah and other war criminals be hanged. The most striking
feature of the demonstration is that it has turned into a great occasion
of festivity. Though an agitation, it is cool, calm and collected. The
demonstrators, round-the-clock, are waving banners, chanting catchy and
snappy slogans and rocking backwards and forwards to the rhythm. The
streets are filled to overflowing with the crowds ranging from
nonagenarian old folk to newborn babies. At night the crowd assumes an
uncanny look in the flicker of the flaming torch which speaks of a firm
conviction that it is time for the younger generation to herald the
beginning of a new liberation war in their beloved motherland, with a
view to reviving the secular democratic spirit of our great Liberation
War (1971). This is a reawakening of the secular spirit of our struggle
for independence which cost us very dearly— as many as three million
lives!
Although the people are many, the demand is only one—the war
criminals’ hanging! But quite naturally and expectedly, to the demand
are added some more dimensions which are equally important. The
protesters have justly realised that the hanging of a few culprits would
only scratch the surface of the problem. In order to resist the ugly
outbreaks of the anti-liberation forces in Bangladesh, their life-force
which is lying hidden in communalism must be destroyed root and branch.
As a matter of fact, communalism is the nucleus of all extremist beliefs
and behaviour such as dogmatism, sectarianism, and militancy which are
not only hindering us from making national progress, but also
threatening our socio-political and cultural existence. The youths have
awakened to the realisation that Jamaat-e-Islami is possessed of all
these ills. It is the political party which overtly opposed our
Liberation War, and aided and abetted the Pakistani occupation army in
genocide, rape, arson, plunder carried out on the innocent civilians of
Bangladesh during the war. Most of the accused war criminals are the top
brass of the party. So the protesters are demanding to impose a total
ban on their politics in Bangladesh. This is a very cogent and timely
demand. Jamaat-e- Islami ideals and supporters are socially,
culturally, and politically incompatible with our independence ideals
and their supporters.
What are the causes and effects of this sudden mass movement? It is
not simply a knee-jerk reaction to a tribunal verdict. Although growing
spontaneously, it has been launched conscientiously and is being carried
out thoughtfully and considerately by some conscious representatives of
the youth of the present generation. The way the anti-liberation
forces were rehabilitated, fostered, and empowered to have ascendancy
over the pro-liberation people; the way they enjoyed life with impunity,
sat on the Treasury Bench, flew the national flag in their cars after
the August tragedy (1975) for quite a long time—we tended to think that
the spirit of the Liberation War is in the wilderness. The social
conscience seems to be in long hibernation. But the youngsters of
Bangladesh—the Facebook generation, who had earlier developed a strong
aversion to the modes of present politics, have proven it wrong. Some
bloggers and online activists suddenly woke up and smelled the coffee.
They became a magnet for both the older and younger generation. The
widespread smouldering discontent among them at the highhandedness of
the anti-liberation forces pushed them beyond the bounds of tolerance
especially, perhaps, when they saw Quader Mollah flashing a V-sign
outside the court premises after the announcement of his sentence.
The historic rally has, to my thinking, far-reaching effects. It is a
clarion call for national unity against the anti-liberation forces
forty two years after the Liberation War. It must keep people alive to
the dangers of Jamaat-Shibir politics for at least another forty years,
and help prepare the ground for similar future movements if needed. It
has also established the spirit of the Liberation War as an essential
criterion for the political parties in Bangladesh both in theory and
practice. It would teach them a lesson that they should not make any
compromise for self-interest on the question of our independence, nor
should they be on the side of the anti-liberation forces. Despite all
the problems we are now faced with, we can see some light at the end of
the tunnel, and hope against hope that for the foreseeable future at
least our country is in the right hands. Long live Bangladesh! Long live
Shahbag rally!
Dr. Rashid Askari writes fiction and columns and teaches English literature at Kushtia Islamic University, Bangladesh.Email: rashidaskaro65@yahoo.com
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