Rashid Askari
Published in the Daily Star, Saturday, May 25, 2013
This
religious trend continued for centuries, and was followed by the revival
of Brahmanical Hinduism under royal patronage of the Sena rulers.The
long Pala period and the practice of Buddhism produced an admixture of
Hindu-Buddhist culture which resulted in the evolution of the sahajiya
and tantrik cults. The Palas introduced a heritage of socio-cultural and
religious synthesis which played a vital role in building the religious
harmony afterwards. Finally came Islam in the early years of the 13th
century by way of collective conversion of numerous Buddhists and Hindus
caused by the resentment towards the Hindu caste system and Kulinism
(caste supremacy). Although these religious communities are never
completely devoid of inter-religious and intra-religious feuds, the
popular religion in Bengal often displays syncretism– a fascinating mix
of Hindu and Muslim folk beliefs, deities, and practices. The peaceful
coexistence of this great religious diversity over the centuries has
left the society deeply embedded in mutual tolerance and communal
harmony and consolidated the growth of our ethnic identity.
This long-borne religious amity was, however, frustrated time and
again. The extremist factions of the religious communities have always
tried to make the parade of their racial supremacy trampling on other’s
feelings. The most extreme example of this is seen in the
pre-independence autocratic regime of the Pakistan rulers. In the name
of saving religion they were trying to push Bengali culture into the
danger of extinction. East Pakistan’s Governor Monayem Khan was against
everything associated with the culture of the Bengalis. He declared all
Bengali ethnic activities ‘un-Islamic’ and ‘anti-Pakistan’ and tried to
suppress them with the state might. He banned the age-old custom of
wearing vermilion along the hair-parting of Hindu women. He also
prohibited the rendering of Tagore songs on the radio and the
television. But he could not stop the spontaneous observance of our
cultural activities.
It is very unfortunate for us that in post-independence Bangladesh
too, we could not ward off the ills of religious extremism which always
kept gnawing at us hindering the smooth holding of our cultural
activities. The bomb blasts, grenade attacks, and casualties in Jessore
Udichi cultural functions (6 March 1999) and Ramna Batamul (14 April
2001) were calculated terrorist attacks targeted at our culture. In
recent times, we, once again, see the evils of extremism corroding our
cultural exercises. The sudden outburst of the extremist religious
forces, their demand for the demolition of the Liberation War sculptures
and their harsh criticism of the common cultural activities like mongol
shovayatra are the very antithesis of what Bengali culture needs for
its nourishment.
To save Bengali culture from the claws of religious extremism and to
make sure that our society exists as a cultural unity in the midst of
religious diversity, one sure recourse is to fall back on our great
literary icons like Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam. If
Rabindranath is the life-force of Bengali culture, Nazrul is its
lifeblood. I hate to think who is superior to whom. It is the lunatic
fringe who raised this stupid debate between two pillars of Bengali
literature, and tried to divide them down the middle in imitation of the
‘two nation theory’. The Muslim fanatics tried to usurp Nazrul and the
Hindu bigots clung to Rabindranath. The orthodox Muslims who never liked
Nazrul during his lifetime for his unorthodox views, and dubbed him as
Kafer (infidel) or murtad (apostate) are now his staunch supporters. But
unfortunately for them Nazrul could not be divided. Annada Shankar Ray
assured it in his rhyme: “All else has been divided but for Nazrul”
Nazrul was never what the fundamentalists thought him to be. His
position is the polar opposite of that of his pseudo supporters. He has
been made our national poet on consideration of his liberal attitudes
and patriotic zeal. A real secular poet, who equally wrote Islamic Gazal
and Hindu devotional songs– Shyama Samgeet, Bhajan and Kirtan, and
indiscriminately borrowed imagery from Islamic allusion and Hindu
mythology, must not be labeled as a sectarian poet. He also composed a
large number of songs on invocation to Lord Shiva, Goddesses Lakshmi and
Saraswati and on the eternal love lost between the mythical lovers–
Radha and Krishna. On the other hand, he explored the holy book of
Islamic religion and the life of Islam’s prophet, and created imagery
and symbols from the historical Muslim figures like Qasim, Ali, Umar,
Kamal Pasha and the like. In fact, he tried to make a happy synthesis of
Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian values, and by doing this, added a
new dimension to Bengali culture as a cultural catalyst. In 1920,
Nazrul expressed his vision of religious harmony in the editorial of
Joog Bani. To quote: “Come Brother Hindu! Come Musalman! Come Buddhist!
Come Christian! Let’s overcome all obstacles, let’s dispel all meanness
for good, all lies, all selfishness, and let’s call brothers brothers.
We’ll have no quarrel any more.” [Trans. added].
Nazrul was an outspoken critic of fanaticism in religion. He puts it
in his article entitled ‘Hindu Mussalman’:– “I can accept Hinduism and
Islam, but I can’t stand Tikism (Tiki is a bunch of uncut hair held
closely together on the head by some Hindus) and beardism (the practice
of growing a beard to show off as a Muslim). Tiki doesn’t mean Hinduism…
nor does a beard mean Islam.” [Trans. added].
Nazrul here criticizes the sectarian attitudes and underlines the
need for a unification of all people irrespective of castes, creeds and
religions, and this spirit should be the guiding force of Bengali
culture which the poet himself preached and practised. Despite being a
Muslim, he named his sons using extra-religious compounds, i.e. Krishna
Mohammad, Arindam Khaled, Kazi Sabyasachi and Kazi Aniruddha. He was
more a humanist than a practicing Muslim who wished to see his country
(and the world) as a conglomeration of people coming from different
streams of races and religions and living together in peace.
There is no denying the fact that Bangladesh today is stepping
backwards like a wounded apparition plunging into the abyss of
backwardness and reaction. The cultural progressivism which was seen
even in the pre-liberation period is being increasingly absent from the
present society. In addition, a pressure is mounting on the society for
theocratic rule and women confinement. At this crucial juncture,
teachings of Nazrul can show us the way forward. The quest for a
secular, democratic and forward-looking Bangladesh and a holistic
approach to life and culture can be explored in our national poet
Nazrul—who is still undivided amid deep divisions in our society. The
great poet confirmed that ours is a pluralistic society and an umbrella
culture which can easily accommodate different religions and races,
varied views and ideas, and contrary opinions and arguments without
creating any huddle.
Dr. Rashid Askari writes fiction and columns, and teaches English literature at Kushtia Islamic University. Email: rashidaskari65@yahoo.com
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