"Pakistani-Islam's
Global Ploy and Suppression of Bengali Genocide Tragedy"
by Jamal
Hasan
The
year 1971 was indeed a time of a catastrophic tragedy of disproportionate
magnitude in the South Asian region. It also inculcated a serious message
on the belief system on a number of God-fearing Bengalis. The cruelty
inflicted on a hapless population was so immense that many of the
traditional believers became disillusioned with the religion of Islam,
totally. A few of them even went to the extent of going on a missionary
zeal of being vocal critics of Islam. Conversely, the defenders of Islam
who did not side with the brutal regime would endlessly argue the position
of the neo-attackers of Islam. They would say, "Look what the
Pakistanis did was not manifestation of true Islam. The Pakistani
marauding soldiers even killed namazis in mosques all across occupied
Bangladesh
."
When excesses are done in the name of religion, the people in the
receivers' end often become disenchanted rather quickly.
Iran
could be a case in point. Many of the urban intelligentsia now comment
that even in Shah's time people used to respect Islam. Now the mullahs
made the religion very much an oppressive tool. No wonder, more and more
people are losing respect for Islam in the country of Islamic Shangri-La.
If we go back to 1971 once again and try to extrapolate the lifestyle of
average Pakistani army man in the occupied
Bangladesh
, we may bring one possible scenario. As the soldiers plundered, looted
and raped the masses, they suddenly did not become atheists or agnostics.
Most of them were God-fearing Muslims. The keepers of the Razarbagh Police
Line prison, where dozens of Bengali women were raped and assaulted on a
daily basis, were in all likelihood practicing Muslims. Maybe, many of
them did not miss the daily prayers. Or, how about the caretakers of those
bunkers near the Tripura border and elsewhere in the erstwhile
East Pakistan
where unclothed and visibly shaken Bengali women were rescued immediately
after liberation of the country? Maybe, during the month of Ramadan many
of the rapists and assaulters fasted following the dictum of the Divine
religion. The question is, why didn't the barbaric oppression not subdue
because of the religious teaching? Is it because somehow the brutal forces
could rationalize all the misdeeds keeping the broader guideline of
scripture? Did they believe by heart whatever brutality they were
committing was not against the spirit of Islamic ideal?
The critics of Islam would say that the problem of such barbarism lies in
the inherently ambiguous scriptural texts of the religion. Defenders of
faith sympathizing with Bengali cause may argue that all the brutality was
perpetrated with a facade of a skewed interpretation resulting in
misinterpretation of the scripture. I do not want to join the debate as I
lack enough expertise on the intricacy of Islamic theology. I can only
attempt to put the political agenda of the Pakistani brand of Islam in
proper perspective as it relates to the events of 1971. As before, I am
calling the manifestation of Islam a tool for oppression in occupied
Bangladesh
as Pakistani-Islam. I am not blaming Islam, per se, for the catastrophe. I
would rather accuse the Pakistani oligarchy for smoothly pocketing a
century-old religion to serve the narrow interest and racist agenda of the
Punjabi ruling clique.
Almost all the Islamist parties in the
Pakistan
occupied
Bangladesh
sided with the oppressive military regime of Yahya Khan in 1971.
Immediately after liberation, quite a few of the social outcasts
experienced backlash from the victims -- the Bengali masses. Under such an
unfavorable situation of post independent
Bangladesh
, the killer and collaborator mullahs went into hiding until the reformed
Islam pasand dictator Ziaur Rahman became victorious in the political
arena. During much of Zia and the other military ruler Ershad era, the
hibernating killers and collaborators of the Pakistani-Islamic sector got
a new lease of life. The paradigm was calculatively shifted by the
conniving Bengali generals favoring Yahya Khan's position of 1971. In this
backdrop, the heinous Islamist criminals of 1971 could, without much
effort, recapture significant Islamic landmarks like Bait-ul Mukarram and
the other leading mosques. The situation became so frustrating that many
of the Bengali nationalists who were also believers in Islam had no option
but to boycott the places of worship that put killers of 1971 in a
clergy's role. The leading Bengali poetess Sufia Kamal's death bed wish
was no Jamaati or a killer mullah would be allowed to do the needful
during her funeral rites.
Turning back to Pakistani army juntas, let me reiterate that they used and
abused the religion of Islam to serve their purposes. They were quite
aware of the ground reality that their colonial interest could only be
attained if they skillfully played the Islamic card. In fact, they
succeeded to a great length not only yesterday, but also today. Islam's
critics saw the ruthless Yahya army indiscriminately killed civilians, and
religious minority in particular. From the night of 25th March there was a
selective massacre in Hindu populated areas where even the little children
were not spared. The critics of Islam would find a pattern of intolerance
to non-believer from the dawn of Islamic civilization that goes contrary
to humanistic ideals. According to their view, the concept of Jihad and
killing of infidels mercilessly was nothing new in the history of Islamic
civilization. And their view was reinforced as the great majority of the
Muslim nations nakedly sided with the marauding Pakistani junta of 1971.
The terms like Umma or Islamic brotherhoods are uniquely common in the
faith of Islam. These terms are definitely political. In other words, the
politicized terminologies could wake some faithful who are half asleep.
Unfortunately, the merchants of religion, the Pakistani oligarchy, till
today are bent on using those words to subjugate the less viable
populations of Sindh, NWFP or Balochistan. Whenever a minority ethnic
group demands its right, the usual outcry in
Islamabad
would be, "Islam in danger!" The irony of the matter is Yahya's
troop in 1971 did so much harm and long term damage to Islam that it won't
be too easy to salvage. When a crime against humanity is committed in the
name of religion, the incriminating evidence can hardly be hidden from the
watchful eyes of the conscientious international community.
As the days go by, we are confronting with the sad past and are unearthing
and documenting gory details of the monstrosity of those Muslims from a
western land called
Pakistan
. Consider the most recent documentation of demolition of the
Ramna
Racecourse
Hindu
Temple
call Kali BaDi. According to an eyewitness account the following chilling
moments occurred in that historical big field located in the close
proximity of the
Dhaka
University
. On the fateful night of March 25, 1971, when the Pakistani soldiers
cordoned off the area, they gathered a number of Hindu men, women and
children from the vicinity. Before getting shot at, the high priest of the
age-old temple was compelled to recite some Qura'nic verses. The men and
children were put on the firing line and the women's lives were spared as
they were whisked away to an unknown destination. These sorts of dark
chapters gave the requisite ammo to the anti-Islamic crusaders to
transpose their point of view. They have the opportunity to equate these
grotesque situations with the snatching of the so-called war booties
(captured women and children) from the defeating forces of the Pagan Arabs
or the Quryash tribe in the late 7th century that had legitimization as
per Islamic doctrine.
These days many Bengalis outside
Bangladesh
attempt to reinvent their identity. A good number of them try to become
neo-Muslims. I have no qualm with it if it only confines to individual
relationship to the divinity. But the problem arises when Pakistani-Islam
comes into play. Unfortunately, in regard to 1971 episode, many Bengalis
fall into the trap of selective amnesia, which is quite detestable. To
them, loving Islam means loving the marauding Pakistani army of 1971.
Ultimately, the crime and rape committed by those hordes become less
condemnable. That is the winning situation for the Pakistani ruling elite.
They successfully injected the opium of Pakistani-Islam into the veins of
the Bengalis for 24 years, which did not go away with a tragedy of nine
months. If the Pakistani soldiers were Hindus, Jewish or of Christian
faith, we may witness those God-fearing Bengalis would never forget the
crime inflicted on their own brothers or sisters. Probably those Islamist
Bengalis would have been the greatest crusaders to rekindle the spirit of
1971, if the scenario was such. After all, in a politicized religious
world, it is always an issue of us versus them.
Lest we forget, in the theological realm, Christianity got serious setback
from within by the Protestant movement of yesteryear. After 1971, the
Bengalis had a real chance to confront the world body of Islamic nations
to extract a justifiable explanation for its overt antipathy toward
Bengalis' struggle for national emancipation. Did the Bengalis utilize the
opportune moment? Not at all. To add insults to the injury, the founding
father of the emerging nation went to the Islamic summit in
Lahore
that was tantamount to kowtowing the Pakistani regime that could
consequently legitimize the role of Pakistani-Islam in 1971. After that
melodrama, as the Bengali leader went to the
Saudi Arabia
begging for
the nascent republic's recognition from the medieval sheikdom, he got a
real taste of the Pakistani-Islam's over encompassing tentacle. The Saudi
leader categorically said that he was in great pain to see the casualty of
Pakistani Muslim soldiers in
East Pakistan
. Readers may now see that although the Pakistani soldiers raped and
destroyed a peace-loving population, they were still perceived as the
Saudi kingdom's brothers. That means even if half of the Bengali
population were wiped out and all the Bengali women were raped by the
"brotherly Pakistani army," it would not bring any second
thought among the Saudi royalty. What a disgrace!
Turning
my eyes to modern day
America
to look at how my Bengali compatriots faring with other Muslim Ummats I
get the chill of my life. Here, quite a few expatriates Bengali Muslims
endeavored to enhance their Muslim identity by joining such groups like
Islamic Society of North America, Islamic Circle of
North America
, American Muslim Council or the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The groups are supposed to help the minority Muslim cause in a
predominantly non-Muslim country like
USA
(or
Canada
).
Pakistan
traditionally has been a good patron for such groups. As a new member of
the nuclear club
Pakistan
's influence and prestige have quadrupled in the comity of Islamic
nations. They are the proverbial Big brother now. The ruling elite of
Pakistan
already have become a behind-the-scene agenda setter of many Islamic
groups in non-Islamic countries. Not only that, a fundamentalist
party like Jamat-i-Islami has exerted considerable influence on a group
like Islamic Circle of
North America
. One of this group's leaders is an alleged notorious war criminal who was
accused of killing seven university teachers in
Bangladesh
in 1971. Any new member of either of the above-mentioned groups may come
across political discourse on the misery and sufferings of a number of
nationalities of Muslim faith. The plight of the Chechens, Kashmiris,
Kosovars or Bosnians may inundate the web pages of such groups.
Bangladesh
genocide is history now. But do you think there is any room for the great
human tragedy in the charters of those groups? Readers, please do not
delude yourselves. These highly politicized groups are mouthpieces of
quite a few vested interests and Pakistani oligarchy is one of them. If
anything mentioned in any of the group's working paper regarding
Bangladesh
genocide that would be something like this, "In 1971
India
attacked
Pakistan
and Pakistani soldiers fought against the attackers and ultimately
India
succeeded in splitting up the Islamic nation of
Pakistan
with the help of miscreants belonging to Awami League." Probably
Bengali Muslim faithfuls who became part and parcel of the
Pakistani-Islamic agenda do not care much when the question of their
Pakistani brothers' crime against humanity is raised. And that attitude is
definitely a great hindrance to upholding a nation's dignity. We should be
reminded of this sad reality one more time.
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