This refers to Nadeem Qadir's article. Let Bangladesh Not be South Asia's Algeria' (Published more than a month ago-DS Aug 30)

Nadeem's article fails to coherently deliver a non-partisan view to the serious challenge we face and indeed our very existence is threatened with the rise of religious extremism or fanaticism. Fundamentalism' and secularism are words most callously used by our politicians who have come to the helms of power in Bangladesh in its twenty-six years of existence and has frustrated very ordinary citizens, who would much prefer to see an alternative mind set, an alternative thought process besides the one that has been propounded by the Awami League. BNP. Jatiyo Party or the Jamaat-e-Islami over the years in the run, up to our collective futupe. V am of course speaking here Tor the neutrals, the silent majority who have been the pawn of our ruthless politicians.

We have Inherited in this last quarter century a morally corrupt political system, a bureaucracy that is completely alien to its people and a cult of intellectuals' — an infinitely minuscule part of our population — and ultimately the most damaging group of individuals who it seems, have nothing better to do. than to offer unsolicited advice to the rest of the citizens. Nowhere else will you see this monstrosity. When is the last time you heard of American or French or English intellectuals, dishing out their minds with whatever warped or esoteric ideas they have? This elitist cult have a say in most matters with the media helping their megalomaniac offerings in form of statements', yet it is tragic that with so many intellectuals' around. Bangladesh

seems not to have found any answer or solution to its problems.

Are we to look upon these 'Intellectuals' or ourpolitlcians to fight fanaticism? The answer is NO. because fanaticism and divisions on religious line is the most convenient ploy used by our politicians ana their intellectual collaborators to whip up a frenzy whenever things go wrong in their handling of day to day affair. The outrages in the month of July, August and leading on to September. 1 believe was more a cover-up to absolve the Government's responsibility for its economic failure and the endemic lawlessness — that of course is another story for another day.

For a start. I believe we have to ban use of the word fundamentalism as it creates misunderstanding among the major-ity -of the population of Bangladesh — the members of the Islamic faith. The word is a politically incorrect expression of the Western media stemming from its innate anti-Islamic racism, which has unfortunately found acceptance in our popular culture, while the rest of the world seems to have abandoned it for more correct terms like extremism' or 'fanaticism'. Fundamentalism is after all a belief in fundamentals. It can be anything from your fundamental belief in a political system, nature, science or more essentially : GOD. Fighting this so-called fundamentalism is also a fundamental belief as much as subscribing to Awami-fundamentalism, Jatiyotabadi-fundamentalism or Jamaatl-fundamentalism. What a Muslim finds most annoying is one never hears about Jewish fundamentalist. Christian or Hindu fundamentalist — one only hears of fundamental-

ist. which by Implication means somebody with a cap and a beard, sword or AK47 In hand. The use of the word fundamentalism' in the context of Bangladesh denotes a closed, parochial mentality and cannot nelp in our struggle for an open, free thinking, tree expression democratic society — where none regardless of his belief can be persecuted.

There is no sane man around who will not agree that religious fanaticism has been the traditional enemy of Bangladesh and having said that, I believe there is none who will disagree when I say. that in twenty-five years we have not been able to come up with an acceptable strategy to fight this meuar-f Our glorious liberation War war fought, essentially as a resistance .against the Pakistani mentality oh looking down or Bengalee Mirebins of the then East Pakistan as a race of Hindu illegitimate'. By some strange quirk of fate the Pakistanis discovered Pucca Mus-salmans' from amongst the same illegitimate lot, Bengalee volunteers and workers of Ja-maat-e-Islami, who formed the core of the murderous Razakars of Al-Badr and Al-Shams. to aid and abet their pure Muslim' brothers from what was West Pakistan In those days, to conduct one of the worst genocide of this century. The systematic rape of Bengalee women in 1971 was a tactical and psychological ploy used not only as a weapon of war but also to promote a campaign of ethnic cleansing' or ethnic purification’ with the idea of creating a breed of Pucca Musalman Pakistanis'. The rape of Bengalee women was considered Jatyez for the Pakistanis believed Ts-

lam was In danger' The aspirations of a free Bangladesh was seen as a Hindu plot The emer gence of Bangladesh In 1971. put that Inglorious misuse of religion for politics of exploitation In the back seat — or so we thought

Where are we today In 1997 — during and after our silver Jubilee celebrations? It's the same hate mongers, the same petty use of religion taking up most of our time. We are blissfully unaware of the fact that the fanatics are more organized and more extreme in tneir resolve, than they were prior to events leading on to 1971. We continue to ask ourselves where we went so wrong, why did this happen — importantly, what are we to do?

Secularism is a

that' is -mere misurmWMM^' than understood — and it becomes all the more exakperatki ing when the citizens of Bangladesh appropriated with the responsibility of educating an uneducated mass contribute to that very confusion. The Bengalee race is a blend of the best of Hinduism. Buddhism and Islam, this is evident from the way we dress, what we eat, our culture as also our religious rites. Most of our rituals are a blend of the three and therefore it is no denying that we have inherited some elements of paganism. I believe all of it is harmless as this has been a cumulative cultural tradition for thousands of years, much before the belief in a monotheistic GOD emerged anywhere In the world. If we are to restrict religion to what it is — a personal matter — it is possible to be a Muslim, a Hindu, a Christian, a Buddhist and still be secular. Our intellectuals' have unfor-

tunately used secularism to expound. apparently, 'atheistic' belief, a very modern belief system — which has never been our tradition, and therefore the fanatics have been merciless in condemning them as nastlk or murtads. In rural Bangladesh where our so-called secular forces' do not exist, the grassroots level of cultural ana political awareness has the Mosque and Madrasah as its epicenter, where thanks to a syllabus — a legacy of our English colonizer divide and conquer’ remains the driving force, with the hardline mullahs calling the shots with impunity. Just as much our city-bred intellectuals' have failed to educate us about secularism’, the rural mullahs have failed to teach us Islam. Both these divisively parasitical mind set have a lot in com-

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The Shikha Chirantan a supposedly secular symbol of our liberation war is a case in point. No effort has been made to explain this symbol in our cultural context and some of them who think it is patriotic enough to die for the Shikha Chirantan. haven’t the faintest clue about what the fire is all about. The Government has no official description — and whatever has been reported in the press are pretty much on partisan lines. An eternal fire symbolizes the fire that is alive in the heart of every citizen, a fire that asks us to keep the struggle on, the struggle that will lead on to emancipation in our quest for a exploitation-free society — not necessarily the remembrance of the martyred — as we have a grand memorial in Savar for that explicit purpose. To equate this symbol to 'fire worship' is vulgar and the only way we can make this an acceptable symbol is to have similar fires all over Bangladesh — not Dhaka alone. After 1952 the fanatics had equated the Sha-heed Minar for the language movement martyrs to pillar worship’. Now that we have similar Minars all over Bangladesh, that propaganda is no longer valid, nor do we hear or have threat for their demolition.

Nadeem's article credits the Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee (the committee for the elimination of the killers and collaborators of 1971) — hereinafter referred to as the Nirmul Committee — for their yeoman's service to ensure that the fanatics now have three as opposed to eighteen seats they previously held in Parliament. On face value. Dalals or Collaborators would have never evolved if we did not have the Ghataks i.e. killers, that have since been pardoned and are safely ensconced in Pakistan. Logically we are to pursue the killers and eliminate or nirmul them before we can touch the collaborators and make them suffer the same fate, before this so called committee can meet with a semblance of success.

The suspicions of this generation becomes all that more pronounced when we note that if at all. it was the Nirmul Committee’s heroic idea to e-llminate' the killers and collaborators' of 1971 - why then did they go for a public trial' of the Jamaat chief Golam Azam? Having done that — why has the judgement’ of the public trial i.e. death to the Jamaat chief not been carried out? The least the Nirmul Committee could have done was ask for volunteers to form a suicide squad for the purpose. Rather they served the purpose of a covert and indirect publicity for the Jamaat and its chief Golam Azam — a man who was literally pulled into limelight from political oblivion by them.

Democratic elections as conducted in 1991 and 1996

were mere spectator sport, with numbers' being Juggled on the eve of polls. The mandate of the people have never been wrong, what has been wrong is that the leaders on whom we had reposed our trust and confidence have historically betrayed us. This Is mainly because of the shadow machination of the other post-liberation Razakars — the ’black money' interest, together with the fanatics. Both BNP and Awami League would have never made it to power without the overt and covert support of this unholy alliance. Botn parties and their leaders have played the religion card, more correctly the Pucca Musalman' card mainly because of their lack of grassroots support which the fanatics enjoy. Please do not forget that on the eve of the two elections, the —- - jjar. Collaborators.

1. fundamentalist. H< rin khelapi etc from our popular Our ’intellectuals' — actical hibernation

and both the BNP and Awami League leaders spiced their speeches and fashioned their dresses towards a more Pucca Musalman' stance. The Jamaat lent its support to the Awami League in tneir bid for power as an ally in the antl-BNP agitations — much as BNP sees in Jamaat a natural ally in its bid for power today. Therefore the Nirmul Committee had nothing to do with the low seats of fanatics in the Parliament.

Indeed the real winners in our last elections have been the fanatics and they have since been able to paralyze the country for two days with hartals and we could not do a damn thing about it. When twenty thousand fanatics took over Manik Mia Avenue with exhortation for a Taliban style revolution. invoke God in Heaven to make Bangladesh an Islamic state, made caricature of Bangabandhu's speech of 7th March 1971. and most dangerously when seditious statements were made to fight the Army in the cantonment to destroy the Shikha Anlrban. our 'patriotic pro-liberation forces' have preferred to rest at home . Of course we had a call' from the Nirmul Committee asking the people of Bangladesh to assemble in front of the Press Club with whatever arms you have, because from tomorrow the liberation war will resume' and we shall remain in the streets'. The fact that only a few thousand people showed up. and NOTHING happened only goes to show how hysteria together with hypocrisy has been fine tuned to a high art form'.

Nadeem's assertion that Sheikh Hasina has made her position clear and that 'for the first time challenged the fundamentalist' is untrue. The people of this country are not interested in what 'position' the Prime Minister or the Awami League takes, but what actions and proofs' she can come up together with an acceptable ac-Uon plan', in support of her position'. For instance can she fiubllcly declare her distance rom tne Jamaat? Can she prohibit the use of religion in politics? I guess we all know the answer!

Till such time we have set our own house in order, till such time we have discarded our rubber spine' national character. and of course till such time our leaders start realizing that our respect' for them does not necessarily mean that we trust’ them — I believe we have not seen the last of the fanatics. The fear of Bangladesh becoming South Asia's Algeria is a possibility looming Tn the horizon, the difference being that in Algeria the Army stepped into the arena to stop the Islamists from a sure election win. In Bangladesh where the Army as a national institution has never been transparent, the worst fears are of an Islamic ^.t last point for intellectual rumination!