[Reader-list] Hana Shams on Lalan Statue Controversy

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

All the king's men
Hana Shams Ahmed
http://thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=59549

"What caste were you when you came to mother earth?
And what caste did you 'wear' thereafter?
What would be your caste when you depart this world?
Think about it.
And give me an answer."
- From the hymn 'Jaat gelo jaat gelo boley'
Attributed to be the work of Fakir Lalon Shah


First it was "fugitive" Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan
Mohammad Mojahid who went "missing" from the law-enforcers net only to
be seen by rest of the country at a high-profile meeting with none
other than the chief adviser of the caretaker government. Then, the
government worked with amazing speed at the complaint of the bigots
and ordered the airport and civil aviation authorities to take down
the sculptures of the bauls. 50 lakh takas had already been spent on
it.

This is the same government, by the way, which has been paying lip
service to the cause of the trial of the war criminals. Even after
several appeals by the Sector Commanders Forum and other groups to
initiate the process of the trial, this government has chosen to look
the other way. This is also the same government which has been sitting
on the draft policy against sexual harassment, just like all other
previous governments, and expressing shyness about taking a decision
about it. But given how much resistance and intimidation was faced by
the government after implementing the [watered down] National Policy
on Advancement of Women, this dilly-dallying does not come as much of
a surprise.

The latest incident seems to have been incited by none other than the
Islami Oikya Jote chairperson Fazlul Huq Amini who "announced" that
"all sculptures in the country should be razed to the ground." Amini
is the same person who carried out a violent and hate-filled campaign
against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in 2004-05. He is also the
person behind the furious protest against the women's policy,
proclaiming a fatwa that by announcing the policy, the caretaker
government has spoken against the Quran. Amini also said in a press
statement that if ever an Islamic party came to power in Bangladesh it
would ban Grameen Bank from operating in the country, calling Nobel
laureate Yunus, an "enemy of Islam." So the government has basically
given in to a demand of a group which is essentially anti-secularism,
anti-women's empowerment, and anti-empowerment of the poor!

And the giving in to this demand seems to be spreading across the
country like a virus. Already a statement signed by 101 leaders of
various Islamic groups has demanded that the construction of a
sculpture named Bijay Bihanga, or the bird of victory being set up in
Barsial marking the liberation of the city from the Pakistani forces
in 1971, should be immediately stopped. The work had been 'approved'
by religious leaders earlier.

At one time Bangladesh was termed as a moderate Muslim country. The
majority Muslims could live peacefully with people of other faiths --
the second largest followers of the faith, the Hindus along with
Christians, Buddhists and other minorities. Although inter-faith
marriages were culturally been frowned upon, religion induced clashes
were unheard of. And then the bombs went off at the Pahela Boishakh
celebrations in 2001, which proved to be a turning point in changing
the country's identity of "moderate Muslim."

But how did Amini and many like him get to this position of power?
After Ershad's fall in 1991 the Bangladeshi public were only too happy
to see BNP and AL either in power or as the opposition in the
parliament. After nine years of dictatorship rule, what more could the
people ask for?

The first blow came when BNP decided that forming a coalition with
Jamaat, many of whose leaders are known collaborators of the Pakistan
army, would give them the political edge they needed to stay in
parliament.

The second blow came when Awami League, who boasted of being
secular-left in nature, decided it, too, would form a coalition with
Khelafat Majlish. That coalition never worked out, but the damage had
been done. When the two major political parties have shown their
insecurities in front of extremist groups, expecting a caretaker
government to take a stand against the hard-liners would be too much
to expect. Or would it?

The political identity of Bangladesh is changing fast. If the
caretaker government does indeed want to root out corruption and
restore its identity as a moderate Muslim country, giving in to the
demands of the hard-liners must stop immediately. That can only start
with the restoring of the baul sculptures to where they belong.