The January 5 general election has highlighted the differences between the Bengali secularists led by Sheikh Hasina’s Awami league and the Islamists led by Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party
When the subcontinent was partitioned on August 15, 1947, what emerged was the issue of whether religion alone could be the primary basis of nationhood. Mahatma Gandhi envisaged the creation of a pluralistic nation state, cherishing its ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural diversity; Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah equated unity with uniformity, holding that religion (Islam) constitutes the primary basis of what he called his “moth eaten” Pakistan. Within six months of Pakistan coming into being, Jinnah showed scant regard for the sentiments of the Bengali speaking majority in the country, declaring: “Urdu alone will be the sole official language of the state”. Proud of their Bengali literary and cultural ethos, the people of East Pakistan rose in revolt against Jinnah.
The fault lines in Jinnah’s Pakistan ultimately led to a civil war in 1971 and the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation. In the course of the bloody civil war in 1971, the Pakistani Army and its fundamentalist Islamist allies like the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Razakars resorted to an orgy of pillage, violence and rape. An estimated three million people perished in the civil war. The Pakistani Army resorted to mass rape as an instrument of state policy. Most of those responsible for the atrocities of 1971 got away unscathed. They are finally being brought to justice with a War Crimes Fact Finding Committee indicting 1,597 people for war crimes in 1971. A number of leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami have been indicted, with one senior leader sentenced to death and hanged.
There has been a battle for the ‘soul of Bangladesh’ since its birth, between the secularists led by the Awami league founded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the Right-wing Bangladesh Nationalist Party, founded by military ruler General Ziaur Rahman who abrogated the secular provisions of his country’s Constitution. The BNP is now led by Gen Zia’s widow Khaleda Zia, who has made no secret of her kinship with Islamist causes and parties. The Jamaat-e-Islami, which does not enjoy large public support, draws its muscle and firepower from extremist Salafi organisations worldwide. The Awami league, led by Sheikh Mujib’s daughter Sheikh Hasina, is secular and protective of minority Hindus and Buddhists. It has ensured that the Jamaat-e-Islami is banned from participation in electoral politics, because of its advocacy of sharia’h law, which violates the country’s Constitution.
Given their intense personal and ideological differences, Ms Hasina and Begum Zia are barely on talking terms. The run up to the recent election was marked by unprecedented violence, following a call for boycott by Begum Zia. Ms Hasina went ahead with the elections and her party has been returned with a two-thirds majority. The fight between the secularists and the Islamists has now entered a new phase, with the BNP and its Islamist allies resorting to violence. Complicating the internal political situation is the role of external powers. While India has remained correct and urged political reconciliation, the refusal by Begum Zia to even talk to her opponent, has hardened positions in New Delhi. India has endorsed the legitimacy of the recent election and called for talks to end the political impasse.
The endorsement of the Constitutional validity of the recent Bangladesh election by India reflects a broad national consensus of support for a secular and extremely friendly leader. Ms Hasina had been conciliatory to her opponents and abided by the provisions of her country’s Constitution. She needs Indian understanding, in the wake of challenges posed by a rabidly Islamist and anti-Indian Opposition. The two earlier tenures of Begum Zia were marked by hostility towards India and support to separatist groups like United liberation Front of Assam. Bangladesh became the eastern base for Pakistan-backed terrorist groups like the Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami and the lashkar-e-Tayyeba. Even though New Delhi has reached out to Begum Zia and hosted her at high-level meetings, her viscerally anti-Indian propensities appear undiminished.
Ever since the birth of Bangladesh, which was seen as a setback for American global power, and exposed the limitations of the Nixon-Mao alliance in Asia, the US has adopted a less-than-friendly position towards the secular Awami league. While American support for the Right-wing BNP is predictable, what has been shocking is the American propensity to act as an apologist for the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, whose cadres were involved in horrendous crimes during the country’s war for freedom. While China has been cautious in responding to current events in Bangladesh, it has traditionally been close to Begum Zia’s BNP. Begum Zia was received by then Vice President Xi Jinping, when she visited China in 2013. She was also warmly received during a visit to Saudi Arabia the same year. Russia, facing an Islamist insurgency across its Caucasian region, has backed India.
Pakistan’s response to recent events in Bangladesh has been predictable. While its Foreign Office has mouthed pious sentiments about non-interference in the internal affairs of Bangladesh, its mercurial Home Minister Chaudhury Nisar Ali Khan has openly backed the fundamentalists. The European Union’s approach to recent developments in Bangladesh has been perceptive and forward looking. The European Parliament has asked Begum Zia’s BNP to cut its links with the two main fundamentalist outfits given to using muscle power and street violence — the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Hefazat-e-Islam. It has noted that “parties which turn to terrorist acts should be banned”. This pressure appears to be working, with signs that Begum Zia may be willing to reconsider the BNP’s ties with the Jamaat.
India has denounced the resort to violence by some political parties and radical Islamic groups, while supporting the Constitutional process in Bangladesh. It should now focus on its diplomacy, particularly with the US, on the terrorist links and dangers posed by radical groups, like the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Hefazat-e-Islam, which have intimidated, terrorised and assaulted the Hindu minority, in the run up to the recent election. Channels of communication with Begum Zia should be maintained, making it clear that political parties that support the Constitution of Bangladesh need to work together.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India should assist and facilitate the conduct of the T-20 World Cup in Bangladesh. That country has to be reassured about our commitment to implementing the land Boundary Agreement and our readiness to accelerate and expand economic cooperation. Western aid donors and Japan should be persuaded to do likewise.
