By Mumtaz Alam and Atif Jaleel, India Tomorrow,
New Delhi, 02 May 2014: For the outside world, particularly its neighboring nations, there may be normalcy in Bangladesh. It is not so, there is nothing normal in the eastern neighborhood of India, say two senior Kolkata-based Bengali journalists who visited the 43-year-old nation in mid-March 2014. “Right from the airport to the hotel, we asked more or less seven to eight common people about what was going on there. Everyone told us democracy is in danger in Bangladesh,” says SR Vishwas. Another senior journalist Abdul Aziz, who was with Vishwas, recounts: “There seemed as though some typhoon had just hit the land or there is the calm before the storm”.
Excerpts from the Interview:
When you stepped out on the soil of Bangladesh, what was your first feeling?
SR Vishwas: We reached Dhaka airport on the 17th of March 2014. Generally the Bengalis are very peaceful people. They do not like this communal fighting and all these things. But now in Bangladesh, a great political disturbance is continuing. Right from the airport to the hotel, we asked more or less seven to eight common people about what was going on there. Everyone told us that democracy in Bangladesh was at stake. It does not exist there. Opposition leaders are in jail. Some newspapers and some TV channels which are against the ruling party Awami League have already been banned. Some people, who are mostly religious, are afraid of entering the Dhaka University campus. This is the situation there. So now the political situation in Bangladesh is not good. The general public does not like it.
Abdul Aziz: Over there it seems as though some typhoon came and as though another typhoon is going to hit there soon. There were strikes going on and death sentences were given as well, due to that there was a lot of commotion. The arrests have been made on a very large scale against the opposition. At the moment, it seems as the waters are still and flowing normally, nothing is wrong. But as soon as a flood comes, everything on the inside comes out. So when we got out of the airport, we saw Bangladesh in that same manner. It feels as though a typhoon is coming.
Do people support Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s decision to set up war tribunal and reopen old cases to prosecute and execute opposition leaders?
SR Vishwas: I am originally from Bangladesh. My birthplace is also in Bangladesh. I participated in the Freedom movement of Bangladesh. I am a freedom fighter. That should make you understand that I am very much with the Bangladesh Liberation movement. But I am very sorry to say that, already 42 years have passed after the liberation movement. Now they have formed this tribunal and all these things. I also do not know, the common people also do not know what happened 42 years ago. Whether they are war criminals or not, it is very difficult for the common people to know. Particularly with Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, for the common people cutting across the parties, Awami League, BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Hindu or Muslims, he is very popular with the public, which is a fact. And this man, he has already been an MP from for 3 terms and his constituency is thickly populated by the minority people – the Hindus. They have been casting their votes in favour of Sayeedi.
So the common people feel that something is wrong there. Because why after 42 years is this happening? The common man thinks that it is party politics. He may or may not be a war criminal but the common man thinks so because they are not sure. They think it is a very wrong thing happening against Sayeedi. And when we were in Bangladesh, his son also contested in the upozila nirbachon (sub-district elections) in a Hindu majority area. At that time we came to know that he won by a big margin. So the public is very much against the trial of Sayeedi.
Mr. Vishwas, you said that you took part in the independence movement of Bangladesh. So you are the best person to talk on this topic. There are heinous charges, serious charges against some leaders of Jamat Islami that some of them took part in gang-rapes and in the massacre of people. Do you see any truth in these charges?
SR Vishwas: Actually, I was 17-18 years old at that time. I have written an article on the Shahbag movement. In this article, I pointed out two incidents. In one, 4,000-5,000 Bihari Muslims were killed by the pro-Liberation people. And I saw with my own eyes 17 Kabuliwallahs (Afghanis) were killed by the pro-Liberation movement. They thought that they were Biharis but actually they were Kabuliwallahs (Afghanis). These two incidents I witnessed. Now nobody is there to raise this question because it was committed by the pro-Liberation people or leaders. But it is true that some war-crimes were committed by the Pakistani army. But we do not know whether these people were accused. Because Mujibur Rehman did not charge anybody. Hasina was an ally to Jamat. That time she had not raised this question. So I think it is a party politics. Mainly it is a party politics
What is the truth about reported attacks on Hindu minority in Bangladesh?
Abdul Aziz: When we went there, we mostly met the leaders of the Hindu community. What they had to say was that there are some people who take over their lands easily. And there are some people who try to destroy their temples in the night. But some of the good things that we learned from the Hindus who live there was that the common Muslims there do not support these actions and resist them. And because of their resistance, the people who do such acts to create communal tensions, they don’t receive any support from the public. There is definitely some insecurity that they feel there. But as it is in India, the violent riots and the high communal tensions that we have, they do not have the same. It is close to 2% of the same communal feelings that we have here in India.
SR Vishwas: I would like to say something on this point. Actually the Hindus in Bangladesh, they are feeling insecure. But the type of communal incidents we see in India, are not happening in Bangladesh. It is very minor incident. There are some anti-social elements that are doing this. Neither the political parties nor the administration is sponsoring this thing. But despite of this, the Hindus feel insecure and they thought they will not be able to live in that country. And these Hindu communities are mostly lower caste people. They are very poor, weak. They are also not united. So it is a psychological problem. But incidents do occur and it is very high. One thing that’s interesting and a very good thing. A big portion of the Muslim community there is standing with the Hindu people. It is a very good thing. But still some incidents are happening and they feel very much insecure. But whatever happening there, the media are propagating that the Jamaat people are doing it. We met with Jamaat and Bangladesh Nationalist Party leaders and common people, Awami League people also. I belong to a minority group, I have house there as well. My brothers also live there, my mother as well. They tell me that the Muslims are not very hostile to them. Rather I asked my own people if whether the Muslims don’t like you or you don’t like the Muslims? And I’m telling you honestly that they said ‘actually we the Hindus do not trust the Muslims, do not like Muslims. So I think it is propaganda what is going on, because of the RSS and this thing. It has also influenced the Hindus of Bangladesh. They feel that Muslims are not good, they’re bad.
I’d like to share an interesting experience on this tour. The minorities in Bangladesh, they have 4 or 5 demands. One, they want a minority ministry. It does not exist. They are asking for a commission, like Sachar Committee, to see what the condition of the minority community is in Bangladesh. Number two, they are demanding a reservation in politics and (public) services. And we asked a question, first we met with the Hindu leaders, then we asked the Jamaat, BNP and Awami League. Awami League and BNP, they are against this reservation and the other demands of the minorities. But Jamaat, it was very new to me, Jamaat leader said that we are in favour of this demand, and if we come to power, we’ll demand and we will implement these things.
Abdul Aziz: One thing more. In our media, it was spreading that people responsible for the breaking of temples and the people causing the disturbance are actually Jamaat Islami people. But when we were there, the people said, especially the Muslim community, that it had been by gundas of the ruling parties but the allegation is made on Jamaat. This is the regular feature in Bangladesh.
Do you think Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Khalida Zia and Bangladesh Jamaat Islami will emerge stronger against the ruling Awami League of Sheikh Hasina?
SR Vishwas: The common people told us that that if it was a fair election and BNP and Jamaat Islami had participated, then definitely the BNP – Jamaat Islami alliance would have won. Now also the situation is that, if a free and fair election is there then Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP will come to power. 50% of the seats they (Awami League) won unopposed out of the 400. And 5% to 10% was the voter turnout only. You can feel that such a poor voter turnout means most of the people are against the Awami League. So in the near future, if a free and fair election takes place Awami League will not be in power.
Abdul Aziz: This is an established fact that when the election took place, the last election, only 5% voters appeared in the election. So in my opinion, this is a referendum against the present government. When this is a referendum against the government, it means that the opposition is very, very strong. And at any time emerge in Bangladesh. Common people, writers, journalists, opinion makers and political persons are saying that in only a few months, maximum one year, the situation may change. And the opposition will come again.
Is media in Bangladesh free and independent?
SR Vishwas: It is not at all fair. It not a good situation to write against the ruling parties so this is all going on. Sharabjit Chaudhary, a renowned Brahmin journalist in Bangladesh is also afraid he may be arrested. Mahmoodur Rahman, Editor of daily Amar Deep was also arrested. It is very critical situation in Bangladesh.
Abdul Aziz: When we stepped out on the soil of Bangladesh, our first feeling was that there was emergency – there is indeed an undeclared emergency. We know very well about emergency when it was declared in our country. But ours is a better democracy for the people.
The state of emergency in Bangladesh is very bleak and inhuman. The media people are under check. The TV channels and newspapers were totally opposing the ruling party. So there is no democracy. No one can freely speak against the ruling party.
In terms of freedom of media, judiciary and rule and law, how do you compare India with Bangladesh?
SR Vishwas: In India, the condition here isn’t good either but they maintain a system. In Bangladesh, the government does whatever it likes. But in both of these countries, they do not honour the judiciary and other things. They are using the system. In Bangladesh, they do it openly.
Abdul Aziz: Judiciary is not independent in Bangladesh. The judiciary runs under the ruling party and the judgment is not delivered by the judges. This is a pre-planned judgment passed by the ruling party and the judges only announce the judgment. I can say that the so-called war tribunal mainly consists of the ruling party. And the people who are making in the enquiry are from the ruling party as well. So this is not the judiciary. This is namely a section of the ruling party that is doing this.
