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3rd CFI sponsored
Monthly Meetings of Humanists of Bangladesh and other South Asian origin:
A detailed report
(arranged jointly by CFI and Mukto-Mona) Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
-Confucius As I like to say these days- usage of the word “rise” about “militant Islam” is already on rise. And now it is high time that we abandon amateurish intellectual discussions and be serious about finding a solution. It seemed to me- all our honorable and distinguished keynote speakers were well aware of this fact during last 28th August, 2004’s Monthly Meetings for Humanists of Bangladesh and other South Asian origin. The topic- literally speaking- was “Exponential Rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh and Other South Asian Countries: In Search of a Solution”. The event was fully supported and generously sponsored by Center for Free Inquiry Metro New York (www.cfimetrony.org). And It was arranged jointly by CFI metro NY and Mukto-Mona (www.mukto-mona.com). The session was chaired by Dr. Austin Dacey, a published author and editor of Philo, a magazine on natural philosophy, of CFI. Ms Susan Jacoby, the executive director, a former journalist of Washington Post but now a freelance journalist and author of recently released NYT acclaimed book “Freethinker: A History of American Secularism”, couldn’t make it herself to the event; however, she sent a strong message expressing her profound condolence on unfortunate demise of Dr. Azad and solidarity with what she thinks “all of our causes”. If any good thing recent unfortunate demise of Prof. Dr. Humayun Azad –beyond doubt an incalculable loss- and increase of grenade attacks on opposition political rallies, progressive organizations’ gatherings, and assaults on journalists/secular intellectuals in Bangladesh has done at all: it is the need for unity of all secular minded people/organizations. Repeatedly this has been echoed by almost all keynote speakers. Another unique aspect of last 28 August’s gathering was that we were fortunate to have many bright and esteemed secular thinkers of Bengali origin assembled at one place. Not ever since we started, in the history of CFI metro NY sponsored Bengali and South Asian humanists’ group discussions, did it happen before! The guests were received by Dr. Dacey at 11.00 am and after a coffee break the session started with a moment of silence for one minute, as a token of grievance, to the death of Dr. Humayun Azad and all those died in recent grenade attacks on opposition party rally. Moderator then requested Dr. Dacey to explain CFI and its mission. Following this, the speech session began. 1. Mr. Shariar Kabir: (Moderator’s note: Many of us are writers. Some are human rights activists too. However, what makes Kabir unique is his firm determination and exemplary courage in the face of so many known risk factors to raise voice against and report mass attacks on minority Hindu community and opposition political party leaders/activists in the aftermath of October, 2001, general election by political activists, leaders of radical Jamayet-e-Islami and BNP. Reaching out victims in many remote areas of Bangladesh; recording, interviewing them was not a piece of cake. And Kabir did it like a brave soldier. He is a pioneer in secular journalism in BD, acting President of “Committee for Resisting War Criminals and Collaborators of 1971 liberation war of BD”, South Asian Representative of Holland-based Institute of Social Study and a writer of several books. A brave freedom fighter himself; Kabir lost two of his first cousins in 1971- prominent journalist martyr Shahidullah Kaisar and noted writer-cum-film maker Joheer Raihan. He was imprisoned for two months by Khaleda-Nizami regime. Amnesty International called him ‘Prisoner of Conscience’ and he is an equally familiar face among London-based IHEU (International Humanist & Ethical Union) and USA based CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists)).
What did he say? “Their agenda is an open secret one”, said Kabir. “And it is- transforming Bangladesh which has been harboring secular heritage for hundreds of years into a theocratic state.” It is hard to argue with Shahriar Kabir when he points out: “long before they came to power; Islamic fundamentalists openly declared in streets, ‘We shall be Taleban, Bangla will be Afghan.’” “In Bangladesh, today the connotation of the word ‘minority’ is not confined to any one particular religious sect; to the contrary, it means both religious and ethnic sects such as Hindu, Quadiyani and all secular writers/intellectuals and even non-partisan journalists.” Citing examples Shahriar Kabir shows- how lately the four party alliance based government (mis)guided by Jamayaet-e-Islami is taking its revenge of defeat during 1971 by turning Bangladesh toward their ‘dream state’ Pakistan. “Consider recent rise of killings of Ahmedia community and capture of all their mosques in the country; consider government’s ban on their books, publications. And if this continues, I’m sure- soon government would declare Ahmedias as ‘non-Muslim’ just like the way their counter part did in Pakistan.” “Jamayat’s hand is very long. Even in USA, they are active. Taking advantage of identity crisis of 2nd generations of Bangladesh, Jamayat is giving them impression- not Bengali, rather- their only and sole identity is Islam and guess which version of Islam? Wahhabism.” Through a similar experience- Kabir met one Bangladeshi in China, who was preaching for Harkatul Jihad. What is the solution? According to Shahriar Kabir :
Lastly- Shahriar Kabir said: it would be a grave mistake to think- all Muslims are terrorists. Nope! He cited from his own experience: TATARSTAN, a republic under Russian Federation- in his words- only secular Muslim country in the world. In Tatarstan- S. Kabir says, ” Muslims and Christians are living amid amity and peace for about a thousand years. They have been fighting Wahhabism for last 155 years. Wahhabism, the Saudi based chauvinistic version of Islam, didn’t find its way and Kabir presented a magnificent DVD in support of his statement at the end on Tatarstan. 2. Dr. Barrister Zia U. Ahmed: (Moderator’s note: Admittedly- it was my ignorance that I didn’t know him and only through Mr. Shahriar Kabir got myself acquainted. However- it didn’t take me long to realize- how deeply committed this man is to the causes of democracy, human rights and secularism. And as for deteriorating situations in Bangladesh, he is no less concerned than many of us. I would say –more. Suffice would be to mention- the day we held seminar, Dr. Zia had a flight to return to Belgium where he is a faculty member in Dept. of Jurisprudence at Catholic University. Despite this and having a dangerously fragile health, he made it to our meeting. He is also an attorney at International court for the trial of war criminals.) What did he say? In 1971 Bangladesh was born as a secular state. Two remarkable aspects of 1972 constitution were a) secularism and b) ban on political use of religion. Unfortunately during 1976, through 5th amendment both these aspects were deleted, paving the way for fundamentalist political parties to use religion as a political tool. What is even worse- later regime instilled “Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim” into the constitution and through 8th amendment- Islam was declared a state religion; thus burying the secular nature of 1972 constitution. Initially religious reactionary forces had no support. However-with a gap of 33 years- those who once either fled the country, or lied dormant, are now the partners of the government in power. If their agenda is let to succeed; it’s not only minorities such as Hindu, Ahmedia, Christians, Buddhists et al, but also all the secularists and freethinkers of Muslim origin will become second class citizen (in a sharia based country). Ascendancy of mullahs is not only a threat for Bangladesh and South Asia, but for whole world. e.g. link between 9/11 in USA and Talibans located thousand miles away. What is the solution?
3. Mr. Syed Hasan Imam: (Moderator’s note: Syed Hasan Imam, the most elderly speaker, is the President of Udichee, the leading secular and progressive cultural organization in Bangladesh. He is also one of the prominent actors and drama directors in country. Ever since four party alliances came to power in 2001; Mr. Imam is out of country. Reasons? The pro-Jamayat government in its vengeful act sued Imam for bomb explosion that took place during previous government.) What did he say? /what is the solution? More than us, government of USA/CIA already knows- what is happening back in Bangladesh. However- what we need to do is to inform common public, senators and congressman – who may not get correct information which comes only through control and filtration of government. During 1971 despite government’s otherwise policy, people of America were for the liberations of Bangladesh. Same public should be informed that if Bangladesh continues to be controlled by reactionary forces, 9/11 criminals would not vanish from the surface of the earth. 4. Mrs. Manju Biswas: (Moderator’s note: A multifaceted women- Mrs. Biswas is same time a senior scientist (at Barr Labs, USA), a drama activist, writer and the executive director of the budding organization which is on its way: DEEP (Development Enhanced by the Employment of Poor). The identity I feel compelled to uphold about her is a devoted secularist since she has remained in touch with me through personal communications for long time and has shown great interest about our activity, in particular, attending the meetings. Mrs. Biswas lived and worked in many Arab countries. She is fluent in Arabic. During 1971 liberation war-she used to provide food to the victims of the crisis.) What did she say? /What is the solution? Rise of militant Islam is a global as well as a local issue of concern and the common people are the real victims. Obviously-her main concern is poor class. It reminds me (moderator) of the saying of a great man:” so long as there will be poverty, there will be religion.” In her words,” when two big powers keep fighting, poor nations such as ours becomes the real victim.” Mrs. Biswas also has her own reservation about the term “minority”. “When I worked in rural areas – I saw- first thing people care about is food. If Saudi provides them food, they have no problem.” She also accompanied US congressman Joseph Crowley during his trip to Bangladesh. Citing a personal example from her own family- she elaborated- how religious identity even among Bangladeshi-American generations has become a determining factor of identity. “Are you a Hindu, or a Muslim?” question her college going daughter faced so often that it stimulated her mind and consequently she changed her major to Anthropology. It may be mentioned- Mrs. Biswas is married to a Muslim husband. “From ‘love over hatred’, it’s become now ‘hatred over love’”. Lastly- her emphasis was on “less lectures, more actions.” “So called ‘majority’ would be killed too, if action on a timely basis is not taken”. “Ethnic cleansing is just start for them.” She cited example of Dr. Azad. 5. Representative from Ahmedia Movement in Islam, Inc. : (Moderator’s note: While I was inviting people to attend this seminar; Mr. Shahriar Kabir recommended a leader of a community that has been, is being, persecuted, harassed ,and their mosques being destroyed across the Bangladesh recently on a scary level. I am talking about Quadiyani community and their US based leader Mr. Zinda M. Bajwa. Mr. Bajwa sought an apology for his inability to make it to our meeting; however, he promised to send a representative, who turned out to be his own son: a handsome youth) What did he say? In Pakistan Quadiyanis are hated so much even by the state that a Pak citizen, if were to fill up a form to apply for passport, it becomes mandatory to declare- he/she considers Quadiyani not as Muslim (exception to the rule- when it comes to take pride in citing Prof. Salam, first Muslim scientist to win the Nobel prize). It’s in same Pakistan that a Muslim, if wishes peace to a Quadiyani by saying “Assalamualaikum”, could be imprisoned for three years! This is not simply a question of belief. Rather, a gross violation of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Nothing would be more unfortunate than to see Bangladesh getting transformed into a Pakistan because it was not created to be so (Moderator’s note: I wish every Bangladeshi desired what a foreign Muslim did about Bangladesh!). We don’t preach, or believe in Jihads. Ours is a very small number of peace-loving sects. Call it cowardly- our ideals don’t encourage us in any form of violence, not even resistance. So you see in Pakistan- most Quadiyanis simply leave country in the face of tortures and persecutions. Last Session: Video/DVD presentation. A touchy scene was evoked by the video that displayed a trip of Prof. Dr. Huyamun Azad to his village Ralikhari, Bikrampoor, a few days prior to his death. Azad was accompanied by his family members and long time family friend NY based poet/editor HassanAl Abdullah who recorded the video and brought it to CFI meetings. Every word Dr. Azad said was worth listening. In a nutshell: it was his concerns for a country that lost its way and far off its dreams and aspirations of 1971. Even during speech- Azad didn’t forget to mention- it was Nizami and Saidee who were behind brutal assaults on him. Another instructive DVD was “Tatarstan : A Land of peace and amity”, recorded and edited by Shahriar Kabir. I must confess- unless I watched it for myself- I couldn’t believe- such a country could exist on our planet. A republic under Russian federation, Tatarstan is a secular Muslim country where Muslims and Christians are living side by, just like the pictures of adjacent mosques and churches, or people on the streets in DVD, amid amity, peace, love and harmony for hundreds of years! Can you imagine- in Tatarstan- Mosque authority donates to build Church and vice versa? Tatarstan , I strongly believe, could be an excellent model country/society to study/research factors affecting communal harmony. Besides tea-coffee, the issues of CFI publications-Free Inquiry, Skeptical Inquirer were free for all participants. Dr. Dacey gave us a signal that in future- an international conference on similar topic might be arranged with secular thinkers/writers/human rights activist drawn from all South Asian countries. Preparation for such conference is bound to take a long time although it’s of utmost necessity. Through this report – I would like to assure Dr. Dacey , director Susan Jacoby, and CFI Chairman Prof. Paul Kurtz: Mukto-Mona would provide all kinds of help it’s capable of, if a sponsor could be found. -Jahed Ahmed Moderator Monthly Discussion Group for Humanists’ of Bangladesh and other South Asian origin And (The end) New York 09/04/04 |
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