Mohammad Jashim Uddin
Now people keep their eyes at Shahbagh demo for a number of reasons. Everyday comes and goes with a tension and hope of uncertainty. Uncertainty increases every moment for the demonstration for and against the Shahbagh voice. A great question has been arisen whether they are inspired by the spirit of the Liberation War or political influence. Whatever the question has been arisen is not a matter to me because I am happy to hear the real voice of Joy Bangla there.
Whenever I hear the voice, I can recall the history of the Liberation War because the voice influenced mass people to join in the Liberation War and sacrifice their lives. That is why we see then a number of people took weapons against the Pakistani armies in 1971. After the Liberation War it has been politicized though some claim that Joy Bangla is voiced repeatedly at the gathering, which the party finds an effort to politicize the moment.
I also believe that the youth at Shahbagh are losing their neutrality day by day. Though the gathering is claimed to be a natural one from the stage, it is gradually becoming clear that an effort is on to capture its leadership by the followers of a particular political party and their controversial and illegal connection with the government. Moreover they cannot fix their motto yet.
Though the opposition party doubts the neutrality of the youth for uttering Joy Bangla as a slogan, I disagree with BNP. No doubt there is a question and serious doubt has arisen in the public mind about the neutrality of the gathering as a slogan, much voice during the Liberation War which lost its general acceptability due to its utter politicization in the post-independence era, is being repeatedly reverberated in it. But we should also remember Joy Bangla is not an asset of any political party. It is a voice which showed us a path in 1971 to sacrifice huge lives for the liberation War. So it can again take its charge on its shoulder to influence the people to fight against illegal and biased judgments of ICT.
Last forty two years we have forgotten to say,”Get up, stand up. . . . . don’t give up the fight.” For the political suppression actually we have forgotten to say these. But when a group of young people have come to the Projonmo Chattar at Shahbag with those voices, the suppressed people start to awake quickly and to feel about their rights. So it will not be exaggeration to say the Shahbagh demo is a mass awaking.
Before discussing the prospect of the demonstration in future, we should know why the young people around 30 years old have gathered to demand a satisfactory verdict against Kader Mollah. ‘ The main reason behind the Shahbagh demonstration is a fed up nation treating an insufficient verdict by the judiciary which resulted from the ruling party spending years droning on about ensuring justice for the wartime atrocities and using it for their election manifesto even, and then doing something as ridiculous as following ill prepared and inexperienced lawyers to conduct the hearings just to maintains their political promises- simply as the catalyst for all the big issues that have been playing the nation since 1971.’ Thus it is the evaluation of a young man. From his evaluation some confusions are arisen in our mind.
In order to get a satisfied verdict why has the government failed to have appointed any qualified procicure and judiciary board? Why has the government failed to collect strong evident for the war crime judgment? Why has the government not justified the laws before starting the cases? These types of questions are huge everywhere and the answers are unknown to us.
Will we forgive the Pakistan army after a formal apology for 1971? Will we ever forgive the rajakers who will live and eat in my country and speak my language after betraying it? Should we claim that there is no traitor except Jamat and Shibir? Who are rapping , killing and harassing our mother and sister now? Who are involved in crime and bribery now? Why are all corrupted and present rapists protesting with the young people at Shahbagh? Why do the Tarun Projonmo not raise any voice against corruptions, and for life security?
Regarding this my direct opinion is that the protest is biased and political because the Projonmo has no backbone to protest against the government and the judiciary bodies. If they have, they first protest against the government for their failure everywhere especially appointing the inexperienced judges and lawyers and the court because the court has given a biased verdict not Jamat. From the verdict it is clear that there is a compromise between Jamat and the government; and the court implement the will of both parties. So, if there is any fault, it is the government’s failure.
Some claim ‘people are using barbaric slogans demanding hanging, it is true, and there are parents who have taken little children there who are too young to understand there things and some inferred they are learning that violence is encouraged. I agree that young children do not have the capacity to understand the gravity of the situation. But consider this, a lot of our parents were children during the war were the war were they mature enough to understand what was going on when their family members, neighbors and friends were tortured and killed before their very eyes.’ I don’t disagree with these feelings but I would like to make them a question why do you not raise any voice against those who are involved in inhanious jobs for political gain? Why are most of people worried? Can you tell me where the nation goes?
I personally believe Jamat-Shibir, the biased judiciary of ICT and Awami league or the present government is standing in a single point. So, if we fail to fight against all of them for their corrupted activists, the nation will never get mental strength to stand up in future and we must lose our spirit of the Liberation war.
Source: New From Bangladesh
The writer’s erudite writing is really appreciable; but there remain many questions to answer. Before delving into the core questions one must admit that emotion can play its role to a certain point but then comes the question of sagacity and vision. As the writer says ‘joy Bangla’ was a very popular war-cry during our war of liberation no doubt. And it’s true that it was monopolized by a particular party for which it was no more acceptable to all. In fact the whole spirit of liberation war was monopolized by that party which sowed the first seeds of division among the people who stood rock-solid in the war against the occupation forces. Then the reason for which ‘joy Bangla’ replaced ‘Bangladesh Zindabad’ was not tenable because the party that monopolized the slogan is itself known by its non-Bengali name. What does the word ‘awam’ means?
Then comes the question of trying the ‘criminals against humanity’. I’m sure there was, and still is, none who doesn’t want this. But question is: why now? We all know that a family of 5/6 members has different political bent and evidently it has been a very very difficult task to try a father, whose sons may be involved in different political parties. And what we are witnessing now? The more-than-100 people who got killed might not be against the trial, at least many of them. So what did we get? A more divided and disarrayed nation which is already groaning under chaos and anarchy, corruption and plundering, uncertainty and anxiety. And what is the role of the so-called ‘projonmo chattar’ to better the prevailing situation? As the writer rightly summarizes – nothing. They have already lost their direction and any further advance on their part is bound to make the division deeper and deeper. None should forget that this few thousand young people are only a microscopic conglomeration compared to over 50 million of their contemporaries. Do these youth represent all of them? I’m sure, NO.