Nationalism to Liberation
Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque and Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder :
We fought Liberation War not only for economic emancipation. Bengali nationalism created out of perennial exploitation and neglect and cultural subjugation during 24-year of Pakistan period was the main force behind Liberation War in 1971. Bangabandhu contributed largely to the development of Bengali nationalism. “He is not merely an individual. He is an institution and a movement. He showed the path of movement against ruthless exploitation and deprivation being a real friend to Bengali masses. He shaped our perception about own culture and political rights and dreams of sonar Bangla. As Abdur Gaffar Chowdhury remarked : “In the thousand-year history of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujib is the only leader who has in terms of blood, race, language, culture and birth, been a full-blooded Bengali. His physical stature was immense. His voice was redolent of thunder. His charisma worked magic on people. The coverage and charm that flowed from him made him a unique superman in these times.”
Many a historian looked back long in historical antecedents so far as Bengali nationalism was concerned. In our opinion Bengali nationalism flowed from the sense of separatism the cause being step motherly attitude of non-Bengali dominated federal state of Pakistan. The author like Badruddin Omar cites events that led to Ayub’s downfall. The united state of Pakistan ended on December 16, 1971 with the surrender of the eastern command of the Pakistan armed forces. He clearly describes and analyzes these developments, basing its account on available documents and eyewitness accounts. As has been observed by Mubarak Ali: “In the twentieth century, nationalism played a very effective role in liberating countries from colonialism. However, the nature of nationalism differed from one country to another. Some states experienced territorial nationalism, while others were unified by linguistic bonds and yet others by religion. In all cases the role of nationalism was to unite different segments of society into one, irrespective of caste, creed or class. Generally nationalism began with romantic idealism but changed its character when independence was achieved.” In the words of Ranabir Samaddar, “In all nationalist construction of regime of power, the peasant is mobilised only to be demobilised soon. There has been a dilemma of the intellectuals of Bangladesh in constructing history under the influence of nationalism. The first question they face is, from where should they start? The significant moments in their history are 1905 when Bengal was divided by the British provoking a very powerful movement by the Bengali nationalists to undo it. The British government was forced to annul the partition in 1911.However, the situation changed in 1947, when Bengal was divided on religious basis and the Congress rejected the idea of an independent Bengal. Therefore, 1947 was the point in history when East Bengal became East Pakistan and aligned itself with West Pakistan on the basis of religion. Then came 1971, when Bangladesh came into existence denying Muslim nationalism and projecting linguistic sentiments to unite people under this ideology and to fight against Pakistan.
The nationalistic fervor in the creation of new state as a mark of freedom from colonialism and semi-colonialism is clearly manifest in the history of Bangladesh. The peasants in Bengal participated in Pakistan movement imbued with Muslim nationalism. This nationalism was based on Two-nation theory of Jinnah. After independence from the British raj they became disillusioned as their expectations for shaping destinies in a free country were not fulfilled. The Eastern part of Pakistan continued to be neglected having a little share in development budget and service sector despite the fact that it contributed largely in foreign exchange earnings. West Pakistan-dominated central government was least concerned about the development of East Pakistan addressing discriminations and disparities.
From the very beginning attempt was made to destroy the roots of Bengali culture. Language of the microscopic minority like Urdu was imposed as the only state language of Pakistan. ‘Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and its first Governor-General, while on a visit to East Bengal, declared in Dhaka University convocation that while the language of the province can be Bengali, the “State language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language. Any one who tries to mislead you is really an enemy of Pakistan.”
“The remark evoked an angry protest from the Bengali youth who took it as an affront: their language Bangla (Bengali) was, after all, spoken by fifty-four per cent of the population of Pakistan. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, then a university student, was among those who raised the protest slogan and was placed under detention. The Dacca University campus became the focal point for student meetings in support of the Bangla language.” (-Siddiq Salik)
Jinnah met the student representatives of Committee of Action to persuade them of the necessity of having one national language, but the students were not convinced.
“The discussion of Jinnah with the student representatives could not bear any fruit but blurred the difference between the student group led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his associates and the student group led by Shah Azizur Rahman. The National leadership resorted to repressive policies in order to crush the Bengali language and put its supporters behind bars.” (- Md. Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan)
So the seed of Bengali nationalism was anchored in Language Movement. “The Language Movement added a new dimension to politics in Pakistan. It left deep impression on the minds of the younger generation of Bengalis and imbued them with the spirit of Bengali nationalism. The passion of Bengali nationalism which was aroused by the Language Movement shall kindle in the hearts of the Bengalis forever … Perhaps very few people realised then that with the bloodshed in 1952 the new-born state of Pakistan had in fact started to bleed to death.” (- Rafiqul Islam). To mention vernacular elites backed by Bengali intelligentsia became proactive in organising the movement for cultural rights and subsequently the movement for autonomy based on Six Point. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman directed the movements from the front being a jailed leader. All such movement coalesced to develop a sense of alienation in the clear manifestation of a racial and linguistic nationalism like Bengali nationalism. Imbued with Bengali nationalism we fought liberation war in 1971 under the leadership of Babgabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1971 to create a new state of nation.
(Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque and Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder are Professor of Public Administration Chittagong University and Member PSC respectively)
We fought Liberation War not only for economic emancipation. Bengali nationalism created out of perennial exploitation and neglect and cultural subjugation during 24-year of Pakistan period was the main force behind Liberation War in 1971. Bangabandhu contributed largely to the development of Bengali nationalism. “He is not merely an individual. He is an institution and a movement. He showed the path of movement against ruthless exploitation and deprivation being a real friend to Bengali masses. He shaped our perception about own culture and political rights and dreams of sonar Bangla. As Abdur Gaffar Chowdhury remarked : “In the thousand-year history of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujib is the only leader who has in terms of blood, race, language, culture and birth, been a full-blooded Bengali. His physical stature was immense. His voice was redolent of thunder. His charisma worked magic on people. The coverage and charm that flowed from him made him a unique superman in these times.”
Many a historian looked back long in historical antecedents so far as Bengali nationalism was concerned. In our opinion Bengali nationalism flowed from the sense of separatism the cause being step motherly attitude of non-Bengali dominated federal state of Pakistan. The author like Badruddin Omar cites events that led to Ayub’s downfall. The united state of Pakistan ended on December 16, 1971 with the surrender of the eastern command of the Pakistan armed forces. He clearly describes and analyzes these developments, basing its account on available documents and eyewitness accounts. As has been observed by Mubarak Ali: “In the twentieth century, nationalism played a very effective role in liberating countries from colonialism. However, the nature of nationalism differed from one country to another. Some states experienced territorial nationalism, while others were unified by linguistic bonds and yet others by religion. In all cases the role of nationalism was to unite different segments of society into one, irrespective of caste, creed or class. Generally nationalism began with romantic idealism but changed its character when independence was achieved.” In the words of Ranabir Samaddar, “In all nationalist construction of regime of power, the peasant is mobilised only to be demobilised soon. There has been a dilemma of the intellectuals of Bangladesh in constructing history under the influence of nationalism. The first question they face is, from where should they start? The significant moments in their history are 1905 when Bengal was divided by the British provoking a very powerful movement by the Bengali nationalists to undo it. The British government was forced to annul the partition in 1911.However, the situation changed in 1947, when Bengal was divided on religious basis and the Congress rejected the idea of an independent Bengal. Therefore, 1947 was the point in history when East Bengal became East Pakistan and aligned itself with West Pakistan on the basis of religion. Then came 1971, when Bangladesh came into existence denying Muslim nationalism and projecting linguistic sentiments to unite people under this ideology and to fight against Pakistan.
The nationalistic fervor in the creation of new state as a mark of freedom from colonialism and semi-colonialism is clearly manifest in the history of Bangladesh. The peasants in Bengal participated in Pakistan movement imbued with Muslim nationalism. This nationalism was based on Two-nation theory of Jinnah. After independence from the British raj they became disillusioned as their expectations for shaping destinies in a free country were not fulfilled. The Eastern part of Pakistan continued to be neglected having a little share in development budget and service sector despite the fact that it contributed largely in foreign exchange earnings. West Pakistan-dominated central government was least concerned about the development of East Pakistan addressing discriminations and disparities.
From the very beginning attempt was made to destroy the roots of Bengali culture. Language of the microscopic minority like Urdu was imposed as the only state language of Pakistan. ‘Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and its first Governor-General, while on a visit to East Bengal, declared in Dhaka University convocation that while the language of the province can be Bengali, the “State language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language. Any one who tries to mislead you is really an enemy of Pakistan.”
“The remark evoked an angry protest from the Bengali youth who took it as an affront: their language Bangla (Bengali) was, after all, spoken by fifty-four per cent of the population of Pakistan. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, then a university student, was among those who raised the protest slogan and was placed under detention. The Dacca University campus became the focal point for student meetings in support of the Bangla language.” (-Siddiq Salik)
Jinnah met the student representatives of Committee of Action to persuade them of the necessity of having one national language, but the students were not convinced.
“The discussion of Jinnah with the student representatives could not bear any fruit but blurred the difference between the student group led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his associates and the student group led by Shah Azizur Rahman. The National leadership resorted to repressive policies in order to crush the Bengali language and put its supporters behind bars.” (- Md. Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan)
So the seed of Bengali nationalism was anchored in Language Movement. “The Language Movement added a new dimension to politics in Pakistan. It left deep impression on the minds of the younger generation of Bengalis and imbued them with the spirit of Bengali nationalism. The passion of Bengali nationalism which was aroused by the Language Movement shall kindle in the hearts of the Bengalis forever … Perhaps very few people realised then that with the bloodshed in 1952 the new-born state of Pakistan had in fact started to bleed to death.” (- Rafiqul Islam). To mention vernacular elites backed by Bengali intelligentsia became proactive in organising the movement for cultural rights and subsequently the movement for autonomy based on Six Point. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman directed the movements from the front being a jailed leader. All such movement coalesced to develop a sense of alienation in the clear manifestation of a racial and linguistic nationalism like Bengali nationalism. Imbued with Bengali nationalism we fought liberation war in 1971 under the leadership of Babgabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1971 to create a new state of nation.
(Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque and Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder are Professor of Public Administration Chittagong University and Member PSC respectively)