Stumbling on buried treasure

Book Review

Bangladesh Past and Present
by Salauddin Ahmed
A.P.H. Publishing Corporation
New Delhi in association with Paragon Publishers, Dhaka
367 pages. Taka: 950

In the annals of political history, Bangladesh stands out uniquely as having lived under three flags in one century. But quite reasonably Bangladesh could have escaped the second flag if only the leaders had the vision to realise the political absurdity of holding together the two parts of the country separated by some twelve hundred miles on the basis of religion only. In 1971 when Pakistan split apart creating Bangladesh, it was clear that the way India was divided in 1947 was not the fitting solution, the author remarks in his prefatory notes.

Commenting on the collective efforts of the great Bengali leaders which achieved its cumulative finality in the achievement of Bangladesh the author would rank their contribution in the following order, " If the first runner in the relay race of the Bengali nationalism under Muslim leadership was Sher-e- Bangla Fazlul Huq, the baton changed hands to Suhrawardy, then to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the last runner who crossed victory line in pegging the flag of a new state on the political map of the world".

Sifting through the classified official documents of the pre-Partition days, which were not available for a long time, the author placed the rising position of Suhrawardy close to the ranks held by Jinnah and Nehru. He said; "On the eve of Partition of India, Suhrawardy,the premier of Bengal came to the political spotlight of India as the architect of the possible third independent state, the Free State of Bengal, side by side with India and Pakistan with support of Viceroy Lord Mountbatten and Jinnah.

" In 1947, the Bengali Muslims under the leadership of Suhrawardy failed to fulfil their dream of becoming the masters of the undivided Bengal, but it became true to a large extent in 1971 under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman when they achieved the independence of Bangladesh, a part of Bengal.Suhrawardy did not succeed to achieve his dream of united Bengal, but his vision was " most statesmanlike", mentions Nicholas Mansergh in his book, The Transfer of Power. History, to be correct, has yet remained rather uncharitable to perceive Surhawardy as a statesman.

The author has made a constructive research on Sher-e -Bangla Fazlul Huq and placed his position in Bengal in these words: "After Sirajuddaulah, the last Nawab of Bengal lost his throne, Fazlul Huq assumed the role of the uncrowned king of Bengal in modern times when he held the office of the Premier of Bengal.

After the achievement of Bangladesh, a high watermark of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's statesmanship was reflected when he established himself as the "architect and witness of the second liberation of the country".

The stature of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was eloquently focused when he, in his magnanimity, granted clemency to 195 war criminals of Pakistan. "There are only a few instances in world history where a surrendered army were shown generosity by an authority, which came to power", the author mentions.

Analysing the turmoil periods of Ziaur Rahman and Ershad ,the author euphemistically comments: "While Zia was asked to play a legitimate rescue role while the country was plunged into a political upheaval, Ershad seemed snatching away, almost stealing a new robe of democracy put on by Bangladesh and asleep in secured home". The stigma of backdoor-entry into country's political arena by toppling an elected government aside, Ershad's lack-lustre man management, autocratic and repressive measures" and archaic political style was no match for the popularity of Zia and his political party BNP, although notably both of them originated from the same military establishment . Ershad the longest-serving President of nearly nine years was ousted through popular uprising, but the deep scar that he inflicted during his rule in nation's psyche took time to recover.

The emergence of Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, the woman leaders of the two mainstream political parties, BNP and Awami League, marks a watershed in a third world country like Bangladesh with a preponderance of Muslim population. The dynastic lineage, no doubt, was a good launching pad for their entry into country's political stage, but they too in their turn proved their political mettle in no uncertain manner.

The hartal culture, a ritualistic aberration for long in nation's body-politic, is 'not only an expensive political strategy, which the country just cannot afford but also a cruelty to an average citizen." It is now a classic storyline in our paradoxical body-politic: denounce hartal when in power for its ruinous impact on nation's economy but when in opposition justify it as democratic right. Surprisingly both the political parties, BNP and Awami League display same attitude in similar situations on a number of issues that concerns the nation so urgently.

The book is characterised by the author's unerring eye for the current socio-political spectrum of the nation. Observantly, he writes: "A serious deficiency in the development of parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh is that the top agenda of the opposition party is simply to unseat the government without any well-explained issue or policy and would prefer to settle issues on the streets instead on the floor of the parliament.

The page-turning chapter "Changing phases of the Bengali nationalism leading to the Bengali Muslim identity" is analytically outstanding. The author in his incisive critique presents the character of Bengali nationalism over a period of a century. Like any other nation in Asia, the author points out, "The Bengali Muslims are passing through the process of searching for their identity. They are both Bengalis and Muslims." The author expressed: "One relates to his faith, and as such transcendental, which has no geographical boundary, whereas the other is bound with his ethnicity and country". Interestingly, the author finds some resemblance between the Muslims of Indonesia and Bangladesh in their search for a proper identity. He writes "Since gaining independence both Indonesia and Bangladesh experimented with secular nationalist ideologies. Due to the global effect of resurgence of Islam, the Muslims of Indonesia and Bangladesh wish to combine their appeal towards their indigenous identity with the common ideology of the world Muslim community". The comparative substance of the Bengali nationalism and Bangladeshi nationalism leads the author to conclude: "After the evolution of the Bangladeshi nationalism, the continuation of the Bengali nationalism in the political sense is simply non-existent."

Given the analytical stretch of the book, if somewhat abbreviated, what appears to have slipped of the writer to explain is the impulse to switch over to sun (similar to Japan)from moon as the logo in the national flag.

Liberation from alien rule albeit at a great price was a splendid chapter in nation's history, many of the hopes the people pinned to that gain were yet to materialise. The book reflects some desolate aspects of today's society, but there is at the end a speck of hope as the real meaning of freedom emerges. The supreme tragedy of Bangladesh has been the mutual enmity between the two mainstream political parties, BNP and Awami League that puts nation's progress in serious jeopardy. Peace and reconciliation between the two parties are the crowning prize still to be won as the final proof of material widom. To label critics as unpatriotic is past their peak. Surely after independence it was a new dawn, a new script; but whether our leaders could prove themselves equal to the tasks is a question mark with an asterisk. We are in a kind of time wrap. It is time for widespread, sustained and far-sighted public dialogue, so we can take a hand to shaping our collective future.

High political temperature in the country vitiated by partisan politics with its divisive and corrosive effects on the national psyche clearly denies objective appraisal of the ground realities. The indulgence of the inexactitude that we often encounter in the so called political histories can be corrected and put in context from the plethora of undeniable fact information the book provides. For anyone who regains in the fact that has meant the recovery of the history of Bangladesh this book is like stumbling on buried treasure. The book should be appreciated by scholars who are sensitive to context yet committed to the generalised historical explanations emanating from a case-oriented holistic approach that can better accommodate problems of multiple causation. A book of this genre dovetailing the past and present should squarely help a reader's understanding of the dialectics of the present scenario of Bangladesh in correct perspective.

It is a dignified, serious piece of work and the style is engaging. The author narrates the political development without giving in to personal emotions or partisanship, he proves himself a master navigator in the choppy socio-political weather that most often characterises our understanding of history, past or present. The portrayal of political landscape is both compelling and utterly consistent with what we know of the scenario today. The book though is primarily political, it provides well-researched snapshot narrative of the land, people, culture and economy of Bangladesh. It does not claim to be comprehensive, but it is comprehensible and that is much more important. It is vital that citizens understand the historical forces they experience. The book focuses that aim explicitly. A valuable bibliography containing the names and reference of books and documents are of immense help for further research.