Communalism has spread its tentacles
Say speakers, highlighting failure of ruling party to uphold secularism
Though the Awami League government introduces itself as a secular force, many of its leaders and activists are slowly turning into communal agents, speakers said at a webinar yesterday.
They also said AL does not conduct training to spread secular consciousness at the grassroot level.
The issue was raised at an online "consultation meeting" of the Parliamentary Caucus on Indigenous Peoples and Minorities, in the backdrop of recent communal violence in a number of districts.
At the programme, Rana Dasgupta, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad, said, "The minorities of Bangladesh do not trust any political party or any of the political leaders anymore. It seems like all of them have become the same.
"Radicalism is rising among Hindu youths. They're even terming us [the Parishad] 'agents of the government' as we've always supported the AL government," he said.
Mentioning that no political leader kept their promise, he said,
"The government didn't fulfil any of its promises to the minorities. On the other hand, they fulfilled Hefajat's demands by bringing changes to the textbooks."
Presiding over the meeting, founder convener of the parliamentary caucus Rashed Khan Menon said there should be an investigation into the law enforcement agency's negligence during the attacks.
"The recent communal violence is the result of a communal mentality, which has grown over the past three decades. Though the prime minister is against it, root level leaders and activists [of AL] are involved here. The organisation has failed to develop teenagers and youth with secular education," he added.
Former information minister Hasanul Haq Inu said the recent rise in communalism is connected to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Dhaka University's Department of History professor Mesbah Kamal said despite numerous development and mega-development projects, the current government has failed in the cultural development of the country.
Zannat E Ferdousi, technocrat member of the caucus, conducted the meeting while, among others, parliamentarians Shirin Akhter and Aroma Dutta, and journalists Abu Sayeed Khan, Sohrab Hasan, and Pranab Saha spoke at the session.
'TURNED INTO A FAILED STATE'
At a dialogue of the Citizen's Platform for SDGs at CIRDAP, noted economist Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said the recent communal violence in the country was not an isolated incident.
"These unfortunate events are the result of fundamental structural change in our constitution and the introduction of religion in politics after 1975, all for the sake of narrow political interests and short-term benefits," he said.
At the same programme, DU Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury said, "We are in such a situation that we don't dare talk about secularism anymore... What's worse is that the state also has no sense of accountability."
He also said the failure of the police force to contain the violence should be investigated.
DU Prof Robayet Ferdous said after independence, the country has turned into "little Pakistan" from "big Pakistan".
"At least 3,600 attacks were carried out on the Hindu community in the last nine years -- 400 attacks every year --, all while a pro-liberation government is in power," she said.
Activist Khushi Kabir said the recent events only prove that the communal forces are more powerful than the state machinery.
Expressing doubts over the promise of bringing perpetrators of the attack to book, jurist Dr Shahdeen Malik said, "Media reports say that some 300, 500, 800 people were made accused in each case. This could very well be used to hold an arrest spree to dominate the political opposition [of the government]. But the one thing it will not do is stop future communal attacks," he said.
"The country has turned into a failed state with no accountability," he also said.
Chief Executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association Advocate Rizwana Hasan said the four components of the state -- democracy, human rights, constitution, and rule of law are all under threat. "Not only a specific community, but anyone with a different identity and different opinion is the minority now," she said.