Recent attacks on Hindus in different districts of Bangladesh led many to take another look at the issues of Partition of India ~ the legacy of which refuses to end. Many are apprehensive that such mayhem may lead to further exodus of Hindus from the neighbouring nation to this side of Bengal.
Many are critical of the Bangladesh government for not being able to anticipate and prevent the violence during Durga Puja celebrations; many allege involvement of grassroot workers of the ruling Awami league in the attacks. Some feel that fruitful action will never be taken against the criminals through the due process of law.
Many in India are critical of Indian leaders for not condemning the incident officially in strong words. Most unfortunate is the fact that many on both sides of border are not perturbed by the incident. To them, “this happens, this happened in the past also.” It is well known that in Bangladesh polity, two streams are almost equally powerful: the liberal democrats on the one hand and the Islamist fundamentalists on the other.
The first stream is enlightened by the spirit of the liberation struggle (muktijuddho), what Sheikh Mujib in his later life stood for, and has considerable influence amongst the urban middle class. The other stream, having more influence in the rural areas, always alleged that the liberal stream was sympathetic to the causes of India.
The compulsions of electoral politics often restricted Sheikh Hasina’s government to be firm enough against the jihadi politics of the second stream. In spite of that minorities in Bangladesh have no option but to support solidly Sheikh Hasina and her party.
It is often said that in Bangladesh, intimidation against the minorities is not normally recorded in the police stations, particularly in rural areas. The cases of atrocities against the Hindus are often not taken to logical conclusions. That makes the minorities particularly vulnerable, leading them finally to migrate to India unofficially.
Why the minorities in general and the Hindus in particular could not organize themselves in the last 75 years to resist such intimidation is a matter of debate. However, the fact remains that they accepted the eventualities as their fait accompli, instead of fighting for their rights in their homeland. Whether the present regime of Sheikh Hasina succeeds in reversing the tide is what is to be seen next.
So far as India is concerned, the Union government has shown maximum restraint in reacting to the events in Bangladesh, though people of India cannot remain immune to the consequences of mayhem in the neighboring country because of their common heritage. This restraint by the political leadership of India once again demonstrated what value India attaches to friendship with Bangladesh.
Those who designed the mayhem against the Hindus wanted Prime Minister Hasina to lose her popularity amongst the minorities. They, perhaps wanted the Indian Government to distance itself from the regime of Hasina. These elements, many of whom supported the Pakistani genocide during their liberation struggle, got a new lease of life after the Taliban captured power in Afghanistan.
The people of both India and Bangladesh need to be extra careful to avoid falling in the trap of jihadi politics. On many occasions the government led by Sheikh Hasina has demonstrated its determination to fight against fundamentalism. The criminal cases against most of those who were involved in killing of the founding father of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, were taken to logical conclusions, even after 45 years of the assassination.
The hardline leaders who were found guilty of war crimes during the liberation war of 1971 were mostly prosecuted and executed. The special Anti-Terrorist Tribunal in Dhaka sentenced five to death for killing the liberal blogger Abhijit Roy. Four Islamist extremists were sentenced to death last year for decapitation of a Hindu priest in 2016.
There are many such instances that indicate firmness of the present regime in handling organized terrorism which in turn raised the expectation of the minorities and other vulnerable sections to get justice from the Hasina government. There was a series of killings of liberal bloggers, cultural activists, politicians, minority priests, writers and publishers in Bangladesh since 2013, followed by the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery (2016).
Zero-tolerance policy of the Bangladesh government towards violent extremism indicates firmness of the present regime in handling organized terrorism. Many suspected radicals were killed in aggressive crackdowns after 2016 and that brought a great degree of stability in the country and also facilitated an impressive rate of economic growth.
If the same zero-tolerance policy is adopted in dealing with the criminals who designed and carried out the recent mayhem against Hindus, that will reverse the 75-year-old tide of injustice against minorities in that country. Bangladesh has no answer as to why the Hindu population in that country reduced from nearly 30 per cent in 1947 to about 8 per cent today.
Some soul-searching is already there amongst the civil society and academic community of Dhaka. The fight against the poison of communal intolerance in any society is a continuous process. Aberrations will always happen but how the State responds to such aberrations is indicative of the strength of a democracy.
More than the lofty rhetoric, what is important is to investigate properly each case of atrocity against the minorities by lawenforcing agencies in a time bound manner, to book the culprits and punish them following the due procedure of law. If required, the entire investigation may be under the supervision of the Supreme Court and trial may be carried out in a fasttrack court.
It needs to be probed why the intelligence and lawenforcing agencies failed to protect the Hindus from barbaric attacks. If the attackers included supporters of the ruling party, no mercy should be shown to them. Hindus who lost their life and properties need to be adequately compensated. Unprecedented punishment to the rioters will be the highest tribute to the memory of Bangabandhu and to the spirit of muktijuddho in its 50th anniversary.
(The writer is a retired civil servant)