Prometheus Siddiqui :
Bangladesh – a success story – a thriving economy that has maintained a 6 % plus growth rate for over a decade; a country where inclusive development has led to a drop in the poverty rate from 50% to 30% in 15 years; a country that has set global precedents in terms of literacy growth and health indicators. A Nobel peace prize, the largest NGO in the world, a formidable force in global sports arena through cricket, mass penetration of mobile/cellular technology – all great sources of pride! I consider myself very fortunate to have witnessed this journey in the formative years of my life.
When explaining this great phenomenon to people from all around the world, I found myself reflecting on central attributes such as tolerance, resilience and harmony. Despite all the upheavals since democracy was re-instituted in 1990, the nation and its people seem to find a resolution every time.
Recently I find myself bemused. Why you ask? Everything I grew up seeing and believing seems to be challenged by one group or another. How you ask? It was okay to celebrate the Bengali New Year (Pahela Baishakh) and the Eids with equal vigor, enthusiasm and joy. My parents took to me see Puja celebrations without a bombardment of questions on how true we are to our religious ethos. Over time ‘khuda hafiz’ turned to ‘Allah Hafiz’. Transformations and debates have made avenues for a crisis – a crisis with our identity at the center.
I have clung to the belief that our religious and cultural values were unwavering, until someone bombed a public celebration and cinema halls. It seemed like a stray incident. Then I saw nationwide explosions. I labeled it as a stunt at par with prevailing global phenomenon. When thousands of people were misled to the centre of Dhaka under a religious banner and the remnant was a large pool of blood, I blamed it on what must have been just a handful of zealots. Tolerance started becoming questionable when individuals started getting hacked to death because they held contrasting beliefs. The night when five young men entered a restaurant and murdered innocent human beings who were our guests in our nation, all past notions fell apart. And finally in Brahmanbaria on Oct 30, 2016 when there was a rampage of Hindu houses and temples, I knew I had been naïve to believe in strengths that we no longer had.
The uproar has reignited, we have started debating and analyzing the cause and effect. But have we really asked ourselves the right questions? Perhaps it’s easy for us to escape by relinquishing all responsibility. We bring in to the fold political machinery, global and regional power struggles, and conspiracies and not question ourselves on where we stand. We conveniently voice our concerns about the ramifications on minorities, immigrants and people of color in the US as a result of a Trump victory, but do we reflect on our treatment of the indigenous and natives of Bangladesh? The recent attacks on Santals remain testament of very dark days.
Today I face a choice (many may not agree and that’s okay) – the choice of being a Muslim or a Bangladeshi. I was happily both for many years. Why the emergence of a divide now? All the success we earned was done so with this new found dilemma aside. Why now then, at a time when we prepare for taking the next leaps of growth and development?
The religion that I have come to know through heritage, studying and then practices has taught me only one thing – trying to please the creator by striving to be in the creator’s reflection. To me the Creator is filled with love and shows compassion to all, acknowledges that there will be differences and diversity and the only way forward is by making efforts to co-exist in a peaceful manner – not very different from any other religious belief I suppose. The ultimate goal for all is to be a good human being. Agreed it isn’t easy to achieve but certainly not hard to follow.
The alignment of culture, patriotism and religious belief perhaps is achievable if we don’t have to choose between them. All three guide us towards respecting and preserving life and humanity.
I know the problem is not as simple and solutions even more Complex, but maybe it is possible for us to place ourselves in a shoe where we respect the fellow human being – even if we don’t agree on things. It takes hard work, but the effort may be worth it.
If not anything else our language binds us together, it has done so for centuries. We are the only nation which is privileged enough to have had sons and daughters who sacrificed their lives for the mother tongue – a movement which ultimately led to our independence. We have a formidable task ahead of us in overcoming the elements of division – but our indomitable spirit remains. None of this new, all of this is a rant, a rant I hope we will keep on repeating till we make things better.
(Prometheus Siddiqui is the writer currently resides in Sydney, Australia and may be reach at [email protected] )
