December 19, 2004

DIVIDED OPINIONS: PRO or ANTI

Is Bangladesh divided in opinion? Arnab has written an eye-opening article about the current situation of Bangladesh. Just as one person can be a terrorist to some and at the same time a revolutionary fighter against enemies to some others, the interpretation of good and evil varies from people to people. He points to the facts:

We are today going away from the essence of independence. We ask the question about the creation of our country! We question the reasons of independence! Do we really have freedom?

He says:

Being a Bangladeshi used to be meant anti-Pakistani! The increase of hatred was not the reason of our independence. We didn't separate from Pakistan so that we can hate them. However, now-a-days, the wave is changing, now to show that you love Bangladesh, you have to hate India. The more you hate India and love Pakistan and Islam, the more you love Bangladesh. Bangladeshi Hindus are always mainly pro-Indians but to show that they also love Bangladesh, they try to take an anti-Indian position. Is that why we separated? To hate India? To increase hatred?

Arnab has rightly said now-a-days nobody is pro-Bangladeshi. Sadly we try to be either pro-Indian or pro-Pakistani. And we are pointing fingers at each other:

The majority community is pointing fingers at the minority community for being pro-Indian and the minority community is pointing fingers at the majority community for being pro-Pakistani. The fundamentalists are pointing fingers at secularists for going away from Islam and secularists pointing fingers at fundamentalists for being fundamentalists. Left is pointing fingers at right! Right is pointing fingers at the left! Atheists pointing fingers at the theists! Theists pointing fingers at atheists! And just like everyone else I am also pointing fingers at everyone!!!


In my opinion Today our countrymen have different opinions, because the words fundamentalist, anti-liberation force, razakar (traitor) have so much been overused by crooked politicians against their opponents that the real weight of these words have been lost to many who take these lightly. And the real traitors have become freedom fighters in disguise who are better off than the freedom fighters. Histories are being rewritten. I blame both the Awami League and BNP for these because they both have been guilty of letting those traitors coming into limelight for the interest of their leaders. Many of the leaders blame them publicly but do business with them internally. The Jamaat-e-Islami has done nothing to disown or protest or clarify the deeds of some of their senior leaders who are publicly known as collaborator of Pakistani forces who were involved in mass killings. Instead they are led by those figures whom the people will never believe nor accept. I think we need to stop generalizing people, a mistake even I make.

Arnab has rightly said that we need to stop pointing fingers at each other and need to point fingers at ourselves. We must remember that even though the political parties of Bangladesh try to politicize the success of the war of independence to their favor, it was a people's war irrespective of religion, political leaning and class of people (rich or poor). Time has come again to assemble ourselves towards one vision, security, peace and prosperity of Bangladesh irrespective of all the divisions and pro or Anti feelings we bear. Because together we will rise and divided we will fall.

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