The brutal recent murders of two bloggers, Avijit Roy and Oyasikur Rahman, have drawn global attention to rising Islamist violence in Bangladesh. Roy was a published author, whereas Rahman’s audience was confined mainly to readers of his online posts. What they had in common was an outspoken critique of religiosity and a history of tangling with Islamists online. Yet contrary to first appearances, the killings may be a symptom of the Islamists’ increasing weakness and desperation.
SILENCED: A memorial in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to slain blogger Avijit Roy. PHOTO: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Bangladesh has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the more liberal and tolerant Muslim countries. Two women prime ministers have alternated in power since 1991. Many Bangladeshis complain about both of them, but hardly any do so on account of their gender. Women have also taken up high positions in Parliament, the judiciary, education and business. The country has bested its neighbors India and Pakistan on most social-progress indicators.
During its time as a part of Pakistan, Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) faced serious political and economic disenfranchisement through West Pakistani cultural chauvinism, which increasingly occurred in the name of Islam. The genocide during the Liberation War of 1971 was also carried out largely in the name of Islam. Thus when Bangladesh gained independence, it adopted secularism as a founding principle.
But secularism has had a beleaguered existence in Bangladesh. For many it has never meant a full separation of religion and state, but rather a peaceable side-by-side existence of different religious communities. In a region wracked with horrific communal violence, this is no small concern. As a result, secularism has never really meant the freedom to think or speak on religious matters.
This mindset first made global news with the case of Taslima Nasrin, whose novel “Shame” was banned in 1993 for offending religious sentiments; the author fled into exile. Coming soon after the Salman Rushdie fatwah, global media took up her case with vigor. Another highly esteemed author, Humayun Azad, had a book banned around the same time, but was largely ignored outside the country. In 2004 he was wounded in a machete attack, the first of its kind against a Bangladeshi free-thinker.
None of the terrorist attacks by Islamists reflects the sentiments of the overwhelming majority of Bangladeshis. They abhor violence, even in the name of religion. But Bangladesh has suffered a measure of Islamization since the 1980s, when dictators like Gen. Zia and Gen. Ershad used Islam to shore up support for their parties. Zia legalized the Jamaat-e-Islami, a party that had opposed Bangladesh’s liberation and aided in the genocide, and Gen. Ershad continued their rehabilitation in politics.
Since its return to power in 2009, the ruling Awami League has restored secularism to the constitution. The government has also taken the bold step of trying many Jamaat leaders for war crimes. These steps mark an assertion of a progressive ideal, but they have also led to an intensification of Islamist opposition. A spontaneous movement in 2013 in favor of the trials, instigated by progressive bloggers, marked their high point. It also made the bloggers a target.
Rajib Haider was the first blogger to be killed, in February 2013. The more recent killings are part of a continuing mission of vengeance by Islamists. The out-of-power Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Zia’s widow, keeps Jamaat as a close ally to this day. Politically sidelined by the Awami League’s heavy-handed tactics, the BNP-Jamaat alliance has lashed out with unprecedented violence, including horrific fire-bombings of packed commuter buses.
Throughout Bangladesh’s history of political conflicts, the mainstream parties were always careful to minimize casualties to ordinary citizens. Bangladesh’s new, corroded political environment has made it permissible for Islamists to escalate violence. The Awami League blames BNP-Jamaat for its desperate tactics. But the public also holds it responsible for failing to hold truly participatory polls last year, further contributing to the viciously confrontational situation.
Even if the two main parties find a way forward through dialogue, it is unlikely that the Islamist genie can easily be put back in the bottle. And if BNP returns to power, it is unlikely that it will do anything to roll back the excesses of the Islamists, being deeply indebted to them. In its turn, the Awami League cannot continue using state forces to decimate the opposition while disregarding the plight of the very progressives who are its greatest support.
Any time a public death threat is issued against anyone, the government must arrest the provocateur immediately. Any time someone actually takes another’s life for what they believed, the government must mobilize its full resources to bring them to justice in a timely way. To date there has been slow progress on the blogger killings.
Most of all, there must be a concerted effort to work with religious teachers to promote interpretations of Islam that do not condone terrorism. No matter how many terrorists are hanged, fresh recruits will keep coming until theologies that glorify violence are delegitimized. That will be difficult as long as Bangladesh’s polarized politics encourages the use of violence to settle grievances.
The article has been published on English-language international daily newspaper Wall Street Journal's opinion section on April 16, 2015.