As a scholar of religious studies and a human rights advocate, how do you see Bangladesh’s Liberation War against Pakistan?
Bangladesh is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the victory of its forces over the Pakistan army, which resulted in the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent country. Although half a century has passed, as a Holocaust scholar, I have studied and recognized that the memory of horrific killing, murder, and rape is not easily erased.
Yet, the horrific violence that Pakistan (then West Pakistan) unleashed on the people of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), which culminated in the death of millions of Bangladeshis, has not been forgotten in Bangladesh. The hope that I have is for education and transparency by and from governments. There can only be redemption, peace, and reconciliation if we fully acknowledge what happened in history.
How do you see Bangladesh and its leadership?
Bangladesh is portrayed as a poor country with terrible natural disasters, and we hardly ever think of the talents and perseverance of the country’s progress and female leadership. Despite some unfavourable circumstances and constraints on resources, Bangladesh has made social and economic progress over the last five decades.
Much credit goes to the leadership of Sheikh Hasina Wajed, daughter of Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Her journey has seen military rule, exile, house arrest, assassination attempts, and has persevered against it all. In 1996, she became the prime minister of Bangladesh for the first time and her most applaudable achievement was the peace water treaty with India, the peace accord on the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and the allowances ensured for women, the disabled, and the homeless. She (PM Hasina) accepted nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees into her country and offered them support, food, and shelter. The country has opened its arms and offered all the help that they could give them.
Do you find Pakistanis are learning about their military oppression on Bangladeshi people and have regrets?
Pakistan’s history is mired in controversy, pain, and memories of suffering. Pakistan has always been a home to me, my place of birth, culture, and religion. The people of Pakistan exemplify talent, creativity, intellectual curiosity, and hard work. Loving a nation and one's birthplace must also come with a critique out of love and respect for one’s standing in the world.
Most countries, including Pakistan, have been embroiled in several terrible wars. Pakistan has been at war with India and Bangladesh which has marked the neighbourly relations with tension and antagonism. The present tensions between these countries are still fresh in the minds of the victims and the generations hereafter.
How do you see Pakistan improving its relationship with Bangladesh?
Relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh have improved over the decades, but Pakistan’s unleashing of a genocide and its continuous reluctance to apologize for it remains a major thorn in their bilateral relations. We have many neighbours with whom we have some painful history.
Reconciliation work needs to be done in the face of good and honest relations with our neighbours, especially Bangladesh in the face of it’s 50th anniversary. Memories of these atrocities have been erased from my mind because I was too young, but it’s also a matter of how we repress memories and our own fears when faced with our own failure to acknowledge our own offense and atrocity against the people of Bangladesh.
Pakistan’s Prime minister, Imran Khan has issued a statement: “On my own behalf, and on behalf of the Government and people of Pakistan, I have great pleasure in extending our felicitations on the 50th anniversary of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.” Sheikh Hasina, too, sent a letter congratulating Prime minister Khan on the Lahore resolution which was passed in 1940.
This is a step in the right direction, but Pakistan would do more in apologizing to Bangladesh about the violence of 1971 as well as its discrimination. Pakistan’s education system needs to educate our generations, we must not distort our history even if it is difficult to accept. I began to teach the Holocaust and Jewish history because I felt that many Muslims had distorted and relativized the Holocaust.
As the director of the Holocaust Museum, you are responsible for preserving and presenting the history of the torture inflicted on Jewish people by the Nazis. I am curious to know what led you to work in this particular field?
I am a Muslim-Pakistani American woman who chose the path of academia, activism, and education of Islam and the Holocaust. Having studied genocide and the Holocaust, I have developed so much respect for people who have suffered, victimized, and lost everything but are ready to rebuild everything for humanity. I have always stated in my work and in classes that if we do not acknowledge another person’s suffering and pain, then we simply cannot have dialogue.
If Pakistan was to recognize the atrocities, what would happen?
I believe, we would heal better and quicker with this gesture and moment. I am afraid that we have not educated Pakistanis in the generations since about the 1971 genocide, and have not delved deeply into it as an educational addition to our curriculum or the general public.
However, I do believe that Pakistanis see Bangalis as sisters and brothers of the same faith. Unfortunately, nations are not educated to see our military oppression, but instead our victories. There is much empathy for Bangladesh, so this is very possible. If more people, not just Pakistanis, would accept responsibility for our past, we might make some headway.
Recently, I wrote in an article, “Religious discrimination had become a negative force between Muslims and Hindus and was anchored in the memory of most refugees. The memories of the first-generation fossilized within these images fixated on the brutality of killings and the loss of their land with the series of widespread religious massacres that took place in Calcutta in 1946.” However, we still need to think through the pain of our loss with India and Kashmir, we must acknowledge the genocide committed against Bangalis in 1971, especially the gruesome rapes of women.
As a human rights and peace advocate, how do you see the future of peace in the Indian subcontinent?
My commitment to humanity includes Bangladeshis who have suffered at the hands of Pakistanis. Silence is complicity and I would like to acknowledge the suffering, pillaging, and terrible rape of Bangali women in 1971. As a Muslim, we must tell the truth even if it is about one’s own nation, history, and identity.
This is why I studied the Holocaust so that Muslims would be able to acknowledge the pain of 6 million Jews. In Islam, we are told that God is always present, we cannot hide our actions from God, God is in our hearts and minds. I fear that we have forgotten these commandments as we erase the memory of bloodshed and our actions as human beings. We cover our perpetration by the fog of war.
However, we have evidence, witnesses, and the loss that surrounds the tensions of Bangalis and Pakistanis. In my own work, I met the Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh, then to Pakistan, and ended up in the United States; they have expressed their gratitude to both countries.
In an interview, one refugee stated, “If it was not for Bangladesh and Pakistan, I could not be here in NY. My wife just had a baby, and we are grateful to our Muslim brothers and sisters.” This struck a chord that shows how we can work together for people.
I hope that we can begin to remember the truth and reconcile in ways that can become an example to the world. Perhaps we can make a difference with words and acceptance, actions that matter, education that does not distort, and then wait.
Mazher Mir is the Adviser to Roybi Robots, Mountain View, California, USA.