Michael Gove’s idea of how history should be taught suggests the British education secretary values prevalent principles of developing countries in the Commonwealth above the wisdom of leading scholars. He does not even hide his wish to revise history for political benefit. The celebration he believes to be the purpose of history is designed to steer the common people away from the truth and, in the process, produce an obedient population that feeds a cult.
“When politicians pontificate about the past, it is rarely in the disinterested pursuit of a complex truth and more often in order to score party political points,” writes Emeritus Professor Avi Shlaim. “And when politicians invoke the ‘lessons of history,’ they usually have a hidden or not so hidden political agenda.”
Bangladesh has bred, and, in many ways, pioneered, this culture, this plague Gove wants to inflict on the UK. History has zealously been written by politicians alone, evidenced by the constant revisionism that goes on under the guise of unwavering patriotism. Any attempt to discuss the truth is dismissed as unpatriotic, leading to severe persecution that silences the unruly few and suppresses the truth forever. Gove desires to import this dystopian present to control and dominate in the future.
An oft-ignored fact about the history of Bangladesh is that it did not begin in 1971. The country belongs to the region that was the prized possession of the British Raj, and the Mughal Empire before that. An imaginary divide created by the Viceroy in 1905 to re-establish control unfortunately dictated the future.
The undeniably rich heritage of the people, however, was not defeated. It survives, albeit emaciated, to this day in Bangladesh. It is noteworthy that the country was never heard, never even permitted to speak about its own future during the last days of colonialism. The first time it voiced its will was in 1952.
The people, not any political party, were responsible for preserving its identity, culture and values. Their efforts, sacrifices, and deaths provided the necessary foundation to the leaders to build on by provoking civil unrest and furthering demands. The bold, united actions of the common men and women, however, was the catalyst.
The people, not any political personality, were also amongst the first to posit the theory of independence, 19 years before the leaders took stock and pronounced it. The first poem about the Language Movement, the seminal “Kandte Ashini, Phashir Dabi Niye Eshechhi,” fervently penned by the legendary Mahbub ul Alam Chowdhury, documents and spells out this hypothesis in his 17-page long fiery demand for justice and the end of oppressive rule.
It has to be noted that he never took ownership of the idea because the people of an unborn Bangladesh were the ones who had conceived it, had allowed it to take shape in their conscience, and strengthen the resilient spirit of the region.
The flashpoint of the Language Movement, like the history of Bengal that is integral to the formation of Bangladesh, is known in vague terms, is consigned to the blind-spot of the population, is dismissed and overlooked, because the history of Bangladesh has always been written by the ruling class.
The people need to be shown to have been powerless and useless to serve the illusion the politicians have designed and implemented for nearly 43 years. The creation of the cults that mock ideology and pass for political parties, legitimate and illegitimate, is attributable to this shameless and deplorable manipulation.
Fortunately, this has unwittingly created a safe space for Bangladeshis: The Language Movement and the hundreds of years that came before belong to them. They need to claim them and utilise this haven to be true to their identity.
It is time for Bangladesh to be honest about its history of the last millennium; only then can it be honest about the last few decades. It is time for this history to be widely known, for it is not only a source of pride, but of being brave and united. 1952 showed that the people were ready to take ownership of what was theirs, and in doing so, strike a telling blow against the oppressors that would lead to the independence they desired 19 years hence.
Let that reminder of real patriotism that the country belongs to the people be used as a foothold to learn the history of Bangladesh, sans political revisionism, and, in turn, to the populace laying claim to its irrefutable rights, its indisputable possessions, and the incontrovertible truth.