A platform of pro-liberation forces, Bangladesh Rukhe Darao, on Saturday called upon the people to stand united against the communal forces and wage a new 1971-like movement to turn Bangladesh into a prosperous and secular nation.
The convening committee leaders of the organisation also demanded the government immediately ban the use of religion in politics to safeguard the spirit of the Liberation War.
They made the call from the first national convention held at the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan. The convention aims at putting forward its five-point demands which include immediate ban on the politics of Jamaat-Shibir, expediting the ongoing war crimes trial, preventing communal violence and standing by the victims, taking the country forward imbued with spirit of the Liberation War, and resisting plot to turn the country into a Taliban-style state.
Dhaka University economist teacher Prof MM Akash urged the government to immediately ban the politics of Jamaat through an executive order before the next parliamentary elections.
“We have raised our voice against Jamaat because it is a terrorist and communal organisation. Their leaders are a bunch of liars and imposters. They instigated superstitious village people against the police by spreading propaganda that [death-row convict war criminal] Sayedee’s image could be seen on the moon,” he said.
Jamaat took advantage of the complacency the pro-liberation forces had been having after the Liberation War, he observed. “They formed 208 organisations that helped them acquire enormous financial strength. This is why we need to uproot their sources of finance.”
In his written speech read out by Ziauddin Tareq Ali, Prof Anisuzzaman said communalism was spreading across the country for quite some time. “The communal forces are out to mislead the villagers as their techniques hardly work in cities where the literacy rates are relatively high.”
He also condemned the attacks on the houses and prayer houses of the non-Muslims.
An adviser to a former caretaker government Sultana Kamal, presiding over the convention, urged the people to send a clear message to the politicians that if they budge an inch from the pursuit to build a secular Bangladesh, they would have no place on Bangladesh.
Also Executive Director of rights body Ain O Salish Kendra, Sultana Kamal lamented the ruling Awami League government for retaining Islam as the state religion. She also accused politicians of betraying with the spirit of Liberation War as they allowed Jamaat and other collaborators after the war.
Sector Commanders’ Forum Chairman AK Khandakar, also the planning minister, said Bangalees had been deprived from everything during the Pakistan period using the rhetoric of “Islam in danger” as an excuse. “The same rhetoric is now drawn into the political sphere of the country.”
Trustee of Liberation War Museum Dr Sarwar Ali said the country’s Hindu population had continued to fall due to the presence of the communal politics. “Hindus made up 37% of Bangladesh’s population during the Pakistan period, 23% in 1971 and, according to statistics, the number sharply declined to a mere 8.3% in 2011,” he said.
Sammilita Sangskritik Jote president Nasiruddin Yusuf asserted that cultural activists had always been at the forefront of anti-communal movements, from language movements of 1952 to Shahbagh movement of February.
Ganajagaran Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarkar asked the political parties to clear their stand on communal politics. “We need to understand why the representatives of the Mancha were prevented from going to Chittagong but Hefazat was allowed to hold rally and unleash violence at Motijheel.”
Writer Ajoy Roy, also president of the platform against communalism and terrorism, appealed to the people not to elect the anti-liberation forces in the next general elections.
From the convention, Bangladesh Rukhe Darao announced its National Assembly (Jatiya Parishad) with Emeritus Prof Anisuzzaman as its president and Sultana Kamal as the convener.
Members of the organisation’s executive committee are: Syed Shamsul Haque, Kamal Lohani, Dr Akbar Ali Khan, Dr Sarwar Ali, Ziauddin Tareq Ali, Abed Khan, Ramendu Majumdar, Rana Dashgupta and MM Akash.
