Monday, October 13, 2008

Ethnic Nationalism, Islam and Fall of Dhaka.








If Ethnic Nationalism is to be condemned then please quoting Poetry of Allama Iqbal wont be valid but quote Quran and Hadith. Read what Quran and Hadith have to say about the poets. Iqbal's poetry is not Hujjat [Proof] for Muslims.



The Quran and Hadith on Poets and Poetry.





هَلْ أُنَبِّئُكُمْ عَلَى مَن تَنَزَّلُ الشَّيَاطِينُ


تَنَزَّلُ عَلَى كُلِّ أَفَّاكٍ أَثِيمٍ


يُلْقُونَ السَّمْعَ وَأَكْثَرُهُمْ كَاذِبُونَ


وَالشُّعَرَاء يَتَّبِعُهُمُ الْغَاوُونَ


أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّهُمْ فِي كُلِّ وَادٍ يَهِيمُونَ


وَأَنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ مَا لَا يَفْعَلُونَ





Interpretation of the Meaning:



"Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend? They descend on every sinful, false one. They listen eagerly, but most of them are liars. As for poets, the erring follow them. Hast thou not seen how they stray in every valley, And how they say that which they do not? "[Verse 221-222-223- 224-225-226 Chapter 026 AL-SHUARA (THE POETS)]



The Prophet said, "It is better for a man to fill the inside of his body with pus than to fill it with poetry." [Muslim]





وَمَا عَلَّمْنَاهُ الشِّعْرَ وَمَا يَنبَغِي لَهُ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ وَقُرْآنٌ مُّبِينٌ



لِيُنذِرَ مَن كَانَ حَيًّا وَيَحِقَّ الْقَوْلُ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ




Interpretation of the Meaning:



And We have not taught him (Muhammad) poetry, nor is it meet for him. This is naught else than a Reminder and a Lecture making plain, To warn whosoever liveth, and that the word may be fulfilled against the disbelievers. [Chapter 36 Verses 69-70 YA-SEEN (YA-SEEN)]




إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ


وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَاعِرٍ قَلِيلًا مَا تُؤْمِنُونَ


وَلَا بِقَوْلِ كَاهِنٍ قَلِيلًا مَا تَذَكَّرُونَ


تَنزِيلٌ مِّن رَّبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ





Interpretation of the Meaning:



That it is indeed the speech of an illustrious messenger. It is not poet's speech - little is it that ye believe! Nor diviner's speech - little is it that ye remember! It is a revelation from the Lord of the Worlds. [Chapter 69 Verse 40-41-42-43 AL-HAAQQA (THE REALITY)]





PREJUDICE AND ETHNIC NATIONALISM:



Why single out and blame Mr. Palijo only? Why this selective attitude? Do you remember that we had Bengali Muslims [we owe Pakistan to them] with us till 1971 and they were pushed out of Pakistan by the Elite and Establishment of the then West Pakistan and not a single petition was filed in the West Pakistan Judiciary by any West Pakistani against the most brutal Military Operation conducted against the Bengali Muslim by the Military. Where was the National Conscience of the West Pakistani Muslims then? Where was the Political Interpretation of Islam by Iqbal then?





Let me remind you one more fact about Prejudice and Ethnic Nationalism.



"QUOTE"





But a great source of Pakistani dislike of Bengalis can be traced to the Aligarh leader Sir Syed Ahmed Khan whose furious anti-Bengali speeches are some of the most racist utterances made by anyone. In fact, the Upper India Landowners Association which he founded with the Hindu Raja of Rampur shows how religion was weak compared to linguistic ethnic rivalry. ["Emergence of Indian nationalism" by Anil Seal] For Further Reading : Alamiya-e-Tareekh by Dr Mubarak Ali.



"UNQUOTE"



We often consider this Ethnic Bigot Sir Syed Ahmed Khan a Saviour for the Muslims of the sub-continent due to a commonly known myth that it was Sir Syed who encouraged Muslims of the sub-continent to learn English, and Science. That is a blatant lie.



50 Years before Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and his so-called Aligarh University and getting a decent job in British Raj Government, there was a Saint in Dehli namely Shah Abdul Aziz Muhaddith Dehelvi [s/o Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehelvi] who issued a Fatwa in this regard "that there is no harm and nothing Un-Islamic in learning English, getting a job in British Raj and getting education in School and College {Reference: Rood-e-Kausar Sheikh Mohammad Ikram published in 1957 Lahore and Alamiya-e-Tareekh by Dr Mubarak Ali published by Fiction House Lahore in 1993].



The comment below may please be read in light of views often expressed by some people against certain communities. Asbiyat [Prejudice] is not only restricted to Ethnic Prejudice but it also applied on Blindly following Jinnah, Iqbal and Sir Syed or Mullah Maudoodi as if they were some kind of God.




Since we insert Islam in everything lets have a look as to what Islam says on Ethnic Hate, Tribal Prejudice, Racism. Include Several Military Operations conducted in the name of National Security in Pakistan before and after the Fall of Dhaka and read...




يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ




Interpretation of the Meaning:


O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware. [AL-HUJRAAT (THE PRIVATE APARTMENTS, THE INNER APARTMENTS) Chapter 49 Verse 13]



Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] said in his last sermon:



"All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black, nor a black has any superiority over a white except by piety and good action "


[Last Sermon of Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmed Bin Hanbal (by the way Imam Ahmed was pure Arab and amongst the teachers of Imam Bukhari]



Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] said: "And whosoever fights under a blind (rayah) pannier (it is not known whether this flag represents the truth or falsehood), gets angry along with his group of people, or calls to a group of people, or supports a group of people, and is subsequently killed because of that, then this killing is a jahili (sinful) killing." [Muslim]




Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] said: And whosoever is killed under a blind (rayah) flag, gets angry along with his group of people, and fights for the sake of his group of people, then he is not from my ummah." [Muslim]



In both narrations, there is a strong warning from the prophet (S.A.W.) to the one who is triggered by asabiyyah to call for it, or to get angry for it, or to support it. In the first narration, it clarifies to us that if he gets killed because of asabiyyah, then his killing is a jahili (sinful) killing. In the second narration, the prophet (S.A.W.) excludes the one who carries asabiyyah from his ummah. Both of these warnings indicate how serious and great the sin of asabiyyah is.



Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] said: "He is not of us if he calls to asabiyyah, and he is not one of us if he fights for the sake of asabiyyah, and not one of us if he dies on asabiyyah." [Sunan Abu Dawood]



Also when two men one from Muhajireen and one from Ansaar differed, each one called to his group for help, so each group got ready to support their man, then the Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] said: "What is this? Are you calling the call of the people of Jahiliyyah? Leave it, for surely it is filthy." [Muslim]




Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] said: "Whosoever supports his group of people not on the truth, he is like a camel that fell from a high peak into a deep valley where it only could move its tail." [Sunan Abu Dawood]



Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] gave the example of the one who fights wrongfully for the sake of his group of people with the camel that fell from a high peak into a deep valley; it is helpless, scolded, humiliated, and can not do anything except move its tail uselessly at the bottom of the valley. [Sunan Abu Dawood]




Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] said: "Allah (S.W.T.) took away the asabiyyah of jahiliyyah from you, and your boasting about your fathers. So, man is either a righteous believer or a corrupted non-believer. You are the children of Adam, and Adam is from dirt; let men quit their boasting of their own people, they are nothing but coal from the coal of Hell or they will be more humiliated in the sight of Allah more than the dung beetle that pushes dung with its nose." [Sunan Abu Dawood]


Now read the clear violation of Quran and Hadith by West Pakistanis in the case mentioned below:



Date vise breakup of the so-called Fort of Islam.




September 15, 1947


Tamuddun Majlis (Cultural Society, an organization by scholars, writers and journalists oriented towards Islamic ideology) in a booklet titled State Language of Pakistan : Bengali or Urdu? demands Bengali as one of the state language of Pakistan.


The Secretary of the Majlis, at that time a Professor of Physics in Dhaka University, [Abul Kashem] was the first person to convene a literary meeting to discuss the State Language issue in the Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall, a student residence of Dhaka University. Supporters and sympathizers soon afterwards formed a political party, the Khilafate-Rabbani Party with Abul Hasim as the Chairman. (Talukder Maniruzzaman)


November 1947

In Karachi, the representatives of East Bengal attending the Pakistan Educational Conference, called by the Minister of Education Fazlur Rahman, a Bengali, oppose Urdu as the only national language.


February 23, 1948 [Jinnah was alive]


Direndra Nath Dutta, a Bengali opposition member, moves a resolution in the first session of Pakistan's Constituent Assembly for recognizing Bengali as a state language along with Urdu and English. The resolution "... was opposed by Liakat Ali, the Prime Minister of Pakistan and other non-Bengali members in the Assembly. Regrettably, this was opposed by Khawaja Nazimuddin - hailing from the eastern wing - and a few other Bengali collaborators of the West Pakistanis in the Assembly. Later, D. N. Dutta came up with a few amendments to the original resolution, and everytime these were opposed by the west Pakistanis and their Bengali stooges. The West Pakistanis were uncompromising to such a genuine demand of the majority Bengalis." (Rafiqul Islam)


"The demand for Bengali as one of the state language gathered the spontaneous support of the Bengali Civil Servants, academics, students, and various groups of middle class. Several members of the Provincial Assembly, including some ministers, were reportedly active in supporting the movement. By the end of February 1948, the controversy had spilled over on the streets. The East Pakistan Student League, founded in the first week of January by Mujibur Rahman, was in the forefront of the agitation." (-- Hasan Zaheer)



March 1948 (1st week) [Jinnah was alive]



A Committee of Action of the students of Dhaka University, representing all shades of opinion - leftists, rightists, and centrists - is set up with the objective of achieving national status of Bengali.




March 11, 1948 [Jinnah was alive]



Students demonstrating for Bangla as state language is baton-charged and a large number of students are arrested in Dhaka.


" The situation grew worse in the days that followed. The Quaid-i-Azam was due to visit Dhaka from 19 March. The provincial government became nervous and Nazimuddin under pressure of widespread agitation, the impending visit of the Governor-General, sought the help of Muhammad Ali Bogra to enter into negotiations with the Committee of Action. An agreement was signed by Nazimuddin with the Committee which, inter alia, provided that



(1) the Provincial Assembly shall adopt a resolution for making Bengali the official language of East Pakistan and the medium of instruction at all stages of education;


and


(2) the Assembly by another resolution would recommend to the central government that Bengali should be made one of the state languages." (-- Hasan Zaheer)



March 21, 1948 [Jinnah was alive]



Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and its first Governor-General, while on a visit to East Bengal, declares in Dhaka University convocation that while the language of the province can be Bengali, the "State language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language. Any one who tries to mislead you is really an enemy of Pakistan."



"The remark evoked an angry protest from the Bengali youth who took it as an affront: their language Bangla (Bengali) was, after all, spoken by fifty-four percent of the population of Pakistan. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, then a university student, was among those who raised the protest slogan and was placed under detention. The Dacca University campus became the focal point for student meetings in support of the Bangla language." (--Siddiq Salik)



Jinnah meets the student representatives of Committee of Action to persuade them of the necessity of having one national language, but the students are not convinced.



"The discussion of Jinnah with the student representatives could not bear any fruit but blurred the difference between the student group led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his associates and the student group led by Shah Azizur Rahman. The National leadership resorted to repressive policies in order to crush the Bengali language and put its supporters behind bars." (-- Md. Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan)




2nd Wave


January 26, 1952



The Basic Principles Committee of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan announces its recommendation that Urdu should be the only state language. In a public meting at Paltan Maidan, Dhaka, Prime Minister Nazimuddin declares that Urdu alone will be the state language of Pakistan. Both the developments spark off the second wave of language agitation in East Bengal.


January 28, 1952


The students of Dhaka University in a protest meeting call the Prime Minister and the Provincial Ministers as stooges of West Pakistan.


January 30, 1952


In a secret meeting called by the Awami League, which is attended by a number of communist front as well as other organizations, it is agreed that the language agitation can not be successfully carried by the students alone. To mobilize full political and student support, it is decided that the leadership of the movement should be assumed by the Awami League under Bhashani.


January 31, 1952



Bhashani presides over an all-party convention in Dhaka. The convention is attended by prominent leaders like Abul Hashim and Hamidul Haq Choudhury. A broad-based All-Party Committee of Action (APCA) is constituted with Kazi Golam Mahboob as Convener and Maulana Bhashani as Chairman, and with two representatives from the Awami League, Students League, Youth League, Khilafate-Rabbani Party, and the Dhaka University State Language Committee of Action.


February 3, 1952

Committee of Action holds a protest meeting in Dhaka against the move 'to dominate the majority province of East Bengal linguistically and culturally'. The provincial chief of Awami League, Maulana Bhashani addresses the meeting. On the suggestion of Abul Hashim it decides to hold a general strike on 21 February, when the East Bengal Assembly is due to meet for its budget session.



February 20, 1952



At 6 p.m. an order under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code prohibiting processions and meetings in Dhaka City is promulgated. This order generated tension and resentment among the students.


February 21, 1952


A general strike is observed.


Noon - A meeting is held in the campus of Dhaka University. Students decide to defy the official ban imposed by Nurul Amin's administration and processions are taken out to stage a demonstration in front of the Provincial Assembly. Police starts lobbing tear gas shells to the students. Students retaliate by batting bricks. The ensuing riot spreads to the nearby campuses of the Medical and Engineering colleges.



4 p.m. -The police opens fire in front of the Medical College hostel. Five persons - Mohammad Salauddin, Abdul Jabbar, Abul Barkat, Rafiquddin Ahmed and Abdus Salam - are killed, the first three are students of Dhaka University.



"The news of the killing spread like wildfire throughout the city and people rushed in thousands towards the Medical College premises." (-- Talukder Maniruzzaman)



Inside the assembly, six opposition members press for the adjournment of the House and demand an inquiry into the incidents. But Chief Minister Nurul Amin urges the House to proceed with the planned agenda for the day. At this point all the opposition members of the Assembly walk out in protest.


February 22, 1952


Thousands of men and women throng the university, Medical College and Engineering College areas to offer prayers for the victims of the police firing. After prayers when they go for a procession, the police opens fire.


The police also fire on angry mob who burned the offices of a pro-government newspaper. Four persons are killed.


As the situation deteriorates, the government calls in the military to bring things under control. Bowing to the pressure, the Chief Minister Nurul Amin moves a motion recommending to the Constituent Assembly that Bengali should be one of the state
language of Pakistan. The motion is passed unanimously.


"For the first time a number of Muslim members voted in favour of the amendments moved by the opposition, which so far had consisted of the Hindu Congress members only. The split in the Muslim League became formalized when some members demanded a separate bloc from the Speaker; the Awami (Muslim) League had attained the status of an opposition parliamentary party." (-- Hasan Zaheer)




February 23, 1952



A complete general strike is spontaneously observed, despite the resolution by the Provincial Assembly. The government again responds with repressive measures. APCA decides to observe a general strike on February 25 to protest the government's actions.


The students of Medical College erect overnight a Shahid Minar (Martyr's Memorial) at the place where Barkat was shot to commemorate the supreme sacrifices of the students and general population. Shahid Minar later became the rallying symbol for the Bengalis.



February 24, 1952


The government gives full authority to the police and military to bring the situation in Dhaka back to normal within 48 hours.


"During these 48 hours the police arrested almost all the student and political leaders associated with the language movement." (-- Talukder Muniruzzaman)


February 25, 1952


The Dhaka University is closed sine die. "In the face of these repressive measures, the movement lost its momentum in Dhaka. But it spread widely throughout the districts ... In addition to demands for recognition of Bengali as one of state languages of Pakistan, students now began to call for the resignation of the 'bloody' Nurul Amin cabinet ... Nurul Amin claimed that the government "had saved the province from disaster and chaos" by its repressive measures. The students, however, argued that they had already "written the success story of the movement on the streets with their blood." In retrospect, whatever the merits of government and student actions, it is clear that the movement did sow the seeds of a secular-linguistic Bengali nationalism in east Bengal. Its immediate impact was to prepare the ground for the complete routing of the Muslim League in the 1954 elections by a United Front of opposition political parties, on a nationalistic planck of cultural, political and economic autonomy for East Bengal." (-- Talukder Maniruzzaman)



"The Language Movement added a new dimension to politics in Pakistan. It left deep impression on the minds of the younger generation of Bengalis and imbued them with the spirit of Bengali nationalism. The passion of Bengali nationalism which was aroused by the Language Movement shall kindle in the hearts of the Bengalis forever ... Perhaps very few people realised then that with the bloodshed in 1952 the new-born state of Pakistan had in fact started to bleed to death." (-- Rafiqul Islam)



Results

May 7, 1954


The Pakistan government recognizes Bangla as a state language.


Feb 26, 1956


The Constituent Assembly passes the first Constitution of Pakistan recognizing Bangla as a State Language.


March 23, 1956


The first Constitution of Pakistan comes into effect.


The minders in Rawalpindi often project that ‘the only free and fair elections’ in the history of Pakistan were held by a President-General, Yahya Khan. This is historically inaccurate. If the 1970 elections turned out to be fair, they were by default not by design.


According to a senior intelligence officer, Yahya Khan had delegated N.A. Rizvi (Director Intelligence Bureau) to weaken Mujib in the East by funding Bhashani. Maj-General Ghulam Umar (Chief of National Security Council) collected funds from big businessmen and industrialists in the West to ‘cut Bhutto to size’ by financing Qayum Khan.


Later, Bhutto as PM recovered some money from Rizvi and Gen. Umer was retired. (Rao Abdur Rasheed ‘Jo main ney dekha’ Atish Fishan Publications Lahore 1985 pp. 62-64).


Major General Abubakar Osman Mitha, the only Memon General of the Army reveals that in October/November 1970, in Karachi a leading businessman Mr Roshan Ali Bhimjee told him that DIB was asking for “political contributions” from the business community using foul and threatening language.


Gen. Mitha informed Gen. Abdul Hamid Khan (Chief of Staff) in Rawalpindi to respond to the charges, none other than Gen. Ghulam Umar turned up in COS’s office. (“Unlikely Beginnings” OUP 2003 pp.328-329)


After the elections, Yahya gave a tongue-lashing to the DIB, Rizvi who had all along been reporting that no single party would gain an absolute majority (in the East). (Hasan Zaheer “The separation of East Pakistan” OUP 2000 p 130).


Mr. Yusuf Haroon, then Chairman Pakistan Services Limited and brother of Agriculture Minister Mr. Mahmood Haroon, told the Political Officer, American Consulate General, at Peshawar on June 5, 1970 that generals Gul Hasan and (Ghulam) Umar told him that the military wanted to insure a divided vote and a fragmented Constituent Assembly to render the constitution- making impossible.


(Dispatch A-109 Airgram Department of State June 9, 1970 from Karachi “The American Papers” compiled by Roedad Khan OUP 2000 pp.372-375) [Declassified
American Papers]



The Ultimate Result


March 26, 1971


Bangladesh becomes an independent nation.


Sources/References/Notes



1- Hasan Zaheer, The Separation of East Pakistan – The Rise and Realization of Bengali Muslim Nationalism, Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan, 1994




2- Talukder Maniruzzaman, The Bangladesh Revolution and its Aftermath, Bangladesh Books International Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1980



3- Siddiq Salik, Witness to Surrender, Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan, 1977



4- Rafiqul Islam, A Tale of Millions, Ananna, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 3rd edition, 1986



5- Md. Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, Emergence of Bangladesh and Role of Awami League, Vikas Publishing House, Delhi, India, 1982

No comments: