সম্পাদকীয়

The virulence of faith-based or religion-allied politics is now worldwide. The direction of progressive politics of the 60s and 70s was to prioritize the welfare programmes in public discourse and statecraft by relegating religion into private spheres, if not eradicating them completely from public life. During those times, the observance of religious rules wasn’t prioritized in the then Soviet Union, China, Cuba, North Korea and other East European countires of the socialist bloc, as their goal was to create alternative societies to capitalist ones. Even in the capitalist societies outside of that bloc, the on-going social movments of the time didn’t prioritize religious observance over other rights and demands. It was possible because the activists and social thinkers of the time prioritized the issue of overcoming the complex discriminatory relationship between Captial and labour instead of getting involved in bloody divisive religion-allied politics. Amidst such a context of world affairs, there was a surge of secular politics in both Bangla. On the one hand, the majority of the population from the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) could free themselves from the delusion of religious identity to discover their true ethno linguisticcultural self and make the emergence of sovereign Bangladesh possible. And on the other hand, a major part of Pashchim Banga’s population, whose hearts still bled from the wounds of Partition, dreamed to build an alternative society to overcome the complex discriminatory relationsship between Captial and labour.

Bangladesh, a country that pledged not to allow the use of religion for political purposes witnessed a different scene right after its birth. The State and its public broadcast media, instead of withholding religious references in its conduct and inuagural functions, started to appease four religious groups (Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist) by invoking their respective holy books. Until 1975, the preamble of the constitution of Bangladesh, at least for the sake of secular appearance didn’t have any reference to imaginary celestial self, other than earthly human beings. But after 1975, the preamble of the constitution began with the blessings of Allah, the ultimate creator according to Islamic faith. This change, in essence, has excluded indigenous groups, non-beleivers and followers of different faiths. It’s also a fact that in Bangladesh the practice of secularism neither has taken roots in society, nor in State’s conducts. Hence, the leading political party of the liberation movement, which once showed signs of adopting secularism in the constitution, has now become more eager to utilize religion for political expediency. For the last several decades, Bangladesh has witnessed the attacks by Muslim mobs on places of worship and the properties of Hindu, Buddhist and followers of other faiths. Similarly, a reverse scene has appeared in the PostLeft Pashchim Banga, where Muslims, Dalits and other minorities are now being persecuted by Hindus. The political party that advocates Hindutva and its ideology is gradually getting a foothold in that state.

In the present issue of the Journal, the writers who have discussed “Bangla’s (Bengal) religion-allied politics” from various viewponts are: Sandipan Sen, Tushar Chakraborty, Nandini Bhattacharya, Sumanta Banerjee, Partha Pramanik, Pabitra Sarkar and Epsita Halder. Sarah Shahid’s article has also shown examples of the dilemmas that a State is bound to face if it uses religion in politics. Her article, however, mainly focuses on the issue of representation in Dhaka’s public sculptures and the ideology of the ruling class. In her article, Sarah has shown how Islamic social and political organizations have labelled the very expressions of Bangali culture as Hinduism, and in some instances forced the government to amend or make changes to those expressions. They have also succeeded in reviving the fallacy of Bangali or Muslim” nationality question, which was resolved in 1971, once again as a social debate.

Nonetheless, social scientists are curious about another equation of the religion-allied politics as well. Our old and contemporary historical experiences tell us that religious institutions, the clergy and their followers at times get involved or have allied themselves with the mass uprising against social injustices, big Capital or imperialism. One can pay attention to the solidarity that emerged between Latin America’s Leftist movements and Liberation theology, or the role of Ayatollahs in Iran during the anti- Shah uprisings. Subho Basu’s thorough exploration of Mawlana Bhasani’s early life shows how the emancipatory struggles of Bangla’s subaltern peasants informed and shaped his political self. Basu’s article will help us understand Bhasani’s apparent contradictory “Islamic Socialism” slogan in Post-Independent Bangladesh.

To commemorate the bicentenary of philosopher Karl Marx, a number of seminars, discussions, reading circles and publications have been taking place in various parts of the world. In the same vein, we present here Farooque Chowdhury’s article ‘Marx in Bangladesh’. In addition, the present issue includes a discussion on the state of Bangladesh’s official language by Shishir Bhattacharja; Saad Kamali’s article on Rabindranath’s Gitanjali and Abul Monsur’s observation on the recent trends and lack of independence in the aesthetical dimension of Bangladesh’s Art in the age of globalization.

As in previous issues, the current issue of the Journal is presenting four poems, four short stories and translation of Subimal Misra’s short story