সম্পাদকীয়

Although our main theme The ups and downs of the unfettered intellectual practices in the current issue of the Bangla Journal delineates the problem within a particular linguistic group of a certain geographical area, given the present culture of world politics, we can certainly assert that the gravity and relevance of this problem is equally applicable to other countries and linguistic groups. The rise of right-wing religious, racist, regressive reactionary political parties to power in country after country and regions around the world has made the problem more complex and arduous. The environment that encourages the writers of scientific, rational mind and atheistic bend to critique the prevailing social mores, religion and prejudices is almost absent. The dispassionate analyses borne out of rigorous logical trials by reflective minds do not get their due recognition in a political culture where populism dominates. On the one hand they become the target of the ruling elite’s wrath and on the other hand their contributions are denied and ignored by the intelligentsia that receives rulers’ favour and blessings. The latter symptom is a cause for grave concern.

For a long time, a situation akin to this has been prevailing in the Bengal and the subcontinent. During the time of Bengal Renaissance, we saw how believer Brahmo preacher Devendranath Thakur slanderously attacked rationalists Iswarchandra Sharma (Vidyasagar) and Akshaykumar Dutta as “a bunch of atheists”. Later, in the 20th and early 21st century, our society has experienced the nasty and violent appearance of intolerance and dislike. In Dhaka, during the 20s and 30s of the last century Kazi Abdul Odud and Abul Hussain, two prominent members of the Shikha Goshthi were subjected to insult and redress by the city’s prominent Zaminder (landlord), the greater Muslim community and the news-media for their rational critique of the religion. Aroj Ali Matubbar a self-taught rationalist writer-- had to be on guard from the perceived threat of physical assaults whenever he ventured out of his home. Those events took place while our society was under Pakistani colonial rule, but things haven’t changed much despite Bangladesh’s independence. We have had to face the fact that writers DaudHaider and Taslima Nasrin had to go into exile because of their criticism of scriptures. Rationalist, atheist writers like Ahmad Sharif and Humayun Azad, due to their reluctance to receive favour from political parties or the ruling circle, are either being ignored or not duly evaluated in mainstream academic and socio-cultural events or in the media. Instead, we have had to witnessthe publicly open, brutal slayings of writers Humayun Azad, Avijit Roy, publisher Faisal Arefm Dipon and others.

The scene in the neighbouring country is frighteningly similar. Taslima Nasrin had to give up her residency in Poshchim Banga (West Bengal) due to the ruling Left party’s political expediency. Writers Narendra Dabholkar, M.M. Kalburgi were assassinated by Hindu extremists; famous artist Maqbool Fida Hussain had to leave India, and, in Pakistan, Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab (Pakistan) was killed for his stance against Sharia Law.

Keeping the above mentioned perspective in mind, we are presenting articles by Jatin Sarkar, Sumanta Banerjee, Sandipon Sen, Sujoy Ghosh, Ranadipam Basu and Labani Jangi as part our main theme. Aside from being thematically similar, combatting terrorism is a pressing issue of our time. Elaborating on this issue, Kaberi Gayen, raises some important questions in her essay about the notion of culture as perceived by the cultural activists in our country and their intended goal. Biranjan Roy in his article discusses the influence of Greek philosopher Epicurus on the modern worldview.

In the last few decades, the youth of Bangladesh have become increasingly active in seeking their livelihoods abroad, especially in Europe and America. Nowadays, even places that weren’t initially thought of as favoured destinations aren’t being left out. Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal, is one such place. Expatriate Bangladeshis in that city have gradually created their own place. Portuguese anthropologist Jose Mapril shed lights on various aspects of this community in his discussion. The current issue of the Journal includes two articles on Rabindranath as well. While Rituparna’s article explores the question of identity and empowerment of women in light of women characters in Rabindranath’s novels, Arunabha’s article sheds light on the past and present activities of advertisement industry and its appropriation of Rabindranath. The current issue of the Journal also includes Monoranjan Byapari’s eulogy on eminent writer Mahasweta Devi, who has passed away recently, and Chirantan Sarkar’s article on poet Manindra Gupta’s art of demystification in poetry.

In addition to these articles the current issue of the Journal presents Rubayet Ahmed’s Pronoyopakhyan, a poetic narrative on love and short stories by three authors from Bangladesh and PoshchimBanga. As well, there are poems by four poets including two English poems by Janam Mukherjee.