A ‘friend’ of Bangladesh thinks aloud

"You received the 'Friends of Liberation War Honour' from the Government last year, and over many years you have commented on the development of Bangladesh." "Including you, only three of those honoured so far still live and work in Bangladesh, and so, as an official 'Friend', what are your feelings about what is happening in this country at the moment?"

I was asked this question at the dinner table a few days ago. Since this dinner with old friends of mine, I have thought long and hard.

In 1971, I witnessed the birth of this Nation and in early 1972 I was able to assess the enormous damage and destruction all over the country that needed repair, renovation and transformation. At that time, given the state of the shattered fabric of the country and the economy, I doubted that Bangladesh could survive as an independent nation state. I am, of course, delighted that, over the years, I have been proved very wrong.

Now, more than 40 years later, hartals are being called day after day defying all commonsense as far as I can see. The damage being done to the economy is incalculable and many buyers of readymade garments are likely to seriously consider if they should go on buying from Bangladesh. The prices of foodstuff and other articles of daily living are going up because transport of essential commodities is severely affected. Some daily paid workers are not able to get work and at the same time are faced with higher prices. It is an extremely vicious circle…

Schools and other educational institutions are badly affected too and many remain closed on hartal days. Exams cannot be held on time and even on non-hartal days school children and their guardians alike are apprehensive about the safety of the roads on the days before and after the hartal days.

The disruption to everyday life is the fallout after the sentence passed on the war crimes accused, Abdul Quader Mollah, at the beginning of February this year. People from all over the country, particularly the younger generation, were incensed that the death sentence was not awarded to Abdul Quader Mollah as he had been found guilty of mass murder in the 1971 War of Liberation. When I was in Dhaka in January 1972 and part of Mirpur was still being controlled (until the end of January 1972) by armed non-Bengali Muslims, I heard of the infamous 'Butcher of Mirpur' which is how Quader Mollah was then known. So, the reaction to his sentence by the 'Ganajagaran Mancha' and others after so many years is fully understandable.

For Hefazat-e Islam, BNP and Jatiya Party to label those at 'Ganajagaran Mancha' as atheists is bewildering. Have they carried out a sample survey? My experience of the few times I have visited Shahbagh is that everyone is well-behaved, friendly and respectful and I have certainly not seen or heard anything to suggest disrespect to Islam or to any other religion for that matter. The younger generation at Shahbagh explained to me they are keeping party politics and religion out of their debates as far as possible. However, it was impressed on me – something that I have been aware of since 1971 – that Islam and devout Muslims are very respectful of other religions. Be that as it may, it seems that after the death sentence was awarded in early March to another of the accused, Delwar Hossain Sayedee, the Jamaat-e-Islami appeared to recall the instructions of Yahya Khan in 1971, "Kill 3 million Hindus and the rest will go to India", because there have been numerous attacks on Hindu temples and houses allegedly by members of Jamaat and its youth section, Shibir.

Among the demands being made by Hefazat-e Islam is that men and women should not gather together in public places. Does this mean that they should not celebrate Independence Day, Victory Day, Ekushey, Pahela Baisakh together? Education from primary level to university should be separated by gender? What about the millions of women garment workers who work alongside men? What about the millions of women who have taken small loans, often to do "men's work"? Last year I was asked to write about how Bangladesh has progressed since 1971 and there is one paragraph where I wrote:

"However, probably one of the biggest changes I have seen is the position, presence and visibility of women. What struck me when I came to Dhaka in January 1972 was the absence of women in the streets and in most offices I then visited. Though there may still be a long way to go, particularly in the rural areas, this positive change is a significant one."

Forty five years ago, when I first came to the Indian sub-continent, I lived at an ashram at Bodh Gaya in Bihar which is the birthplace of Buddhism. At the daily early morning prayer meetings there were readings from the Quran one day and then on successive days from other holy books such as the Bible, Gita, Torah, Guru Granth Sahib, Tipitaka etc. What I have learnt from the Quran and Hadiths is that the same present-day barriers to women's equality prevailed in Arabia in the 7^th century and that Prophet Muhammad opposed them. Because in his own lifetime he improved women's position in society, many modern Muslims continue to value his example, which they cite when pressing for women's rights.

I am confident that discussions can take place so that the 13 point demands of Hefazat-i Islam can be withdrawn and some more realistic suggestions can be put forward for consideration.

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Julian Francis has had an association with Bangladesh since 1971, was honoured in 2012 as a foreign friend of Bangladesh for his role in the country's War of Liberation in 1971