Photo: bdnews24.com

While I have always been fascinated by the red and green flare of our flag, the power of its spirit struck me as suddenly every one stood up, and hundreds of us were covered by the shelter of our beloved flag passing hand to hand over our head. I felt a distinct sense of pride as I felt as though it was my motherland sheltering me in its cocoon. They say flags are a symbol of nationhood, a symbol of unity, but I would say I was quite unprepared to have foreseen the powerful serene peace I felt over my head as we all stood in silence. And such began my journey to rediscover Bangladesh, to rediscover the spirit of our independence.

Everyday I keep getting drawn back to Shahbagh, a place where people from all walks of life converge with deep emotions at bay. Sometimes as the slogans chant on, I feel the pain of the millions dead during the war of our independence. As I come back home from Shahbagh everyday, my father, a Bir Bikrom freedom fighter, never fails to ask me, “So, how did it feel to be there?” and I never know what to say. United under one umbrella to seek justice against all war criminals, it’s as if someone has suddenly set a spark that has rekindled the spirit of our independence among all of us, especially youth like me. And thus we walk on, enchanted by the songs of our nation, the songs of freedom, and the heartbeats of our once envisioned secular Bangladesh, free from all forms of oppression and exploitation.

And then someone from abroad asks me, “Why death penalty? Capital punishment is not the answer.” And I say, “Will you be able to come down here and ensure that the war criminals given life sentence would not get out through political amnesty as soon as the power revolves?” Who is going to dry the tears of the mother who has lost her child? Who is going to appease the beautiful lady who was raped in the rivers of the bloodshed of our war? Are we supposed to turn a blind eye to the wrongs done in the past and tell them that “justice delayed is justice denied”? Or are we too worried about the heads of the disgraced?

And then again, there are others who harshly move on, and say the nation has more important things to deal with in its present than cry over the lost past, while they forget the roots they came from, while they forget the sacrifices because of which they stand where they stand today, while they forget that if you dishonour the past, someone will dishonour you in the future some day. But hope still remains in the undying spirit of the hundreds of thousands across the nation that keep rising up against our war criminals with every new day that begins.

They say that in a functional democracy, participation, accountability, and rule of law come hand in hand. And I do hope that the recent spirit of people’s participation to seek justice would reinforce the others, and once again reinforce our belief in the power of the people, and the power of our voices, that deserve to be heard. And let the love of our nation never deter us astray.

“At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love.” – Che Guevara

——————————————
Mehzabin Ahmed is a development practitioner.

I feel sad reading news piling one after another — attacks on Buddhists and Hindus in Ramu, Patia, Ukhia… and I for the first time feel ashamed of being a Bangladeshi. I feel extreme anger as I ask for the zillionth time since September 11th, why do us Muslims need a constant reminder of the fact that, “Islam is a religion of Peace?” – cause we don’t follow what we preach.

My friend tells me, “The government will have to rebuild those temples, and even more gloriously,” and I ask, “Who is going to bring back the hundreds of years of heritage that we have lost in the process?” “Who is going to counsel the child who watched her village burn in horror?” “Will these people ever live peacefully and in harmony again?” It is beyond me, how people ever come to bring themselves to do such destruction and harm, but then again, we live in a world where, seeing is believing.

The recent attack on Islam has given our fanatic Muslims in Bangladesh, yet another excuse to pick on everyone and anyone who thinks differently. I remember how extremists cut beards and hair of bauls in Rajbari a few months ago, as I still wonder what happened to the Sufi followers from Kushtia who the Muslim mobs attacked few weeks ago, and watch the silence regarding the issue among the civil society. I wonder if we have forgotten that our country was once founded through the bloodshed of millions, based on a secular constitution.  Then again, I wonder, does profanity justify destruction?

Why are we so scared of speaking up against these atrocities today? Feeling too religious? Too scared about what might happen to our “image”, “diplomatic” and “trade” relations? Or are we hiding in seclusion cause we feel apathetic to all these; cause we feel safe and sound at home? Fanatics today are not only attacking our diverse religious sects, but also attacking at the heart of our culture. Remember the Ramna Batamul bombing on Pahela Baishakh and at an Udichi Shilpi Goshti programme? It could have been one of us there, dead that day! Or maybe we might have fallen victim to one of the synchronized near to 500 bombings by fanatics in 2005?

Rise up together in solidarity, against the extremist uprising trying to take over our beloved Bangladesh today! And let our religion be “humanity”.

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule – Gautama Buddha.

———————-

Mehzabin Ahmed is a development practitioner.