Bangladesh
may soon cease to be an Islamic nation. According to Sayeda Sajeda
Chowdhury, MP and deputy leader of Bangladesh Parliament, efforts are on
to embrace
the basic tenets of the 1972 constitution of the country which
advocated secularism, democracy and socialism. More importantly, the
constitutional amendment will ensure that religion keeps away from
politics.
"Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
had given us secularism. We still believe in Bengali nationalism,
secularism, democracy and socialism which were the basic tenets of the
country's constitution that was adopted in 1972. Later, this
constitution was amended and Bangladesh was converted into an Islamic
nation. We are trying to ensure that Islam, or for that matter any other
religion, ceases to be a state religion. Those who kill in the name of
religion and torture women
do little else but drag a nation backward. The military junta had
promoted fundamentalism in the country to suit its own needs. We can't
allow a military junta to return. We shall stop the involvement of
religion in politics and discrimination against people of other faiths,"
Chowdhury, who was in Kolkata for a seminar on 'Role of Women in the
Movement of Human Secularism in South Asia' said. The seminar was
organised by the Bharat Bangladesh Maitri Samiti to mark the birth
centenary of poet Sufia Kamal.
Journalist and
human rights activist Sahariar Kabir noted how Sufia led the secular and
democratic forces in Bangladesh even during Gen Ayub Khan's regime.
During her stay in Kolkata, she was commended by Rabindranath Tagore for
her writings. According to him, if Sufia is to be shown respect, Islam
should not remain the state religion of Bangladesh.
"We are planning to go to court unless the present government takes
steps to convert Bangladesh from an Islamic state to a secular one. When
Tagore was baned in Bangladesh (East Pakistan), Sufia led the movement
against this. In a meeting, Ayub Khan had called all Bengalis haywans(animals). None of those present dared protest save for Sufia. She told Ayub Khan to his face that if all Bengalis are haywans, he is the president of haywans.
She strove to make the country secular, democratic and socialist. One
must keep in mind that society in Bangladesh wasn't very advanced in
1972 but the constitution of a Muslim-dominated country adopted
secularism. Before framing the constitution, our leaders had gone
through the Constitution of India as well as other constitutions. What
was important is that our leaders took a 'revolutionary' step by banning
religion from politics. No other country had this in its constitution.
This was very important as we had witnessed genocide and torture," Kabir
said.
Referring to how Mujib was assasinated a
few years after the liberation of Bangladesh, he admitted that it is
extremely difficult to do away with fundamentalism. "Not only was the
word secularism removed from the constitution, from 1975, efforts
started to convert Bangladesh into another Pakistan
and later into a Taliban-ruled state. The people were never in favour
and this is where Sufia played an important role as a lighthouse. She
even led the committee that identified the people involved in war
crimes. These people are being tried in Bangladesh now," Kabir said.
Saugata Roy,
MP and president of the Bharat Bangladesh Maitri Samiti said that
Bangladesh has several impediments. "Fundamentalists are not only trying
to spoil relations with India but also prevent women from progressing,"
he said.
