Bangladesh: Towards East Pakistan?

 I remember a book “India’s Troubled Neighbours and Troubling India”. The title itself depicts today’s reality.

Right now, Bangladesh is making all the wrong news headlines. Following her recent overthrow, Sheikh Hasina, the country's longtime leader, departed. Such violent political incidents are not new to the nation. During its brief history, it has witnessed everything from assassinations to army dictatorship and abundant political excess.

The Awami League took over the National Assembly in 1970 after winning 167 of the 169 East Pakistani seats in the election. Despite this, Yahya Khan called off the meeting and gave the order for the army to strike the center of the autonomy movement while in negotiations with Mujibur Rahman. The 1971 East Pakistani Liberation War broke out amid targeted killings.

India officially entered the war in 1971, portraying itself as a supporter of Bangladesh's right to self-determination. Pakistan saw India's military training of the independence fighters as unlawful meddling, and India also took in refugees. In India, the Awami League leadership got together again and established an exile government. Following Pakistan's bombing of Indian airfields, the Indo-Pak war of 1971 broke out on December 3, 1971, and ended on December 16, when the new nation formed.

In an attempt to eradicate the Bengali identity of what was then East Pakistan, the West Pakistani government brutally attacked Bangladeshis for eight months in 1971. Approximately 3 million Bengalis of all faiths were killed by the army and allies of West Pakistan during the Liberation War.

All the same, we have to admit that Bengali Hindus were targeted, along with students, public intellectuals, members of the Awami League, and Bengali Hindus, as the five groups considered essential to the Bengali nationalist struggle. These groups were singled out because of their identities because they were thought to be inherently Bengali. Hindus had their residences and places of business designated, and US Consul General Archer Blood issued a warning that Pakistani soldiers would specifically target them with violence.

During the Bangladesh Liberation War, the Pakistan Armed Forces and the Razakars carried out the ethnic cleansing of Bengalis, particularly Bengali Hindus, who were living in East Pakistan. This was known as the Bangladesh genocide.

Targeted student massacres marked the beginning of the unrest in Bangladesh; the most well-known one took place at Dhaka University, where hundreds of students and ten staff members were killed. Massacres were carried out at campuses throughout East Pakistan by the military of West Pakistan. Following the Rayer Bazar massacre, which left investigators with a list of over 200 intellectuals slain.

We notice parallels in the historical accounts we read. The demonstrators are using the same aggression today. Although the times have changed, the attackers still think in the same way. "Is Bangladesh becoming East Pakistan?" is a question that is raised by the extreme violence and vandalism we are witnessing.

A minority organization in Bangladesh stated that following the removal of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Hindu houses and businesses are being targeted in an atmosphere of instability and violence. Following Hasina's departure from Bangladesh, hundreds of residences, places of business, and temples have been vandalized nationwide throughout the past 24 hours, according to the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC).

The BHBCUC asserted that since Hasina left for neighboring India on Monday after quitting, between 200 and 300 Hindu residences and places of business have been vandalized. Forty members of the Hindu community have been injured, and between fifteen to 20 Hindu temples have been damaged throughout Bangladesh.

A country that fought for its liberation from the atrocity of West Pakistan forgot its own past and now they are playing in the hands of Pakistan. The extremists, fanatics and pro-Pakistan people are once again targeting the minorities. The violence that we see reminds us of the history. 

Jai Hind!

-- Harsh Pargat

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