A promoter of Indian hegemonism in Bangladesh
By Zoglul Husain, UK
I refer to the article in NFB titled The Intellectual Blueprint of the Neo-Razakars by Sohail Tajul Islam, published on August 25, 2008 in the Readers Opinion section. The writer introduced himself as a student of Imperial College, London: (E Mail:
sohailtaj2008@gmail.com).
To Sohail Tajul Islam, any one who stands for the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh is a neo-rajakar. He has listed many writers and newspapers as anti-India and to whom, in his opinion, his title of neo-rajakar applies. It is possible that he has been prompted by his backers from dark corners to produce this list. However, anti-hegemonism is not the same as anti-India, and anti-imperialism is not the same as anti-America, and any conscious person should steadfastly struggle against imperialism, hegemonism, inequality and exploitation.
Without going into details, it needs to be mentioned that we wanted independence for one reason, but India wanted to divide Pakistan for another reason, with their ulterior motive of reducing Bangladesh to a vassal state and finally annexing it to India as a dependent state. Sohail Tajul Islam wants us to be grateful to India for 1971 and he then, what is more, wants us to surrender our independence to India. But what has he got to say about the plunder of Bangladesh by India after 16 December 1971, the permanent massive damage to Bangladesh by Farakka barrage, the raising of Rakkhi Bahini who ruthlessly massacred 30 thousand patriots (half of them of JSD) and established a reign of terror to bring Bangladesh to its knees in front of India, the killings of hundreds of villagers at the border, the uneven trade of India with Bangladesh with which billions of dollars are being plundered by India from Bangladesh every year, etc., etc.? How is Bangladesh going to be compensated for the losses of these valuable lives, the massive permanent damages and the huge plunders? But as regards the people of India, we of course promote the people-to-people solidarity between all the countries of the world and we support the struggles for the emancipation of the people in all countries.
Sohail Tajul Islam also terms the book, The India Doctrine edited by Barrister MBI Munshi, as The Intellectual Blueprint of the Neo-Razakars. He offers neither arguments nor logic, but dishes out abusive expressions and personal attacks.
There cannot be any doubt that Sohail Tajul Islam is a promoter of Indian hegemonism in Bangladesh. Actually he goes more than most in his submission, and he invites others to submit, to his hegemonic masters when he concludes: It is without doubt India that will emerge as the regional superpower and elites in Pakistan and Bangladesh better come to recognize that reality or both countries will suffer the consequences. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh are too weak and internally divided to pose a threat to Indias rise so why foster dreams based on an ill-conceived religious division which has done more harm than good. The meaning of Islam is submission so both countries should gracefully submit! No doubt he is a promoter of Akhand Bharat (undivided India), which MBI Munshi and other writers of the book, The India Doctrine, have taken pains to explain precisely the concept of and the Indian operations thereof since 1947.
Thus, according to Sohail Tajul Islam, the two-nation theory, on the basis of which British India was partitioned was an ill-conceived religious division which has done more harm than good and that both Bangladesh and Pakistan should submit their independence to India!! And in his supreme wisdom (!), he says: The meaning of Islam is submission so both countries should gracefully submit!
After this, the writer could be totally ignored and brushed off. But for the sake of our respected and patient readers, and for the sake of the writer too, a few points need to be mentioned. Firstly, weak nations can certainly defeat strong nations. It is the weak nations who smashed colonialism to smithereens! Again, weak nations like Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, many countries in Latin America and many other countries of the world have defeated imperialism. So, threat to other countries of South Asia about the potential super power of India is futile and counter-productive in a world, where weak nations refuse to be cowed down even by the hyper power, the USA. On the other hand, India is beset with huge problems of poverty, inequality and strife, which are no better than the situation in Bangladesh.
Secondly, it was over-riding socio-economic and political necessities with the tag of two-nation theory which led to the partition of British India. Even the Communist Party of India (CPI) in 1942 supported the movement for Pakistan i.e., supported the partition of British India on the basis of two nation theory. As Sohail Tajul Islam is a college student, he can study these in detail, and of course CPI is no less secular than what he professes to be as his main contention. Just a reminder to him that secularism is not the same as servitude or prostrating to Indian hegemonism.
Thirdly, when he says, The meaning of Islam is submission so both countries should gracefully submit (their independence to India), he distorts and abuses the meaning of Islam. He has actually insulted a faith, without understanding the implication of what he is saying. He seems to be utterly confounded in his thoughts on religion. One should be very careful about making any statement about any religion. Islamic theology says that all of Gods messengers since Adam preached the message of Islamsubmission to the will of God (Wikipedia). So, it is submission to the will of God, not to the devil of Indian hegemonism!
Fourthly and finally, I assume Sohail Tajul Islam is a normal-age college student and not what is termed as a mature student. So, at his formative tender age, I will not describe him as a national-traitor or accuse him of insulting religion, except that I will take him to be grossly misguided by vested interest groups. I think it would be right to give him a stark warning that unless he makes amends and cleans up his ways and comes out of the network of RAW, he will be destined to reap the bitter harvest of the wrath of the people of Bangladesh as well as the wrath of the right-minded people of India and other peoples of South Asia, however endearing his writings may be to the hegemonists of India and their lackeys in India, Bangladesh and elsewhere in South Asia or rest of the world.
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