[🇧🇩] The Legacy of Maulana Bhashani

[Saif]

Date of Event: Nov 18, 2024

Source : https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/views/news/remembering-legacy-opposition-vision-independence-3754591

Remembering a legacy of opposition, a vision of independence

VISUAL: ALIZA RAHMAN

Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (1880–1976) was one of Bengal's most charismatic and influential leaders, whose political contributions and multifaceted personality have been the subject of extensive evaluation. His leadership in the anti-colonial struggle, uncompromising efforts to unite the impoverished peasants of Bengal to alleviate their suffering, and his tireless political journey in pursuit of democracy were monumental. However, his enduring legacy lies in his steadfast commitment to oppositional politics and his vision of independence, which remain vital for sustaining democratic politics.

Maulana Bhashani's political journey began in the 1920s with his involvement in the Khilafat and non-cooperation movements in Bengal. However, Bhashani, at that time, did not become a prominent figure in Bengal politics like his contemporaries AK Fazlul Haq, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Akram Khan, or Abul Hashim. Rather towards the late 1920s, he was compelled to move to Assam by landlords in Tangail, Pabna and Bogura because he organised peasants to protest against the landlords' exploitation. The Maulana rose to political prominence in Assam, where he popularised the Muslim League, and eventually served as its president. Bhashani became especially known for his opposition to the line corridor movement. Later, Muhammad Sa'dullah's Assam government arrested him. He was released in late 1947 on the condition that he would permanently leave Assam.

After relocating to Dhaka, Bhashani witnessed the Bengal Muslim League governing the province in an increasingly autocratic manner, continuing to perpetuate the suffering of the people even after Pakistan's independence. In response, he founded the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League in June 1949. Through his tireless efforts and extensive travels across East Bengal, the party rapidly gained traction, drawing many young people and disillusioned factions of the Muslim League. Bhashani played a crucial role in the United Front's victory in the 1954 elections, which delivered a decisive blow to the ruling Muslim League.

Bhashani also played a significant role in the party's evolution by advocating for the removal of "Muslim" from its name, renaming it the Awami League, and opposing separate electorates for minorities, a position supported by leaders like Suhrawardy in 1956. Ultimately, Bhashani left the Awami League due to disagreements over East Pakistan's autonomy, growing frustrated as the then Prime Minister Suhrawardy, whose stance was increasingly aligned with the US, ignored this crucial issue.

Notably, Bhashani was a trailblazer in anti-communal politics, staunchly opposing religious bigotry and hatred during the heightened sectarian tensions surrounding India's partition. He played a key role in establishing Ittefaq and revitalising Sangbad as a pro-people voice. These publications left an enduring legacy in shaping democratic opinion in both Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The Kagmari Conference of 1957, chaired by Bhashani, was one of the most influential cultural-literary-political gatherings in Pakistan. It challenged the restrictive socio-cultural environment and rejuvenating ties between East Bengal and West Bengal. Serving as a vibrant hub for both folk and modern literary circles, it fostered dynamic cultural exchange and drew significant public participation. During the conference, Bhashani and his leftist colleagues championed an anti-imperialist, non-aligned foreign policy, a stance that faced fierce opposition from Awami League leaders, making a split inevitable.

Bhashani aspired to steer the Awami League towards anti-imperialist, anti-feudal, and anti-communal principles. When this vision could not be realised, he founded the National Awami Party (NAP) in 1957 to pursue his mission independently.

Later, when Ayub Khan seized power, Bhashani appeared to adopt a cautious approach, refraining from strong opposition to strategically navigate the early years of military rule. He even offered concessions to Ayub, as reflected in his remark, "Don't disturb Ayub." This stance might have been influenced by broader global politics, particularly Ayub and Bhashani's mutual alignment with China and the dynamics of the 1965 Indo-Pak war, which shaped Bhashani's periodic inaction towards Ayub's regime.

Unfortunately, NAP later split along ideological lines, driven by debates over the Sino-Soviet conflict, despite not being a communist party.

However, this same Maulana later delivered the final blow to Ayub Khan's regime, igniting a grassroots movement that swept from cities to villages and ultimately contributed to the downfall of Pakistan's "great dictator."

In the final stage of his life, while reflecting on the most significant event of his life, in response to a question from a physician, Bhashani recounted the struggles of the people of the Indian subcontinent, particularly in Bengal, against British colonial rule. He said, this historic movement did not achieve complete liberation but, its partial success brought him immense joy. He spoke with pride about how the people of Bengal fought for their own freedom and contributed to the broader struggle for independence across the subcontinent.

However, by this time, NAP had been significantly weakened as many of his young communist associates defected to pursue more radical paths. These departures further destabilised the party, leaving it vulnerable on the eve of Pakistan's first national elections. Bhashani's bold and action-oriented politics, meanwhile, unsettled many in the middle class, prompting them to shift their support to the Awami League, which appeared to offer a more stable and pragmatic alternative.

Bhashani's decision not to contest the 1970 elections further compounded the challenges for his party, NAP. This decision weakened the party's position as the second-most significant political force after the Awami League, causing it to lose even more ground.

Despite this, Bhashani remained a pivotal figure during the 1971 Liberation War. His unwavering support for the war effort brought immense legitimacy to the cause and played a crucial role in garnering global attention towards Bangladesh's struggle for independence.

After the liberation of Bangladesh, Bhashani continued to exert significant influence by holding the ruling Awami League accountable on critical issues such as drafting the constitution and addressing the food crisis. His last major political initiative was the historic march protesting the Farakka Barrage issue, underscoring his enduring commitment to national causes.

Bhashani's political journey was marked by shifting trajectories and evolving strategies, often reflecting the complexities of his time. During the Pakistan period, he was perceived by some as sympathetic to India. However, following Bangladesh's independence, his actions were criticised as overly anti-Indian, with some attributing these stances to heightened communal tensions in the nascent country.

In the final stage of his life, while reflecting on the most significant event of his life, in response to a question from a physician, Bhashani recounted the struggles of the people of the Indian subcontinent, particularly in Bengal, against British colonial rule. He said, this historic movement did not achieve complete liberation but, its partial success brought him immense joy. He spoke with pride about how the people of Bengal fought for their own freedom and contributed to the broader struggle for independence across the subcontinent.

When he was asked why he always led the opposition but never took power, Maulana Bhashani explained that political power alone cannot guarantee the well-being of the people or eliminate all forms of discrimination. He emphasised that throughout his life, he championed political, economic, social, and cultural independence, urging people to strive for these goals. This did not mean he rejected power entirely; rather, he believed in waiting for the right conditions to achieve true independence in all its forms.

His response captured the essence of his identity as a leader of the oppressed and underscored his unwavering commitment to remaining in opposition throughout his political journey.

Priyam Paul is a journalist and researcher.​

 

[Saif]

Our foremost peasant leader and revolutionary

He was described as an epic hero. His life was intimately involved in the land, labour and language of the poor peasant.

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Our foremost peasant leader and revolutionary

Maulana Bhashani speaking at one of his mass rallies. Photo: Archives

He was described as an epic hero. His life was intimately involved in the land, labour and language of the poor peasant. And he was always with sharecroppers and fisherfolk, rickshaw wallas and jute and sugar producers, industrial workers and farm labourers, the urban poor and shopkeepers and primary school teachers, and other segments of the "Wretched of the Earth," to use the Black revolutionary Frantz Fanon's phrase. And—clad in his spotless white panjabi while always wearing his favourite lungi and tupi—he remained opposed to everything our ruling classes have hitherto come to stand for.

I'm speaking of none other than Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, proverbially known as the majloom jononeta (leader of the oppressed), one who was perhaps the most popular revolutionary peasant leader from Bangladesh. He organised and led the poor peasants from East Bengal to settle in a river island called Bhashan Char in colonial Assam—a place where he lived and was loved by its people, who gave him the title "Bhashani." This is reminiscent of how the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto Guevara came to be lovingly called "Che" in Cuba, which, however, was not the place of his birth.

According to most, if not all, sources, Maulana Bhashani was born on December 2, 1880, in a poor peasant family, in a village called Dhangara, in the present-day district of Sirajganj. His father Sharafat Ali Khan died at 36, when Bhashani—then nicknamed Chyaga Mia—was about nine. Then he lost his mother Maziran Bibi, his grandmother, his two brothers, and his sisters to the 1894 epidemic. Chyaga Mia not only became an orphan, but also lost almost everyone when he was only about 14.

Yet, Chyaga Mia somehow succeeded in getting his elementary education at a small madrasa in Sirajganj. Later, in 1907, Pir Nasiruddin Shah Baghdadi sent him to Darul Uloom Deoband—then the leading centre of Islamic learning in India. Following that time, Bhashani's life had been an epic journey marked by relentless struggles against poverty, death, damage, destruction—and, of course, against all forms and forces of oppression and injustice he could possibly identify.

Bhashani died on November 17, 1976, at the age of 96.

Owing to space constraints, I can barely scratch the surface of Bhashani's staggeringly eventful life and work. But I intend to follow only a few tracks and trajectories that I find significant. Overall, the political life of Maulana Bhashani encompassed three geographical sites—Assam, Pakistan and Bangladesh—and three broad historical periods such as the colonial (Bitish India), neocolonial (Pakistan), and "postcolonial" (Bangladesh) periods, spanning six decades from, say, coming into contact with Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das in 1917 that inaugurated Bhashani's political life (it was also the heady year of the great October Revolution of Russia), to organising and leading East Bengal's peasants in Bhashan Char in 1924, to leading the famous anti-Farakka long march in Bangladesh in 1976.

Avowedly anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, anti-imperial, and anti-feudal—one who uncompromisingly combatted British colonialism, the zamindari system, and all forms and forces of class politics represented by parties ranging from the Congress to the Muslim League to the Awami League and the like—Maulana Bhashani was characteristically and unwaveringly oppositional in the interest of the oppressed, as the peasant leader Haji Mohammad Danesh rightly pointed out. Bhashani was known as a socialist, even a "Maoist," Islamic socialist, Islamist, Pir, spiritual leader, and so on. But by no means did he ever resemble any one of them in the run-of-the mill sense. In fact, neither so-called socialists nor so-called Islamists endorsed Bhashani's positions and practices.

Yet, it was Bhashani who—more than any leader on the left—made socialism popular at a particular historical juncture. Bhashani also underlined the political and even revolutionary potential of spiritual projects—Islam included. His decisively anti-communal version of Islam—informed and inflected by his deep understanding of the notion of Hukumat-e-Rabbania, which urges us to remain organically tied to the totality of life forms—was deeply resonant with the cause of the oppressed. In this, Bhashani edged close to the revolutionary poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. It was, then, not for nothing that the retrograde Jamaat-e-Islami party called Bhashani kafir (Nazrul was also called kafir in a different context).

Let me quickly allude to a creative moment in Bhashani's brand of socialist cultural politics. At mass gatherings, Bhashani used to say prayers—in the manner of what is called munajat in the Islamic tradition—and once he said something to this effect in his mass munajat: "Allah, keep our communists safe!" There were indeed numerous other moments that amply attest to the maulana's breathtaking creativity, tactical flexibility and, of course, his principled oppositionality—all in the service of the oppressed. Let me make a few more points about Bhashani's oppositional politics.

Bhashani joined the Swaraj Party of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan in 1923, and then had his fiercely antagonistic confrontation with the Maharaja of Santosh, for which Bhashani was expelled from Mymensingh. In fact, in 1926, Bhashani was declared persona non grata in his own land: Bengal. Since then, however, he never ceased to act and agitate; he emerged as the most outstanding peasant leader by organising in 1931 the largest peasant rally ever held in Bengal during the British colonial period. Indeed, he organised, led, and took part in numerous rebellions and riots, resistance movements, mass uprisings, marches, protests, rallies, and so on—including, of course, the 1952 Language Movement, the 1969 Mass Uprising—of which he was an unparalleled and most exemplary leader—and the 1971 Liberation War itself. I intend to write about his distinctive and massive roles in all those three historic events on another occasion. For now, let me call attention to just a few, if not all, pioneering moments that characterised Bhashani's insurrectionary politics.

Of course, as far back as the famous Kagmari conference of 1957, Bhashani indicated the need for forming what he himself called "swadhin purba Bangla" (independent East Bengal), while on November 25, 1970, he unequivocally mentioned "swadhin purba Pakistan" (independent East Pakistan) in his speech. And it was he who inaugurated the moment of a democratic movement in Pakistan by first confronting and opposing the Muslim League. And it was he who also initiated the anti-imperial movement—including the movement against US imperialism—in Pakistan. And when Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation-state, Bhashani quickly realised that power was just transferred from one ruling class to another, and that the anti-people system and state remained intact.

But what, then, is the significance of Bhashani today? True, Bhashani moved from party to party. He was in the Muslim League; then he founded the Awami Muslim League; then he turned it into the Awami League; then he left it to found the National Awami Party (NAP), yet leaving it later. Why? Because none of those parties could keep pace with Bhashani's revolutionary politics that remained organically rooted in the struggles of the poor peasants and the oppressed. He enacted and embodied an unprecedented dialectic between class-line organising and mass-line organising in the interest of nothing short of total emancipation. His was a version of socialism creatively and radically indigenised: he certainly longed for an exploitation-free system and society that are impossible under capitalism and imperialism, and our national ruling classes, and he exemplarily internalised the values and messages of socialism such that he was able to turn them into active, material, and "national-popular" (to use Gramsci's term) forces, without falling into the trap of a theory-fetishising intellectualism, and realising well before anyone else during his times that culture is political, and that politics itself has its cultural aspect. For Bhashani, that cultural aspect of politics resided in the ways in which he could not only use and energise a language immediately accessible to the masses, but could also turn that language into a vehicle of what he himself and his people called praner dabi.

Indeed, to reload and reinvent Bhashani today is to inaugurate a new emancipatory, revolutionary politics in Bangladesh.

Dr Azfar Hussain is interim director of the graduate programme in social innovation and associate professor of integrative, religious, and cultural studies at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, US. He is also the vice-president of the US-based Global Center for Advanced Studies (GCAS).​

 

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Maulana Bhashani and the transition to secular politics in East Bengal

On March 10, 1947, a day of non-cooperation was observed in the colonial province of Assam.

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Maulana Bhashani and the transition to secular politics in East Bengal

Bangabandhu meets Maulana Bhashani at PG Hospital on February 10, 1972.

On March 10, 1947, a day of non-cooperation was observed in the colonial province of Assam. That morning, Maulana Bhashani succeeded in evading the British intelligence services who had issued instructions to arrest him. He crossed the Brahmaputra river in a nauka, (a small boat), then travelled onwards by land in a bullock cart, eventually reaching the town hall of Tejpur. Here, thousands of peasants had gathered for a public meeting calling for the formation of a separate state of 'Pakistan', comprising Bengal and Assam. Though the day of action was sponsored by the Muslim League, claiming to represent exclusively Muslim interests, Bhashani's speech was free of the communal rhetoric to which other Muslim League leaders were prone. He insisted that unity between Hindus and Muslims be maintained; his movement was directed against 'British imperialism' – not against any religious community.

Though Bhashani originally hailed from Sirajganj in East Bengal, (now Bangladesh), he derives his appellation 'Bhashani' from Char Bhashan, a low lying area of Assam. It was here, in the late 1920s, that Bhashani built his own hut, after having been forced by the British colonial authorities to seek refuge beyond the borders of Bengal. Before this shift, the fiery theologian had started distinguishing himself as an opponent of the feudal zamindari system which formed the backbone of Britain's rule over Bengal.

1920s Bengal saw the emergence of a movement for tenants' rights protesting unjust impositions by absentee landlords. It was actively supported by rural intellectuals, including lawyers and Islamic preachers. Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan, later to be known as 'Bhashani', was a key organiser of this movement.

In Assam, the Maulana emerged as an effective and popular peasant leader, ready to champion the cause of the downtrodden. Perhaps paradoxically, he also emerged as a widely respected leader of the Muslim League and in 1944 he was elected the party's President. The mass appeal which Bhashani developed via his support for immigrant peasants is illustrated by a short account of a Shammelan (conference) held in Mangaldoi, in 1946. The event is vividly described by the journalist-writer Abul Kalam Samsuddin, who had been invited to chair it. Arriving at the conference ground, Bhashani was greeted by a large crowd of peasants, raising their sticks above their heads. 'There must', Samsuddin writes, 'have been at least two lakh, (200,000) participants!' In a two-hour long speech to the conference, Bhashani criticised the British, but also singled out the police for atrocities committed against Bengali immigrants. Even his own Muslim League colleagues came in for criticism; Bashani exhorted them to work harder for the cause.

Just months before Mangaldoi, in April 1946, the Muslim League had won all but three seats in elections to Assam's Legislative Assembly. This resounding victory, according to the biographer Syed Abul Maksud, should 'almost entirely' be credited to Bhashani. Yet, Bhashani was no conventional Muslim League politician. In 1944, at the very meeting where he was elected party President, Bhashani appealed to the League's General Secretary, Sadullah, not to act as a 'postbox' for the British authorities. He was later to recall that, at a certain point during his stay in Assam, he had actually allied with the Congress party so as to press the Muslim League into action! Bhashani consistently used his standing as a religious leader and politician to advance the cause of the peasantry and on the eve of Partition, we find Bhashani combining the espousal of migrant peasants' interests, with a principled opposition against communal hatred, and advocating the formation of a greater Bengal state.

Bhashani as religious leader

Writings eulogising Maulana Bhashani tend to focus on his politics, and the fact that he played a central role in the political evolution of (East) Bengal. This is a rather myopic view, for Bhashani's politics cannot be understood without also taking into account the fact that he was a religious preacher with a huge following. Indeed, in Assam, Maulana Bhashani was widely regarded as a pir, a saint-like figure, commanding a large number of disciples who accepted his religious teachings, who were willing to support his politics, in particular his opposition to British colonialism.

Between 1907 and 1909, Bhashani attended the famous Islamic University of Deoband, where he received theological training. Deoband was widely regarded as a centre with progressive leanings. Several Sufi orders have influenced Deoband's teachings. Its theologians are reputed to have shared an 'anti-imperialist'orientation, and to have actively propagated the need to end Britain's domination over the subcontinent.

There are clues to which current within Islam Bhashani ultimately chose to embrace in his essay on the policy of 'Rabubiyat', written in 1974, at the twilight of his political life. This essay indicates that, from 1946 onwards, the Rabubiyat remained his guiding ideology. The Rabubiyat preaches the undivided equality of all people, whatever their caste, nationality or religion. What makes Rabubiyat distinct is that it advocates the abolition of private ownership on the basis of faith. Bhashani states: 'Man is only a custodian, whereas Allah holds ownership over all properties that exist. Thus, the state should abolish all private ownership, and should distribute things in equal proportions, on the basis of need'.

This statement reveals just how intertwined politics and religion were in Bhashani's vision and life. Indeed, for him the message of Islam was so much a vision on how society should be structured economically, that he used every occasion to impress on his followers the need to engage in struggles for socio-economic change. Bhashani preached that the peasants needed to get organised.

Painting by Zainul Abedin, January, 1971.

Transition to secular politics

After Partition, Bhashani returned to East Bengal (East Pakistan). Here, he led a mass campaign in the 1950s in favour of regional autonomy and Bengali self-determination. This campaign was to play a key role in the Maulana's journey towards the secularisation of politics, for the momentum which the movement for autonomy gained decisively demonstrated that the hold of the Muslim League and of Pakistan's rulers over the minds of the population in East Bengal was weakening, and that secularisation was truly possible.

Bhashani had already protested in public against Pakistan's economic exploitation of East Bengal in the late 1940s. Furthermore, he had also ensured that the demand stating that self-rule (swayatshashan) be granted to the province was included in the programme of the the (Muslim) Awami League, a new party formed as breakaway of the Muslim League in 1949. In the campaign for the 1954 elections he turned the demand for autonomy into the public's 'heartfelt issue' (praner dabi), showing that electoral campaigning can contribute significantly towards a society's politicisation.

After the party coalition he led had gained a convincing victory, he steadfastly continued building public opinion in support of self-determination, calling on students and other sections of the public to wear black badges on a province-wide day of resistance, and leading numerous rural demonstrations to vent the public's discontent.

The 1957 Cultural Conference at Kagmari formed the culminating point of Bhashani's campaign in favour of regional autonomy, and is considered to be a milestone in Bangladesh's history. Bhashani, as the League's President, called for a two day Council session of the party in Kagmari, Tangail, to be followed by a three day Cultural Conference. Bhashani used Kagmari to re-affirm the party's 'anti-imperialist' stance. In his conference speech, Bhashani threatened – prophetically – that if East Bengal were not granted autonomy, the people would ultimately say 'Assalamu Alaikum' (goodbye) to Pakistan.

Even today there is a tendency amongst a section of Bangladeshi politicians, to obfuscate history and downgrade Bhashani's achievements. It is critically important to underline how Bhashani's campaign for regional autonomy, which reached its peak at the Kagmari Conference, both created the environment for the secularisation of politics, and formed the precursor to the 1971 war for the independence of Bangladesh.

Yet what nasty opposition the aged preacher-politician had to face! In the wake of the Kagmari Conference, conservative pirs and maulanas publicly vilified Bhashani, arguing that he was trying to disrupt Pakistan's territorial integrity. Yet, despite all this, the history of East Bengal's subsequent evolution attests that Maulana Bhashani was a political pioneer.

Bhashani's struggle for secularisation of East Bengal's politics started well before the Kagmari Conference took place. Thus, at a Council session of the Muslim Awami League in 1955, he proposed that the word 'Muslim' be dropped from the party's name. And in his welcoming speech to the Kagmari Conference, he pushed aside Jinnah's 'two nations' theory, insisting that, while it was a country with a Muslim majority, Pakistan was 'for Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, adivasis and other small nationalities alike'. Bhashani stated that the communal problem was the 'very biggest problem of the people of India and Pakistan'. He warned that if this problem was not resolved, the people of the two countries can never live in peace, and 'all efforts at development' will be utterly wasted.

The details registered above regarding East Bengal's political evolution during the 1950s, reveal Bhashani's key role in steering the transformation of East Bengal's politics. Indeed, history attests that the 1950s saw a dramatic transition from the Muslim League with its communal grip over East Bengal's politics, towards the secularisation of the region's politics.

Maulana Bhashani did not just contribute to, but played the very determining role in achieving this historical transition. Via his leadership in the formation of East Bengal's (Muslim) Awami League, via the consultations he held on abolishing the party's communal bias, and via his speeches on the problematic relations between the Subcontinent's main religions, Bhashani helped lay the foundations for the subsequent formation of Bangladesh as a secular state.

Bhashani's class politics:

Having highlighted Bhashani's intense efforts to strengthen religious tolerance in East Bengal in the 1950s, it is now necessary to return to discuss the Maulana's class politics. Here it should be stressed that, during the given historical period, Bhashani did not just stick to the policy he had pursued before, i.e. of championing peasant demands, but took it to a new stage. He invariably took a stance in favour of the demands put forward by various sections of the labouring population, such as industrial workers, fisher folk and peasants producing Bengal's 'golden' fibre, jute. Moreover, Bhashani did not just use his leverage as a public opinion builder to promote these causes, he also took a personal interest in the self-organisation of each labouring class or section. The enhancement of class struggle was central to the methodology and strategy he used to defend religious tolerance.

Soon after his return to East Bengal from Assam, in the late 1940s, Bhashani agreed to champion the cause of waged workers employed in modern enterprises. Newspapers reports published in 1949/1950 record the sorrowful plight of workers recruited to labour for the province's railways. Many lacked proper housing, and job security did not exist. Against this background, a union of railway workers was formed in 1949, and Bhashani was elected to be its President. In this capacity he is reported to have repeatedly spoken at gatherings of the union's leading members, and he also participated in negotiations which the union held with the railway authorities. Four years later, the Maulana was again called upon to be president of another trade union. This time it was the union of workers employed in Adamjee Jute Mills, the largest industrial complex in East Bengal at that time.

One personal initiative which the Maulana undertook was regarding the formation of East Bengal's union of fisher folk. This initiative dates from 1958 and was launched immediately after Bhashani had parted ways with the Awami League, and had formed his own Leftist party, the NAP. (National Awami Party). NAP's programmatic documents expressed unequivocally Bhashani's combined orientation, on class struggle from below and on religious tolerance. The document also referred to the need for 'land reform'. In 1958, he launched a month-long drive to help prepare for the holding of a conference of fisher folk. Over a hundred delegates are reported to have gathered for this event, termed 'singular' in the history of Bengal.

The Shammelan adopted a 12-point charter of demands, with strikingly concrete propositions, including: that import licenses for fishing gear be offered to professional fishermen, that floating hospitals be set up in fishing zones, and that anyone owning a net should be granted rights over water bodies. Again, not long before he had started his drive in support of fisher folk, in January 1958, the Maulana had already taken the initiative towards the formation of a peasant association, the East Pakistan 'Krishok Samity'. Soon after, however, the process of organising in the rural areas was disrupted, when the military took over state power and imposed Martial Law.

It was only in 1964 that organising could be re-intensified. Clearly, the aged Bhashani in the Pakistan period made sustained efforts to promote the formation of union-type organisations, both in villages and towns of East Bengal. By the end of the 1960s, these efforts bore fruit and in a very explosive manner. Unfortunately, in this brief essay, there is no scope to give a detailed description of Bhashani's role in the 1968/69 uprising against military dictatorship. It should be noted, however, that he personally launched an uprising in East Bengal, via a general strike held in Dhaka on December 7, 1968, and that he personally helped shape other tactics employed by the rising's participants. In the aftermath of Ayub Khan's fall, Bhashani's leadership in the uprising drew much international attention.

In the late 1940s, just after Partition, the sphere of politics in the province had largely been communalised. By the late 1960s, through the intense and sustained efforts which the Maulana and other politicians opposed to intolerance had made, the impact of communal parties in East Bengal had dramatically declined. The change in public discourse was very visible in the uprising against Ayub Khan's dictatorship. The very success of this uprising indicates that the state could no longer exploit religion to manipulate the sentiments of East Bengal's population. Politics had largely been secularised.

Conclusion

Bhashani's efforts should be assessed within a broader, longer- term perspective on religious tolerance and the history of Bangladesh. Here two points may be re-visited: First, Bhashani did not try to position himself beyond the parameters of a single religion. Bhashani's way of identifying with Islam, it may be argued, limited his scope for incorporating syncretic elements derived from other faiths into his own world view. While he surely displayed an affinity with Bengal's syncretic tradition, his approach was different from, for instance, the poet-writer Nazrul Islam, who used an imagery derived from both Hinduism and Islam. Nevertheless, Bhashani's championing of religious tolerance from within the framework of Islam has its own, positive, importance for the contemporary debate on religious tolerance. For at a time when right-wing, Western politicians are trying to make their public believe that there is an irreconcilable conflict between the values of religious tolerance and the nature of Islam, the example of Maulana Bhashani reveals, with full force, that the opposite is the case.

Peter Custers (1949-2015) was a Dutch journalist and researcher who worked extensively on South Asia, particularly Bangladesh.

This is a summary of an article published in the The Indian Economic and Social History Review (IESHR) April-June 2010 issue, Vol.XLVII no.2, p.231: Peter Custers, 'Maulana Bhashani and the Transition to Secular Politics in East Bengal'.​

 

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Maulana Bhashani: The Lessons of Freedom

I shall begin with a story, to which I will return again. In 2013, on the occasion of the 37th death anniversary of Maulana Bhashani, I

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Maulana Bhashani: The Lessons of Freedom

I shall begin with a story, to which I will return again. In 2013, on the occasion of the 37th death anniversary of Maulana Bhashani, I met the vivacious and spirited 84-year old Burhan Uddin in Tangail (passed away in 2014). Bhashani's murid of 50 years and a peasant for far longer, his dress of straw cap, white punjabi, lungi and a wispy bead mimicked that of his Pir or, in his own words, the 'maha nayak' (great leader),'maha bidrohi' (great leader) and the 'maha pralaykari'(one who causes complete dissolution of the universe). In excited tones, he proceeded to me at length stories about Bhashani, much of it would have many squirming in discomfort, especially his wonderful and fantastical imageries of Bhashani flying over trees on his boat protected by an ambush of tigers and of the thwack of his lathi reverberating across the entire subcontinent. However, there was one story in particular that struck me the most. On the 21st night of Ramadhan 2012, Maulana Bhashani visited Burhan Uddin and told him the 'villain' American imperialism would soon be defeated, and to carry out a shongram, modern weaponry were no longer effective. The next andolan, Bhashani informed him would be on electricity.

On November 17 2015, the 39th death anniversary of Maulana Bhashani passed. The commemoration and tributes have not quite matched the larger-than-life personality that Maulana Bhashani was in the history of not only Bangladesh, but also the subcontinent and beyond. And, perhaps, this is not so bad. Perhaps, it is a more fitting tribute to be remembered in smaller, private and fragmented gatherings. There's something a lot more honest about it, given that it is often the less-than-salubrious leaders that get the grander commemorations. Their history, I support, just needs to be whitewashed that little bit more. Nonetheless, there is something a lot more dangerous here in the fading away of our collective memories of Bhashani.

To quote Walter Benjamin and, hopefully, in a not-too-random way: "what has been forgotten.... is never something purely individual." My academic research on Bhashani over the last five years stands as a testament to that. To forget Bhashani is to forget the histories of poor and landless peasants, sharecroppers, char-dwellers, and workers; it is to forget the rich and dynamic contributions of the secular and of the religious; our wider geographies, fraternities and networks; the progressive, radical and defiant voices that once were; and the possibilities and futures that people fought for until bodies were fatigued, battered, bloodied or just ceased to be. Our humanity, our redemption and our liberation must lie in the recovery of all our histories even the most obscure, reviled and rejected elements of it.

Saiq'a Chowdhury

The intention of the article is not to offer a panegyric, faint praise, prescription or timelines, all of which have been done elsewhere by others, but something different. Let us return back to Burhan Uddin. To others, his stories might have appeared as the byproduct of a semi-literate, irrational or senile mind. Burhan Uddin's ability to think and feel his way and emotions his way through complex issues of injustice, power, resistance, and humanity using the complex figure of Maulana Bhashani, rather, spoke to me of the product of a powerful pedagogy: a pedagogy of emancipation. I offer then an outline of the pedagogy, or, rather, the lessons of freedom that can be found in Bhashani's politics. This is an incomplete pedagogy because it comes from the fragments of speeches, practices and relationships that I have been able to excavate. Bhashani, unlike many of his contemporaries in South Asia, has left us with few written footprints of his own ideas, thoughts or philosophy.

So, what are the lessons of freedom then? First is the non-deferential and irreverent attitude towards those in power. Bhashani remembered nowadays as the 'Red Maulana' was known by other names during his time. The choice ones being the 'Prophet of Violence', the 'Pakistani Dean of Canterbury', 'Pakistani Ayatollah Kashani', 'Bharat's Dalal' (India's Agent), 'Hanuman' and 'Kaafir'. All names given to him by the British, Americans, Pakistanis and Bengalis alike not out of admiration but contempt. A consequence of Bhashani's caustic, abrasive and coarse tongue, which spared no one, especially those in power, friends and foes alike. In September 1956, the Awami League came into power at the centre and at the provincial level – the only time in the history of Pakistan. However, the victory rally at Paltan Maidan was to be anything but that. Bhashani, flanked by his two distinctly uncomfortable chief guests on stage, the Prime Minister Suhrawardy and Chief Minister Ataur Rahman Khan, warned the crowd: "If the Awami League mandate is not fulfilled, we will throw out the Suhrawardy Ministry with our lathis." A grimacing Abu Zafar Shamsuddin in his memoirs wondered why Bhashani had not been able to say those things in less 'uncivil' and offensive manner. Bhashani's performance, however, was not for the benefit of those who sat on stage, but for those who milled below in crowds. It was a lesson in holding those in power accountable, of being critical, of speaking truth to power, and refusing subservience to it even in democratic spaces. Paulo Freire, the Brazilian educator and philosopher wrote 'the educator has the duty of not being neutral' and Bhashani was not. When confronted with excesses of power and injustices, Bhashani reminded the people that it was they who held the real 'whip' in their hands; the true sovereigns.

The second lesson is the unabashed embrace of the diversity and heterogeneity of cultures, identities, and spaces in Bengal. Bhashani's residence in a village in Tangail, outside the political capital of Dhaka; his work in North Bengal; the constant boat tours to char-dwelling communities of Assam and Bengal; and his organisation of conference for Imams alongside the Kagmari cultural festival in 1957 was not just about Bhashani being the common or simple man. It was an affirmation of non-elite lives; that these communities mattered, and that they too possessed and produced rich and complex cultures, politics, traditions and histories of dignity, justice and freedom. It is for this person that Bhashani was not too tortured by the question of whether he was a Marxist or a Maulana, or any real contradiction between making a murid signing up to a pledge to end capitalism, anti-imperialism and establish socialism and Marxists entering mosques and religious gathering to raise political funds. Bhashani showed that both traditions belonged in the soil of Bengal and could be brought into dialogue.

Third, was a lesson in what I would call a rooted humanity. In February 1957, Maulana Bhashani planned the Kagmari conference and a three-day-long cultural festival. Bhashani would go head-to-head with Suhrawardy over the latter's defence for military pacts. Where Suhrawardy made his case for being part of the military pacts in front of middle-class intelligentsia and students in Dhaka, promising the latter trips to Baghdad Pact countries, Bhashani made his case for international co-operation, friendship and solidarity to rank and file workers of the Awami League and to peasants and workers vis-à-vis the gates, songs, dance, lectures and debates at Kagmari Festival. Bhashani showed that international solidarity and humanity were not abstract or complex concepts only to be grasped by the elite but were rooted and demonstrable through local practice, customs and traditions.

The affirmation of people power, of non-elite cultures and communities, and of humanity, which is at the heart of Bhashani's pedagogy still bears relevance.In fact it is perhaps more important than ever before, for where are the lessons of freedom in Bangladeshi politics today? If you cannot find it, then perhaps we all need to start talking about Maulana Bhashani.

The writer is a Researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London.​

 

[Saif]

Birth anniv of Maulana Bhashani today

The 144th anniversary of the birth of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani will be observed across the country today...

www.newagebd.net

Birth anniv of Maulana Bhashani today
Moloy Saha 12 December, 2024, 00:31

Maulana Bhashani

The 144th anniversary of the birth of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani will be observed across the country today.

Born at village Dhanpara in Sirajganj on this day in 1880, Bhashani was bestowed with the epithet ‘Majlum Jananeta’, the leader of the oppressed, for dedicating his life to establishing the rights of the downtrodden people.

Various political parties and socio-cultural organisations have taken elaborate programmes to mark the day. A prayer session will also be held at his graveside at Santosh in Tangail.

A lifelong voice against injustice, Bhashani led many movements against imperialism and oppression during both the British and the Pakistani rules.

A few months before his death on November 17, 1976, the 95-year-old activist led the historic Farakka Long March in May 1976 to ensure Bangladesh’s fair share of the Ganges waters.

Bhashani was the founder and president of the Pakistan Awami Muslim League, which was, later, renamed the Awami League. He quit the party, later, to found the left-leaning National Awami Party.

The historic Kagmari Conference, organised by him in 1957, sowed the seeds of fresh political hope and independence of Bangladesh.

He inspired and led the 1969 historic mass uprising that changed the course of the nation’s history.

In 1969, his slogan ‘Swadhin Bangla Zindabad’, ‘long live independent Bangla’, fired the imagination of the nation.

By boycotting the 1970 national election, Bhashani facilitated the Awami League’s sweeping electoral victory in the then East Pakistan, paving the way for Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to be its undisputed leader.

The electoral mandate given to Mujib led to the emergence of independent and sovereign Bangladesh in 1971, ending the chapter of its exploitation by West Pakistan.

He was also one of the organisers of the War of Independence of 1971.

Maulana Bhashani died in Dhaka on November 17, 1976 suffering from old age complications.

Bhashani Onusari Parishad will build a temporary monument at Central Shaheed Minar today. The organisation leaders, activists and people will place wreaths there from 8:00am to 10:00am to show respect to the late leader.

Convener of the organization, Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Bablu, in a press statement called on the political parties and organisations to observe the day.

The National Awami Party (Bhashani) will hold a discussion at Bangladesh Shishu Kalyan Parishad at 11:00am to mark the day. The party president Shapon Kumar Saha will chair the programme.​

 

[Saif]

Bhashani wanted to ensure River Padma's due rights

Before anyone draws a litre of water from the Padma, they must think of the downstream districts, the Sundarbans, Padma’s right to meet the sea

en.prothomalo.com

Bhashani wanted to ensure River Padma's due rights

Gawher Nayeem Wahra
Updated: 21 Jun 2025, 16: 32

On 16 May 1976 a long March was held from Rajshahi towards the Farakka Barrage in India under the leadership of Maulana Bhasani UNB

Given the prevailing favourable political circumstances in the country, this year Farakka Day (16 May) was observed much more visibly than in previous years. The enthusiasts, the overenthusiastic, the mildly enthusiastic and the impulsive enthusiasts, everyone took part in commemorating Farakka Day. There were even photo sessions on the occasion.

Outside Dhaka, meetings, rallies, and seminars were held in Rajshahi. Many attended these events on a one-day trip from Dhaka. All this reflects a high level of enthusiasm. This is only natural in a country where everyone loves festivities and celebrations.

But have we truly internalized, as Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani did, that the Farakka problem cannot be solved with tears—whether from the eyes or from any other part of the body?

Ahmad Sofa used to say, “No one understood as clearly as Bhashani the devastation Farakka Barrage was causing to Bangladesh.”

It may have been deemed ‘discourteous’ for Bangladesh not to attend the inauguration of Farakka back then on 21 April 1975, despite an invitation, by the prime minister at the time, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, chose to heed the words of his dear Maulana Bhashani. Reportedly, it was at Bhashani’s request that the water resources minister Abdur Rab Serniabat was told to cancel his trip.

India’s ambassador back then, the seasoned diplomat Samar Sen, was surprised by this last-minute decision. Though he said nothing, it is beyond doubt that India’s minister of agriculture and irrigation, Jagjivan Ram, who was the central figure at the event, was displeased. In 1971, he had served as India’s defence minister. Perhaps that is why he took it for granted that they would readily respond to the invitation.

There is no record of the interaction between Maulana Bhashani and Prime Minister Sheikh Mujib. However, it can be assumed that he reminded the prime minister of the meeting held on 16 May 1974 between the prime ministers of Bangladesh and India. In that meeting, both leaders had agreed that the Farakka Barrage would not be operated during the dry season until the two countries reached an agreement on water sharing. (Source: Rameez Mohd Bhat, International Journal of Applied Research 2020; 6 (2): 264-268 Hydro-politics between India and Bangladesh: A study of Farakka barrage dispute).

India cannot unilaterally open the barrage without respecting that consensus. Being witness to such an inaugural ceremony would mean retreating from our rightful claim to water.

Maulana Bhashani perhaps reminded them of the first meeting held in 1973 between Bangladesh and India regarding the Ganges. In that meeting, it was decided that the Farakka Barrage would only be operational after the two countries reached a final agreement on water sharing. (Source: previously cited)

Several meetings between the two countries took place until 1975, but due to disagreements on various issues, no resolution on water sharing could be reached.

During the dry season, due to the lack of water flow in the Padma, vast areas turn into sandbars. Padma River in the Talaimari area of Rajshahi city File Photo

By 1976, Maulana Bhashani was over ninety years old. He spent most of his time in the hospital. Even on the first day of the Bengali New Year (15 April) that year, he was in hospital.

After attending the Chhayanaut event in Ramna, Fakir Alamgir, a young and rising singer at the time, said upon arriving at Shahbagh, “Let’s go pay our respects to Huzoor.”

Whether it was his involvement with Biplobi Chhatra Union or out of deep reverence, he always referred to Maulana Bhashani as “Huzoor.”
Maulana Bhashani was asleep. It seemed his weary body simply wanted to rest.

There was little resemblance between the Maulana Bhashani I had first seen in 1970 on the “relief launch” during the relief efforts in cyclone-ravaged Monpura and the man lying in the hospital bed. It was as if a vibrant, plump grape had shriveled into a raisin.

But just days later, on 18 April 1976, upon being discharged from the hospital, it was as though the lion within him awoke. Maulana Bhashani declared that if India deprived Bangladesh of its rightful share of water, he would launch a long march.

This announcement surprised many at the time. Some dismissed it as a political stunt. But in truth, it was his final struggle at the risk of his life.
Monajat Uddin, a correspondent of Dainik Sangbad, participated in that long march on 16 May 1976. In his report the next day, he wrote that the 64 km journey was extremely arduous. The greatest concern was for Maulana Bhashani himself. After all, he was over 90 years old.

Monajat Uddin later recalled this in his memoir "Poth Theke Pothe", published on 1 January 1991.

On 28 April 1976, Maulana Bhashani issued a statement urging everyone to join and ensure the success of the long march.

Prior to the march, he also wrote a letter to Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, explaining the reasons and background of the protest. From all this, it is clear that the long march was not just a dramatic gesture.

That letter, now part of history, ought to be essential reading for today’s youth. (Sources: 1. BBC Bangla report, Dhaka, 16 May 2022; 2. Majlum Jananeta Maulana Bhashani Smarak Sonkolon, edited by Mohsin Shastrapani and Bulbul Khan Mahbub; 3. Report titled Bhashani’s Farakka Long March of 1976 by M. Golam Mostafa, Convener, National Jatiya Krishak-Sramik Mukti Andolan, 14 May 2024).

Maulana Bhashani’s long march effectively laid the groundwork for bringing the issue to the international stage. Later, at the 31st UN General Assembly, Ziaur Rahman raised the Farakka issue. The UN recommended resolving the matter through bilateral discussions.

When the first non-Congress government, led by Morarji Desai, came to power in India in 1977, relations between the two countries somewhat improved. That same year, a five-year agreement on the sharing of Ganges water was signed. Subsequent agreements followed. The current agreement is set to expire in 2026.

The country’s higher judiciary declared in a verdict that a river is a “living entity.” This means rivers, like humans, have the right to a healthy and sustainable existence. There are legal provisions for taking action against those responsible for encroachment, pollution, or sedimentation

An analysis of the five Ganges water-sharing agreements reveals that Bangladesh’s share of water has gradually decreased over time.

Moreover, in other water-sharing agreements across the subcontinent, countries generally consider the total flow of the river and provide downstream countries with information about all barrages, dams, or embankments constructed upstream. This principle is even followed in the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan. However, such considerations have been neglected in the case of the Ganges Treaty.

India provides Bangladesh with information only about the Farakka Barrage. However, multiple other barrages and dams have been constructed upstream on the Ganges, which have disrupted and continue to disrupt the river's natural flow before it even reaches Farakka.
In addition, the upstream Indian states of West Bengal are themselves increasingly unable to contain their concerns over Farakka. Their interest in Ganges water is growing by the day. This suggests that in the coming years, our share is likely to shrink further.

Yet our need for water is rising. Just to keep the Sundarbans alive, floodwaters are required in Padma’s tributaries such as the Gorai, Kumar, and Madhumati rivers.

One possible solution is to increase our capacity to retain water and to use it more efficiently. However, discussions around Farakka Day did not reflect on what we ourselves can do, through our own strength and initiative, if India fails to supply the water we need.

In the concluding speech of his long march (17 May 1976), Maulana Bhashani declared, “If India ignores the demands of the people of Bangladesh regarding the Farakka issue, a movement to boycott Indian goods will begin.”

This writer was present that day and heard Maulana speak. He had also said, “A river has its own rights. If it is not allowed to meet the sea, the world will be rendered desolate. All of creation will be destroyed. It will dissolve into nothingness.” These powerful words from his speech were not prominently reported in any newspaper the following day.

Monajat Uddin’s book and the article "Maulana Bhashanir Jibon Srote" by Abu Noman Khan, former office secretary of the Jatiya Krishak Samity and witness of that day’s march, published in the book Majlum Janoneta Maulana Bhashani Smarak-Sonkolon, edited by Mohsin Shastrapani and Bulbul Khan Mahbub, contain many details about the long march. However, there is no narrative of the “rights of the river.”

Hasan Mir, a former official at Rajshahi Radio (who passed away last year), told this writer, “We actually didn’t understand the meaning or implication of that statement. That’s why it didn’t make it into the radio news.” The call for a “boycott of Indian goods" gained more prominence. But he has several times mentioned the due rights of the river.

What are a river’s rights?

Before this project, a water treatment plant worth Tk 103 crore was built in Shyampur, Rajshahi, in 2011. Due to lack of water in the Padma, it remains non-operational most of the year.

In the Sarangpur area of Godagari upazila, where a new water treatment plant is being built on the Padma, the Ganges enters Bangladesh from India and takes on the name Padma. From here, a distributary of the Padma, the Mahananda River, branches off. This WASA treatment plant is being constructed at the confluence of these two rivers.

And it's not just Rajshahi. Water from the Padma is being extracted for the residents of Dhaka city as well. For that, the Padma-Jashaldia Water Treatment Plant was set up in 2019 in Louhajang, Munshiganj.
Today, we talk about rivers as “living entities,” but Maulana had already expressed that idea way back then. Readers may recall that on 3 February 2019, the country’s higher judiciary declared in a verdict that a river is a “living entity.” This means rivers, like humans, have the right to a healthy and sustainable existence. There are legal provisions for taking action against those responsible for encroachment, pollution, or sedimentation.

Maulana Bhashani had essentially voiced this same principle 43 years before that court ruling, through his statement about the river’s rights.

Yet in discussions on Farakka Day, not a word was said about river pollution or about the implications of extracting water from the Padma while violating the river’s rights.

A mega project has been launched in Godagari to extract 200 million litres of water daily just for the residents of Rajshahi city. Professor Sarwar Jahan of Rajshahi University confirmed this. The previous government signed a deal with a Chinese company on 21 March 2021 to establish this project.

If such a vast quantity of water is extracted daily, the Padma will hardly be able to flow as far as Pabna. And what about the water needed for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant? How many millions of litres per day will that require? Where are those figures?

Why should Khulna city sit back and watch? It, too, is claiming a share of the Padma’s distributary rivers. Water from the Madhumati River is being diverted to Khulna. At present, nearly 53 per cent of Khulna city’s demand for safe drinking water is being met by the Madhumati alone.

Under this project, water from the Madhumati, located 71 km away, is diverted by pipe to the Samantasen area of Khulna, where it is treated. Alongside a water treatment plant with a daily capacity of 110 million litres, a reservoir with a storage capacity of 775,000 cubic metres has been built to store untreated water. This allows for a three-month supply of water for the city’s residents. Since June 2019, the project has been operating at full capacity, while the Madhumati is dying.

Back in 2000–01, efforts began in the Manikhar area to extract, treat, and supply water from the Madhumati River to meet the needs of Gopalganj town. This was the first water treatment plant in the area. A second was established there in 2019–2020.

We must not forget that aside from the Padma’s tributaries, the Gorai, Kumar, and Madhumati, there is no other route for fresh water to reach the Sundarbans. Without an adequate supply of fresh water, how will the Sundarbans survive?

Can Padma not be saved?
The growing tendency to extract water from the Padma to meet urban demands must be controlled. The Padma’s right to meet the sea cannot be obstructed.

Another long-story narrated as a hope for reviving the Padma goes back to the Pakistan era: the “Ganges/Padma Barrage.” Since 1961, efforts have been underway to implement this project. In 1970, the president at the time, Yahya Khan, allocated 5 crore rupees for preliminary work on the Ganges Barrage. Construction began about two and a half miles downstream from the Hardinge Bridge.

However, after the war, the Ganges Barrage Circle was dismantled in 1974. In 1980, to overcome the devastating effects of Farakka, General Zia laid the foundation stone for this project in Talbaria, Kushtia.

Following several feasibility studies, the site for the Ganges Barrage was later recommended to be in Pabna’s Pakshey. The recommendations stated that, once implemented, the Ganges Barrage project would restore navigability to 16 rivers including the Gorai, push back salinity intrusion in the region, and help reestablish the ecological balance that had been disrupted by Farakka.

The estimated length of the barrage is 2.1 km. It is to stretch from Satbaria in Sujanagar upazila of Pabna to Habaspur in Pangsa upazila of Rajbari district on the river’s right bank, that is, the opposite bank.

According to the feasibility report, the barrage will establish a direct road link between the southwestern region of the country and other parts. A four-lane road bridge built on the deck of the barrage, along with a 7 km approach road on the right bank, will connect the western and southwestern regions to the Rajbari-Kushtia highway through an 8.5 km link road.

The barrage will be modeled after the Teesta Barrage built in Dalia, Nilphamari. Upstream from the barrage, a vast reservoir will stretch 165 km to Panka in Chapainawabganj. This reservoir will have a water-holding capacity of 2,900 million cubic meters. From this volume, 2,000 million cubic meters of water will be supplied during the dry season through the barrage.

Site of the centre to extract water from Padma at Godagari, RajshahiCourtersy: Author

But this will require Herculean efforts and resources. Without making the effort to procure those resources, can the Padma really be saved simply through nostalgic recollections of the Farakka marches?

Before any citizen draws even one litre of water from the Padma, they must think of the downstream districts. They must think of the Sundarbans. And they must think of the Padma’s right to meet the sea.

If we don’t understand that killing a river means killing civilization, then how can we call ourselves civilized?

* Gawher Nayeem Wahra is a researcher​

 

[Saif]

Maulana Bhasani’s ‘Silence’

The person we know as 'Maulana Bhasani' was not originally named that. Neither of these two words was part of his real name. Both 'Maulana' and 'Bhasani' were titles or epithets he acquired later. 'Maulana' reflected his religious faith and practice, while 'Bhasani' became a symbol of his...

en.prothomalo.com

Maulana Bhasani’s ‘Silence’

The person we know as 'Maulana Bhasani' was not originally named that. Neither of these two words was part of his real name. Both 'Maulana' and 'Bhasani' were titles or epithets he acquired later. 'Maulana' reflected his religious faith and practice, while 'Bhasani' became a symbol of his struggle and rebellion. His life and activities were such that his real name faded behind these titles. In fact, his birth name was Abdul Hamid Khan, and his childhood nickname was Chaga, which was how he was known in his early years.

He had none of the wealth, status, or family influence that typically help in political and social establishment. Yet he drew from every experience in life—from traveling theatre troupes to the Deoband Madrasa. Among these experiences, the trait that ultimately made him remarkable was his deep connection with the masses. This connection allowed him to see life through the lens of the collective, linking his life with the lives of those around him.

He viewed imperialism, feudalism, and capitalism not from a distance, but through the experiences of oppressed people. He understood that poverty, helplessness, and a life of deprivation were not mere fate—they were created and sustained by specific causes, systems, and power structures.

This understanding set him apart from other maulanas and pirs. In a hypocritical world, he became solitary, while among the people he became a leader of the oppressed. He was not just a voice for Muslims; he became the voice for all oppressed people of the so-called Third World, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or gender.

In our society, religious leaders such as maulanas and pirs hold immense power. Rulers and exploiters always support them to maintain their own authority. At the same time, countless people approach these religious figures to cope with unbearable lives. People seek relief from ailments, protection for their children, divine help in crises, and safety from cruel oppressors through prayers, talismans, or charms. Where there is no money for treatment, no doctors, no medicine, and where people’s own strength is unclear; where rivers erode, and tyrants and the powerful commit oppression—the oppressed see no other way but to turn to such religious paths.

Most religious leaders take money, offer advice, and urge people to be patient, to endure, to accept their fate with satisfaction. Yet these leaders themselves remain bound to the very oppressors who are few in number but hold power. The dependence of religious leaders on oppressors, and of oppressors on religious certification, creates a vicious cycle in which they protect each other. For the oppressed, this produces a deadlock. Amid storms and aggressions, the only guidance offered to the battered people is religious practice and patience in this life for infinite rewards in the next. Such leaders’ teachings are thus often infused with power, misogyny, communalism, and other social toxins.

Maulana Bhasani: A leader of the oppressed

Maulana Bhasani was also a pir (spiritual guide). Millions of people were his disciples. Because he did not discriminate based on religion, caste, or gender, anyone could approach him. Men and women of different faiths, and especially poor people oppressed and exploited by landlords, moneylenders, and the ruling classes, came to him for help. Unlike many religious figures, Bhasani did not derive his income from their suffering. He offered prayers, charms, and spiritual guidance, but if someone was seriously ill, he advised them to see a doctor and even provided money for medicine if needed.

What set Maulana Bhasani apart, and in some ways made him the opposite of other religious leaders, was his approach to injustice. People came to him for guidance and shared the indescribable hardships and injustices of their lives. Bhasani’s stance was that such suffering was not fate, not a divine decree, and above all, could be changed if people were united. This perspective drove him to adopt a rebellious position against injustice from his youth. For him, 'Rebellion against injustice is righteous' became another name for his life.

Bhasani’s life, speeches, and struggle angered the Pakistani state, dominated by the ownership of Islam, as well as military rulers, landlords, moneylenders, feudal lords, and their favoured religious leaders.

He was labeled a 'traitor to India', a 'lungi-clad Maulana', and even an 'apostate'. This hostility from rulers and oppressors was essentially a class-based resentment. In appearance, lifestyle, speech, and demeanor, Bhasani belonged to the lower class. Through struggle, he gave voice to the oppressed within Islam, standing against the elite interpretation of the faith. While religion was treated as a safe haven monopolised by rulers and oppressors, Bhasani challenged that sanctuary.

Injustice and suffering are not abstract, nor do they descend from some unknown planet. By observing these experiences with responsibility and sensitivity, one can uncover a vast truth: the causes of inhumane lives, the social structures, rules, and systems behind them. It becomes clear which classes and groups maintain and enforce these systems, using every means to perpetuate them—and religion is not exempt. The struggle for total liberation cannot be indefinite or aimless; it requires envisioning and working toward a society that can free people from this hellish condition.

Bhasani did not aim for the monarchy of Saudi Arabia; he envisioned a society liberated from exploitation, oppression, and inequality. He sought a social system that could bring people joy, dignity, and humanity. The struggle to establish such a society, he presented as a duty and responsibility to the people.

Therefore, to free people from injustice, oppression, and suffering, prayers alone are not enough; what is needed is the creation of collective struggle.

This understanding enabled Maulana to become the symbol of resistance known as Bhasani. This Bhasani stood against the overwhelming power and aggression of all kinds of oppressors, channeling the voices of millions into his own, and confronting authority with the immense strength of the people. He gave tangible form to the limitless power rising from among the oppressed. His warnings against the oppressors not only revitalised weary, oppressed, and struggling people but also seemed to animate nature itself—'Silence!'

With this resolve, Maulana Bhasani participated in the 1971 Liberation War and, in the post-independence and disillusioned years, became a symbol of people’s despair and aspirations. He challenged the power of India’s ruling class and shook the country against the oppression at Farakka. Although his influence was undermined at times by the errors and impulsiveness of leftist leaders, and he himself faced moments of despair, his strengths and limitations both offer lessons for our struggle.

Fifty-four years after independence, at a time when the people of Bangladesh are facing setbacks contrary to the hopes of mass uprisings—confronted by imperialism, the multifaceted aggression of domestic and foreign rulers, plundering by various looter groups, confusion from the expansion of religious-fascist politics—Maulana Bhasani repeatedly emerges as a powerful voice for the liberation of the oppressed, challenging local and foreign tyrants, calling again and again: 'Silence!'

#Anu Muhammad is a teacher, writer, and editor of the quarterly journal Sarbajanakotha​