SHILLONG: It is to the interest of all of South Asia to develop a common economic model where all stand to gain mutually. If Bangladesh or any one of the South Asian countries lags behind they will destabilize the region. Hence a commonly beneficial policy is good for all, said Prof Mesbah Kamal from the Dept of History, Dacca University.
Prof Kamal was addressing an audience comprising college and university professors, bureaucrats and civil society representatives at Asian Confluence on Saturday.
Stating that Bangladesh is at the crossroads and that fundamentalist forces were on the rampage on the eve of the national elections scheduled for January 25, 2014, Prof Kamal said these forces need to be defeated if the region is to remain stable.
Prof Kamal was referring to the Jamaat-e-Islami which was registered as a political party in 2008 on the eve of the elections even though it failed to fulfil the conditions listed in the Constitution of Bangladesh.
In August this year a three-judge special bench of the High Court had declared the registration of the Jamaat, a key ally of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) of Khaleda Zia, illegal.
Later the Election Commission of Bangladesh had disqualified the Jamaat from participating in the forthcoming general election.
Prof Kamal who is in Shillong to attend a conference at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) said North East India and Bangladesh share a common cultural, social, geographical and economic space that cannot be separated by writing new histories or by barbed wires.
“We are all offsprings of the Brahmaputra valley which is ignored in the history books of India,” Prof Kamal said adding that is to the mutual advantage of both sides to look for areas of cooperation.
Prof Kamal lamented the tough visa regime which prevented academics from travelling to India’s North East and vice versa. He said there should be a visa office in Shillong and not just in Tripura to facilitate easy movement of people.
Lamenting the present climate of uncertainty created by the Jamaat which is funded by compatriots from Middle Eastern countries and which has links with Al Qaeda, Prof Kamal said if there is a regime change in Bangladesh, then North East India will yet again be destabilised by insurgent outfits who had been pushed out of Bangladesh during the rule of the Awami League under the present prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
Prof Kamal said the Jamaat was able to sell itself to the western world as a liberal party but was actually collaborating with the ISI of Pakistan in spreading terror in Bangladesh. He reminded the audience that when the BNP was in power 10 truckloads of arms were kept in an industrial unit in Chittagong for shipping to the ULFA under the supervision of the Director General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Bangladesh.
If the BNP comes to power there will be genocide in Bangladesh. The Jamaat had during the last leg of the BNP regime organised serial blasts at 500 different places within a span of 30 minutes. A regime change would mean a return to the bad old days of mass murders when intellectuals, academics and journalists were killed. This had happened on December 14, 2007 just a few weeks short of the general elections of 2008 when the BNP realised it would be voted out.
What was enlightening however is the fact that although Bangladesh had at least 75 ethnic indigenous communities and 115 other communities working in its tea gardens there is no protective clauses for them in the Bangladesh Constitution. Even Sheikh Mujibur Rehman who is the father of the Bangladesh nation failed to understand that ethnic and religious minorities needed special protection.
“When the approached Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman for special protection he told them to assimilate and become Bengalis,” Prof Kamal informed the audience.
He said the ethnic indigenous population today form only about 3 per cent of the population while Hindus have decreased to only 9 per cent while Christians are less than 1 per cent.
A musical nite followed the talk. Noted Bangladesh Baul singer Zeenat Firdausi entertained the audience with her melodious voice.