Reflecting on Bhashani\\\'s politics

Frankly speaking, it is a matter of both pleasure and pain for septuagenarians to have seen or followed Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani's politics and the National Awami Party (NAP) founded by him in 1957 till his death on November 17, 1976, as compared to what now prevails. Bhashani's followers say, neither Bangladesh nor bordering Indian states of Paschim Banga and seven sister states are in a happy mood as current reports show. Despite barbed wire fencing along the porous borders by India and transit given by Bangladesh without any fee, there is no respite in border killings, cross- border smuggling and cross-border crimes. Now Burdwan blast in Paschim Banga has brought to the fore cross-border religious militancy, which is now under investigation by the Indian authorities.
There is no political leader like Bhashani today to pronounce 'khamosh' (stop) in prevailing sufferings and undertake long marches for socio-economic emancipation of the masses and the region. But a new wealthy class of Bangladesh tends to leave this country and settle their families in the developed West. Why? They have neither love for nor faith in future of their own country they rule! There is none to book perpetrators of share market scam, banking scandals etc and heed the reports of corruption by the Transparency International, Bangladesh. Prosperity of some, as a result of remittance inflows by wage-earners abroad and low wages of garment workers, is not shared. Extreme inequalities of income, black money and cries of unemployed graduates produced by universities and campus crisis are ignored.
It is heartening to note here former Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam, while in Dhaka on October 18, 2014, said a sustainable economic development of a country can put an end to terrorism as people get involved in it out of frustration and failure to meet their economic needs. He echoed the voice of leader of the oppressed Bhashani, who throughout his life, worked for meaningful democracy within the country and peace in the region and the world.
Maulana Bhashani made his mark in pre- partition Assam under the British rule for his peasant movement and role in the Assam Legislative Assembly. He was at the centre of politics in undivided India under the British colonial rule, which was divided into Indian Union and Pakistan in August 1947 by the British communal award accepted by the Congress and the Muslim League ignoring the Cabinet Mission Plan 1946. It was revealed after partition, Pakistan was a subdivided, truncated and moth-eaten state; its eastern wing, separated from the western wing by a thousand miles, had porous borders of 4,200km. The Muslim League government, instead of meeting its pre-partition pledges, indulged in selfish aggrandisements, talked about religion most, practiced the least and launched attack on the Language Movement for making Bangla a state language in 1952. It led to Ekushey February martyrdoms.         
All strata of the society- politicians, lawyers, teachers, students and guardians- started movement for regional autonomy from 1950s, without interrupting traditional education campus, which was spearheaded by the leader of the oppressed Maulana Bhashani and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman upholding Bengali nationalism. It had genesis to Greater Bengal movement in Kolkata till the last moment of partition.
The long-drawn liberation struggle led to emergence of sovereign Bangladesh 1971 in erstwhile East Pakistan after 9-month bloody war in the spirit of Bengali nationalism. Refugees in millions took shelter in Indian camps, which were supported by the Indian government and were drawing sympathy of the international community. Bhashani had to cross the border to India, saw the activities of the government-in-exile of Bangladesh and the Indian authorities. During these nine months, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the elected leader of the parliament, was in a Pakistani jail. The people within this country and those who sincerely left to join the liberation war made immense sacrifices for which the war was won. But all were not in that spirit in camps; many were opportunists. In this melee, NGOs emerged as a post-Bangladesh phenomenon on foreign help.
Bhashani felt immensely perturbed seeing the activities of the sovereign government of Bangladesh in Dhaka in the face of pitiable conditions of the people. He exclaimed how leaders could be so unmindful about miseries of the people involved in the war for independence. He said it was easy to sacrifice at the spur of a moment but difficult to control lust for power and pelf when seated in government, if not morally developed.
He decided to go for constitutional opposition to the government to which we responded in his programmes such as Hunger March and fast-unto-death meant to raise the consciousness of the Ministers, the MPs and others. A few months before his death, he led the Farakka Long March to raise environmental concerns and highlight the need for devising a framework by Bangladesh, Paschim Banga and Assam for sustainable development. We felt aggrieved when the then Minister Khandaker Mustaq Ahmed bifurcated the erstwhile WAPDA meeting his selfish designs at the cost of water and power development according to the Master Plan.
People were ashamed to see activities of underground leaders in open communist parties and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) by sections of lower ranks of the Awami League and higher ranks of the Students League.  This writer had asked veteran politician and journalist Nirmal Sen who those 'scientific socialists' were. He smilingly said they were born in Indian relief camps.
Over the last 38 years since Bhashani left this world, traditional politics lost the track as divisive and confrontational politics gained grounds in Bangladesh. The NAP was splintered, its leaders joined Awami League, and new power-based parties the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jatiya Party emerged. Reviewing position till 1980s, a national conference reorganised the NAP at National Press Club, Dhaka on August 31, 1990, elected a National Committee with Barrister Abdul Haq as President, who was a founding member of the NAP, 1957 and its parliamentary party leader. But all efforts to unify factions of the NAP went in vain. And as new leaders were not coming up due to campus terrorism and by partisan teacher-student politics since 1973, it was wounded up on November 17, 2006.
Let political parties and academics be imbued with Bhashani's politics and step forward in the interest of new generations.
The writer is an economist, advocate and columnist.
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