The silence about and the lessons from Palashi
Saturday, 30 June 2007
Talwa J Ahmad from the UK
THE 250th anniversary of the Battle of Palashi which saw the fall of the last Independent Nawab of Bengal, Siraj Ud Daula and the beginning of British occupation of India passed off on June 23 without much of public notice. The battle at Palashi and the fall of Siraj-Ud-Daula has been one of the most painful episode of our history. Was it not for the events at Palashi, many doubt whether the British Empire could have expanded to India. It is reasonable, therefore, to say that the countries of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are what these are today is in large part due to the event at Palashi.
The defeat of Siraj was not a military victory of the British East India Company resulting from their military superiority; rather, it was a tragic defeat of a powerful, promising patriot who lost to the conspiracies and treachery of his aides, the leading courtiers of his palace. The names of his leading men, Mir Jafar, Ghasheti Begum, Yar Latif, Rai Durlob and others have become synonymous with treachery, betrayal and dishonesty. It was the lust for power, greed for wealth and fundamental weakness of their character for which young Nawab, a hero of our history had to suffer a humiliating defeat.
On June the 23rd 1757, Bengal was a rich entity in which people lived in peace and harmony, people of all faiths and races lived side by side. Calcutta was a major global port, a thriving city housing lucrative trading and commercial potentials. Today, the present day Bangladesh which primarily claims to bear the legacy of Siraj, is a poor, weak and insignificant state, riddled with problems and challenges. East Bengal now is oblivious of its past painful history. Her people are not adequately alert about possible consequences of internal unrest and lack of unity. Shameless outside meddling in her entirely internal affairs is a regular occurrence with unlimited supply of Ghasheti Begums and Mir Jafars to support them. Today our state apparatus, our Sirajs are much inferior, weaker than Siraj Ud Daula of Palashi, as such the Mir Madans, Mir Jafars and Karam Chands are more assertive, more confident and less fearful to act treacherously in the open. What it tells us is that the job before us is much harder which needs to be done with much more tact, intelligence, wisdom and caution. To defend our freedom, sovereignty and to stand high in the comity of nations, we must draw lessons from the sad event at Palashi. Unfortunately, many felt no need to even mention the word 'Palashi'. Is this an indication of our unwillingness to draw lessons from history?
This year we celebrated the 250th year of Palashi at a critical time. Bangladesh is once again in crisis, her stability is doubtful and her leaders are almost puzzled. We have grown accustomed to be told by foreigners, little known groups posing to be experts, custodians of values and civilisations about what ought to be done to help overcome the deep-seated institutional problems and their fall-outs. In fact, the culture of 'advising' us of various well-known quarters transgressed any reasonably accepted norm long ago. It seems almost like a job for cretin quarters to dictate us and our nation and civilise us as our 'guardians'. As our nation is now deeply confused, we fail to focus on a serious matter, the event of Palashi which brought about a major setback in our past history. It is merely a sign of our inability to learn from history.
Media organisations, especially the printed media, are in many ways the most effected vehicle to develop a sense of national pride, a means that can enable citizens to learn from the past, to understand the present challenges and to shape the future on the rock-solid foundation of a common understanding, a common anxiety and a unity of purpose. Yet our media organisations were remarkably silent on the setback at Palashi, as if nothing significant ever happened on this day. It is indeed alarming to discover such silence, such neglect to our one of great heroes, the great patriot Siraj and the fate he faced on this day 250 years ago. We hope, and I sincerely hope, that this silence is merely our inability to comprehend the importance of remembering the day, rather than a sign of the strength of new Ghasheti Begums' and their male counterparts.
Siraj-ud-Doula was of Turkish-Arab descent, where immediate ancestors settled and got absorbed in Bengal. We would not call him a foreigner where defeat at Palashi should not matter much to us. Mother Teresha was more of Kolkata than of the Vetican. As she was a pride product of Kolkata, Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula was our kin. We should remember him and remember how internal disunity and lack of sense of direction helped outsiders to overpower and destroy him. We must keep our flag high at any cost.
THE 250th anniversary of the Battle of Palashi which saw the fall of the last Independent Nawab of Bengal, Siraj Ud Daula and the beginning of British occupation of India passed off on June 23 without much of public notice. The battle at Palashi and the fall of Siraj-Ud-Daula has been one of the most painful episode of our history. Was it not for the events at Palashi, many doubt whether the British Empire could have expanded to India. It is reasonable, therefore, to say that the countries of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are what these are today is in large part due to the event at Palashi.
The defeat of Siraj was not a military victory of the British East India Company resulting from their military superiority; rather, it was a tragic defeat of a powerful, promising patriot who lost to the conspiracies and treachery of his aides, the leading courtiers of his palace. The names of his leading men, Mir Jafar, Ghasheti Begum, Yar Latif, Rai Durlob and others have become synonymous with treachery, betrayal and dishonesty. It was the lust for power, greed for wealth and fundamental weakness of their character for which young Nawab, a hero of our history had to suffer a humiliating defeat.
On June the 23rd 1757, Bengal was a rich entity in which people lived in peace and harmony, people of all faiths and races lived side by side. Calcutta was a major global port, a thriving city housing lucrative trading and commercial potentials. Today, the present day Bangladesh which primarily claims to bear the legacy of Siraj, is a poor, weak and insignificant state, riddled with problems and challenges. East Bengal now is oblivious of its past painful history. Her people are not adequately alert about possible consequences of internal unrest and lack of unity. Shameless outside meddling in her entirely internal affairs is a regular occurrence with unlimited supply of Ghasheti Begums and Mir Jafars to support them. Today our state apparatus, our Sirajs are much inferior, weaker than Siraj Ud Daula of Palashi, as such the Mir Madans, Mir Jafars and Karam Chands are more assertive, more confident and less fearful to act treacherously in the open. What it tells us is that the job before us is much harder which needs to be done with much more tact, intelligence, wisdom and caution. To defend our freedom, sovereignty and to stand high in the comity of nations, we must draw lessons from the sad event at Palashi. Unfortunately, many felt no need to even mention the word 'Palashi'. Is this an indication of our unwillingness to draw lessons from history?
This year we celebrated the 250th year of Palashi at a critical time. Bangladesh is once again in crisis, her stability is doubtful and her leaders are almost puzzled. We have grown accustomed to be told by foreigners, little known groups posing to be experts, custodians of values and civilisations about what ought to be done to help overcome the deep-seated institutional problems and their fall-outs. In fact, the culture of 'advising' us of various well-known quarters transgressed any reasonably accepted norm long ago. It seems almost like a job for cretin quarters to dictate us and our nation and civilise us as our 'guardians'. As our nation is now deeply confused, we fail to focus on a serious matter, the event of Palashi which brought about a major setback in our past history. It is merely a sign of our inability to learn from history.
Media organisations, especially the printed media, are in many ways the most effected vehicle to develop a sense of national pride, a means that can enable citizens to learn from the past, to understand the present challenges and to shape the future on the rock-solid foundation of a common understanding, a common anxiety and a unity of purpose. Yet our media organisations were remarkably silent on the setback at Palashi, as if nothing significant ever happened on this day. It is indeed alarming to discover such silence, such neglect to our one of great heroes, the great patriot Siraj and the fate he faced on this day 250 years ago. We hope, and I sincerely hope, that this silence is merely our inability to comprehend the importance of remembering the day, rather than a sign of the strength of new Ghasheti Begums' and their male counterparts.
Siraj-ud-Doula was of Turkish-Arab descent, where immediate ancestors settled and got absorbed in Bengal. We would not call him a foreigner where defeat at Palashi should not matter much to us. Mother Teresha was more of Kolkata than of the Vetican. As she was a pride product of Kolkata, Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula was our kin. We should remember him and remember how internal disunity and lack of sense of direction helped outsiders to overpower and destroy him. We must keep our flag high at any cost.