Adda

"....you must return
And bury your loss and build
Your world anew with your own hands.
I envy you your freedom".

I’d like to assure Adda’s readers that I absolutely have no personal or political agenda in Adda. I feel ethically obligated to express my thoughts and ideas independently and objectively when most of the Islamic and nationalistic ideas in Bangladesh are basically bankrupt, distorted and politically biased. Jamati Islami, as a fundamentalist and extremist Islamic party in Bangladesh, needs to look at their misdeeds and misrepresentation of Islamic thoughts that really hurt them and absolutely undermine the Muslim world.

Jamatis inherited their Islamic ideologies from Moududi, a Pakistani literary scholar who has never had any in-depeth Islamic knowledge and background even he appears to be as an Islamic scholar to Jamatis and its followers. Basically, Jamatis read his “Tafhims” (explanation of Holy Quran) as text books and frequently use them as references. Tafhim was considered controversial about different statments on prophethood and sunnah. Any literate person can browse books in this regard that highlighted distortion in Moududi's thoughts. Moududi, like Jamati leader Golam Azam, lacks any academic background and expertise in Islamic teaching. Yet, their books and booklets are text books for Jamatis that simply ignite their Jihadi political spirits based on narrow and misleading explanations of Islamic tenets. Philosophically, Jamatis follow the Taiymiah explanation and thoughts that have narrowly followed basic Islamic beliefs and drastically lacked the Prophet (PBUH) and his companions' teaching.

In Saudi Arabia and some other Middle Eastern countries, they have followed Taiymiah’s strict teaching of Islam that Jamatis and their leader Moududi have always allied with. Saudi assistance and influence have generously benefited Jamatis and their followers to establish financial and academic institutions in Bangladesh. Islamic scholars in the mainstream Muslim world have always rejected Wahabi and Moududi’s fundamentalist thoughts as false and misguided. Islam in its belief and practice has never endorsed any political party system and putting a party in this effect, indeed, can be considered as a misguided innovation.

Jamatis perceive political islam as their mainstream ideology where extremism reins their thoughts and practice. For example, few blind people were asked to depict an elephant by touching. Each blind person explained an elephant based on the body part or limb he touched as an Elephant. Jamatis are like those blinds who firmly believe in and fight only for the fundamentalist form of political Islam that simply lacks the complete and fair expression and practice of Islamic tenets. Islam teaches peace, compassion and leaves no place for violence in its practice.

In Bangladesh, politically active and conscious people who rejected Jamatis have never been adequately equipped to refute Jamati view points in larger context other than their disgraceful collaboration with Pakistanis in mass killing of innocent Bangladeshis. On the other hand, Islamic scholars in Bangladesh who fundamentally exposed the bankruptcy in Jamati and Moududi thoughts have mostly failed to articulate and present their writings to the larger audience of conscious people. In reality, Jamatis have found ways to reappear as Epiphytes in our political system. History has shown us independence loving Bangladeshis' hearts and souls have never been deceived for a long period. People will wake up to put Jamatis in the dustbin of history.

I look at the pictures of Katrina victims as I follow the news. I see the young children, almost 2000 of them are lost and separated from their families. I see a young girl, who's so young that she can not speak. Her eyes only show her immense helplessness, sadness, anguish, despair, detachment, and sorrow...She looks around for known faces, laughter, giggle, warmth, close hug. She misses them altogether very abruptly. I know her. She's the one who shows us the pain of loosing everything. I've seen the same child in Bangladesh in 1988 and 1991 when we had flood and tornado. She is the one who doesn't know the party politics, race relations, social responsiveness, consciousness, good samaritarian's hands.

All she knows that she needs her long lost mummy, her brother, her world. Who'll find her mummy, her loved ones? It's very shocking, very painful, and very tragic that I can hardly put her pains into words. What can I offer from here in Bangladesh is my best wishes and my prayers and a sense of inspiration to rise to help and to reach. May be a prayer song from our Great Poet Rabindranath Tagore has some healing voice and goodness:

"...Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.
Give me the strength never to disown the poor or
bend my knees before insolent might.
Give me the strength to raise my mind high above
daily trifles.
And give me the strength to surrender my
strength to thy will with love".

Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali

In the recent weeks, headlines touched children from Bangladesh. Wal-Mart, one of the largest retailer stores in the USA, has been sued for allegedly violating labor practice and child labor law. Read the news from Yahoo. Children must have been very happy in Bangladesh as someone has finally seen their plight, their abuse and lack of right. They don’t have to work anymore, now they can start begging in the street. I’m just kidding!!!

I know Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million associates all over the world with a business worth of almost 300 billion dollars. Now, please close down all the Wal-Mart stores where typically people flock to get merchandise at a reduced rate and transfer all the assets to the poor children and their attorneys.... Suddenly, children are at front page, when their community, society, government and their mothers deny and undermine children’s rights every day, suddenly a law suit will change their destiny forever. Welcome to globalization.

I read an interesting article that’s called “Wal-Mart is rich, let’s suit them!” I don’t know whether it’s true or not, but they say, “some parts of the United States are as poor as the Third World”. But who can show the real picture down to the earth right now in Dhaka, Bangladesh. May be a nine year old child can tell you the real story that doesn’t hit the headline.

Today is September 11, the 4th anniversary of terrorist attacks in the USA. On September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked and killed three thousand innocent people. Everyone is remembering and mourning the prescious lives of the lost and loved ones. It's a traumatizing incident that caused havoc and immense loss. What's the USA is doing? Their force and the intelligence are going from the North to South, East to West to find these culprits. If I ask you, are they going to rehabilitate these terrorists? You'll respond, "are you crazy"?

But in the same token if you look at three million innocent Bangladeshi who lost their lives by the Pakistani army and its collaborator Jamatis in 1971, it turns quite different and opposite. Now the same terrorist Jamati group has allied with the party in power in Bangladesh. If the Americans can not forgive the few terrorists that killed three thousands, how can we forgive and forget the fundamentalist and terrorist Jamati group that killed three million innocent people in nine months?

Is justice going to be redefined now? Is the law of land going to be blind? How can the humanity be indifferent and neglectful? While I express my full sympathy with the Americans for the enormous loss of three thousands in the USA, I would also challenge you to go through the horror of loss of three millions in Bangladesh. Life is life across the border... Click the picture below to read the whole book:

I received a few interesting comments about my article on August 24th on the blame game regarding recent bombing incidents in Bangladesh. It is unfortunate reality in Bangladesh that Jamat and its followers have betrayed and collaborated wtih the Pakistani military junta in the hienous mass killing in Bangladesh. They’ve always promoted extreme millitant explanation of Islam. Philosphically, they’re guided by a so-called Pakistani literary scholar Moududi whose incomplete and inaccurate explanation promoted Islamic extremism and fundamentalism for the last four decades in the South Asia. Jamat has always subscribed to the fundamentalist tenets following Moududi’s explanation. Some of you may even have forgotten how many wrists they had cut off in Chittagong and Rajshahi Univeristy in the name of Islam!!!

Now, Jamat has suddenly reappeared as a patriotic and nationalist force in Bangladesh. Have they ever committed any crime against humanity? No, never ever. They’re only a patriotic, democratic and peaceful political movement guided by the islamic idelogy that promotes islamic political process!!! What a hypocracy??? How can they even hide their blood soaked hands that killed so many innocent Bangladeshis in 1971? Now, their followers are causing havoc by 459 small bombs just to prove that all this is a simple propaganda against innocent Jamatis??? What a historic tragedy for the most distressed and helpless people in Bangladesh!!! Read the rest in Bangla...