Two bits of very terrible news today. The first from Bangladesh as Awami Leage lecturers at Jahingirnagar University instigate a witch hunt on a history professor for including critical tracts by Sarmila Bose and Syed Sajjad Husain on the Bangladesh war. Apparently its anti-liberation and worth whipping up student frenzy and authority over. This is reminiscent of the treatment meted out to all who question the Logic of Liberation: that the Awami League, the Mukti Bahini and the Indian Army came down the chimney 40 years ago to fill our stockings with Liberation.
Awami fascism is at a peak these days as Bangladesh = 40 approaches, as opposition leaders are on trial for war crimes. There is interesting coverage of the trial proceedings over here , the witnesses for the prosecution arent very good it appears and the defence counsel himself is being harrassed and undermined by the government.
Squint and find silver linings.
One positive of having a trial is that its forcing the accused to counter the allegations against them, amplified and disseminated over the past 20 years. Their defence is unlikely to be given a fair hearing as the decisions have already been made and the vests involved are very interesting. 'Socially' its good because the population at large has been kept in the dark about important aspects of the Bangladesh War, now its harder for the media and government to drown out every single word they say.
That said, I am not naive about the truth emerging anytime soon.
This Kangaroo Court operates in a society where rage, envy and hurt have been channelled all wrong, into injustice making. Where human rights only apply whilst the awami league is in opposition, to the tune of aid money and towards secular liberal types of people. The NGOs, donors and parties have bought off the collective mind and for scholars its simply easier to reproduce the fairy tales of liberation that please the parties.
This is a protection of intellect, dignity and possible even life issue. Three central, essential objectives of the Sharia.
Prof Mushtaq Khan, of SOAS has been saying for a while that neither of the three narratives : Liberation, Independance and Succession are sufficient and that they dont work for us, so we must make a new one.
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Here is another source of information about the trials by someone who has been highly critical but is in general agreement with holding them
http://bangladeshwarcrimes.blogspot.com/
David Bergman made the 1990s documentary that was strongly unreflexive about the sources and direction of wild accusations. I wonder what he things of that programme now.
What makes you think he doesn't stand by it? I've never seen anywhere that he renounced it.
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