Lets talk about futures of political Islamisms in desh

As the Deoband-Madani oriented Hefazat ul Islam's points of contention and (intentionally) limited scope still ringing around society in Bangladesh, the place, potential, translation and movement of Islamic socio-political principles and shapes comes to attention.

With today's arrest of Amar Desh's editor and past BNP energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman, and the sealing of its press, the dissenting voice of 'Islamic forces' has been muzzled. I remember how Amar Desh broke the TribunalGate story in December that sent the War Crimes Tribunal into a headspin and magically began the corrosion of 42 years of powerful guilt tripping and rumour mongery that has made a self-mutilating laughing stock of the country.

That said, I don't think he is the Mahdi or the Sonar Bangla Bullet. I pray he is returned safely to his family ASAP (just like everyone else who is unjustly confined) and see this arrest as just one part of the actions of a despicable, dissent-crushing and murderous government. I just wanted to take the moment to ponder beyond dinosaurs, clones and religious tribalisers.

The more I think of the political autisms of Shahbag and and LongMarch the more I feel that we need to reconnect, critically, with the politics of Maulana Bhashani, the 80 day president Khondhokar Moshtaque Ahmed, and the erudition of Kamal Hossain. [The Kissinger Cables hyperlinked provide a one-click time machine to them]

It is sad that the country is probably not even hungry for a creative generation of Islamic thinkers, justice and serenity makers. The tail end batsmen can only last for so long, especially now that they have acquired a habit for self harm.

Imagine

1. A public sphere more inclusive of Islamic and other non secular contribution and social imagination.
2. Hefazat-un-Nisa, a radical Islamist Begumhood dedicated to ensuring dignity and a living wage for garments workers, male and female and the vibrancy of the sector.
3. The country's apparently Islamic types inspired by the work, talent and martyrdom of Shaheed-e-Kormi Aminul Islam .
4. Political formations and actions that rupture the firewalls between rightist-Islamist and leftist-Atheist. 
5. A Jamat happy to admit mistakes and nuance and Islamic alternatives.
6. A left that is co-operative with political Islam.
7. Greater dialogical relations between Islamic, social and physical sciences and scholars.
8. A vibrant, Islamically moved creative class providing social yeast, not decoration or nostalgia.
9. A world-class weekly publication to carry the conversation and raise the tone. 
10. That the judiciary had integrity.
11. That talents would be nurtured and given scope, not hamstrung, embittered and cleft asunder.
12. In the coming years there are fewer blockheads in every camp.
13. A new political grammar to supercede hartals, encampments, marches and naff renditions of whiteous indignation.
14. Ecological politics, not confrontational politics.
15. Bangladesh as an ummahtic destination for more than the Tabligh, Tawfique Chowdhury and Zakir Naik.
16. Real, confident and credible engagement in the Asian regional scene.

A Summary of Delwar Hussain Sayeedi's closing words to the show trial on 6th December 2012

I am Delwar Hossain Sayedee. I am well known in every part of Bangladesh. 

I am now Delwar Shikder or Delu or Deilla as alleged by the Investigation Officer Helal Uddin.

The present Awami League government that claims to be democratic has appointed Helal Uddin with a mission to impose false allegations of war crimes against me for political vindication. The Investigation Officer Helal Uddin has thus brought 20 false charges against me and complied with the government and political order by distorting my name to humiliate me. He wrote a drama of 4000 pages against me to distort my family life and identity, educational qualification and student life and showed me as a looter, killer, rapist, supplier of women, person destroying by fire, helping hand of Pakistani Army and ferocious Rajakar.

It is not possible for any Muslim to create this type of extreme lies against another Muslim only because of political enmity if they have lightest faith on Allah, fear of death, fear of facing Allah on the day of judgment and fear of the extreme punishment of hell.

Hon’ble Tribunal, definitely this trial will be finished in two parts. One in this eternal world and another in the day of judgment. Today I am helpless and innocent accused and you are judges.

Those who are able to torture an innocent man like me for political reasons due their present power, they will definitely be accused in the second part of the trial on the day of judgment. On that day I will be complainant. And the Almighty Allah, King of Kings, the Only Sovereign Authority of the universe and Great Judge of all trials will be judge in that case. 

In verse 8 of Chapter Teen (The Fig) ,  Allah said 

‘Is not Allah the best Judge of all the judges?’ 

In verse 16 of Chapter Dukhan (The Smoke) ,  Allah said that,

 ‘One day I will surely catch them in extreme way and will surely take revenge.’

Hon’ble Tribunal, sitting here in this Tribunal I swear in the name of Almighty Allah who is controlling our life, I swear touching His Holy Qur'an, I am not at all connected with the allegation brought against me in this Tribunal. Not a single word of the allegations are true. I swear by the name of Allah that my name was deliberated added with the incidents with malafide intension. I have no connection with these allegations.

Hon’ble Tribunal, I hope that you will rise above any anger, favour, pressure or order and consider the overall truth and falsity of the case and will free yourself from any favour and will only fear Allah and extreme punishment of hell and do justice to me. May Great Allah gives you the ability to do justice.

Those who conspired against me due to political vengeance, created this extreme false case, gave false evidence against me, tutored false witnesses against me and mentally tortured me, deprived me from passing the light of Qur'an to people in home and abroad, causing my loved ones to cry, humiliating me in the society by false claims – I pray that Allah give them hedayat (guidance). 

If Allah does not permit them hedayat then all my tears and the tears of my loved ones, children, my worldwide followers will hunt them with curse and may Allah not allow them death without suffering pains hundred times suffered by me. May the curse of Allah rain on the liars and torturers. May the hell be their permanent destination.

[Source: David Bergman's ICT blog]

[New Word] Political load-shedding

The troublesome process of contesting power (re)distribution. Although better timetabled these days, the hartal, or strike, causes problems for the public, which in addition to their existing problems is not the politics of mercy.

By mixing metaphors we avoid depoliticizing strikes, their need, and their impacts on people, power structures and pauperisation.

Political load-shedding is a non-solution to the problem of sustainable and just power generation and distribution.

So if you think that you, or your tribe, have what it takes to lead the people. Find another way. Don't (mis)lead dedicated young people to their martyrdom, bring sakina, or tranquility, to the streets and lives of the people.

As The Tailor once said, the prison has escape encoded in its very bars.

I am justifiably in contempt of this Kangaroo Court

Tribunalgate is quite fluid these days.

Last night the Economist mumbled something about lawyers and  clearly stated that they were handed data of communications between Justice Nizamul Huq and Dr Ahmad Ziauddin (17 hours audio, 230 emails) and did not solicit them. The comments below the article are amazing, with raw relief from many at the sight of their truth finally in print, as well as secular-takfiri bloodymindedness that we have come to expect from people holding firmly onto the master narrative. Its quite a sad reflection on our internal conversation and adab (manners) that 1971 has become such an infantalising matter, enfooling and humiliating.

Legal eagle BangaliVabna finds the Economist a little limp-wristed, gives an insight into the tribunals social context and what they have already done to split, confuse and make fools out of the Bangladeshi nation.  David Bergman made an appeal to civil society to show some spine, but more conservative blogs haven't yet commented.

These tribunals don't end impunity, they reconstitute it.

In the real world, a journalist from the Bangladeshi newspaper Amar Desh (My Country)  wrote something brave,  based on what I imagine is the same data that the Economist received.  We probably won't see the western liberal media falling over themselves to protect him, but we should, as he really pushed the boat out. Mahmudur Rahman, the editor of the paper, might also come in for a spot of bother and Awami ultra violence.

The main exhibit of this post is an audio file of what appears to be a conversation between the Judge and the Academic-Activist. Whoever organised this information retrieval from deep inside the rotten core of the Bangladeshi injustice system has done well to make people who will not otherwise listen, look the lie in the face.

This post wiki wolf whistle features them complaining about ministers setting them unrealistic deadlines and discussing how to massage the judgement so that it appears like it meets the standards expected by western powers. In passing Ziauddin observes that the Bangladeshi public will not be critical about this process at all. It seems to me that they are cooking up a judgement. It seems that a key ideological campaigner is having more representation in the tribunal than the accused, whose defence witnesses are denied, kidnapped and written off.

Somehow I can't see myself wearing a t-shirts saying 'Bangladeshi Justice for Bangladeshi Citizens' at this moment in time. These situations do get you thinking about the nature of the human intellect, its moral detuning and role in power play. You can listen to some more of the alleged audio on SonarBangla and make up your own mind.

When I was on field work in Bangladesh, during the last-but-one government, a young man, who had a small mobile phone shop by the oncoming River Jamuna said to me:

Over here, the educated people try to make fools of the illiterate.

bad poem alert.

 

 The day their music died

The Awami League of Liars stared
Their version of the past declared,
An exaggerated Jatra play
A power game, a truth to flay

No party is exonerated,
Our ranks were still quite decimated,
Yet, may the future flow uphill in wonder,
With dignity and hope not blunder.

We recognise that modus operandi,
Can only beg for foreign candy,
Terrorise and halt the nation,
With political emaciation

Noble souls,
Our thoughts controlled,
Questions patrolled,
Now, may His truth unfold.

What should not have been

The toxic odour of betrayal
Wafted along the breeze
What was becoming apparent (over recent days)
Our hearts could not believe

Developmentia organised
In pathetic technicolour.
Brittle technocratic souls
Engaging foreign power.

How fucking dare you sell them down,
That god forbidding river
I await your untold side to this
And long to be your brother.

The Case of Talha Ahsan: What is going on and what can I do?

Imagine that your child, sibling, relative or friend is taken from you and detained for years without trial.  They are accused of 'terrorism-related' crimes by a superpower waging war on its enemies.  Would you turn away from them or take notice?

Justice, dignity, humanity and mercy are crucial principles in our lives, which is why we must know what we can and do what we can for Talha Ahsan. 

Talha  is a 31 year old poet from Tooting who has been imprisoned for coming onto 6 years, without evidence or trial, pending extradition to the USA. Born and bred in London, Talha comes from a Muslim Bangladeshi background and is diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.  A shy bookish young man, with a first class honours degree in Arabic from SOAS, he continues to write poetry from prison. At the time of his arrest in July 2006 he was due to be interviewed for a job as a librarian, we are poorer without him.

The USA government requested his extradition from the UK under dubious 'terrorism' related charges and the compliant British authorities did not even scrutinise the evidence against him properly.  Talha, his family and supporters are campaigning for a fair UK trial, which we believe is not possible in the USA.  Achieving justice whilst Muslim is hard, and we must exercise courage, skill and unity of purpose to get it. It is not a ready-made meal.

We must act immediately to build momentum in our communities. From July, as the Olympics capture public attention, Talha may be extradited to the rapturous applause of much of the media, who will drown out the injustice with dehumanising images of men with beards, hooks for hands and loathsome angry preachers.  We know that the story is different, but we need to share this story amongst our families, friends and neighbours and do it justice. 

Muslims in the UK are blessed with many favours but also endangered. Like the Irish throughout the Troubles in Northern Ireland, we are proving easy to accuse, lock up and ignore. We request your support for Talha and others in similar situations help us establish a justice-making, supportive community of principles. There is no shortage of things to do.

• Become informed, organised and mobilised about the issues
• Attend the Public Meeting in Central London on 23^rd May*
• Speak to our close ones about and promote the Free Talha campaign
• Remember Talha in our prayers
• Champion the cause in our organisations
• Write to Talha (who can still receive correspondence so long as he is on these shores)
• Write to the media
• Write to your MP, make it relevant to them, it is surprising how little they know.

To learn more about the case visit www.freetalha.org

 

You can also get involved through social media: find the FreeTalha Ahsan page on Facebook, follow the @freetalha Twitter account and tweet #freetalha

*The Public Meeting will feature Salma Yaqoob, Gareth Pierce, Riz Ahmed and Bruce Kent and take place from 6pm - 8pm at Hend House, 233 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8EE. Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road  http://www.facebook.com/events/283339501756605/

[New Word] Aqidemia

A space where the values emanating from aqida are known.

On Prevent: What to do

Seems to me that resistance to this campaign particular campaign by the British Government to produce docile Muslim subjects is growing and needs to be both broadened and deepened.  I suspect its intimately tied with the discovery, creation and exercise of ummahtic mojo.

Here's what folks can do.

1. Read this dossier on PREVENT
2. Highlight the experiences and ordeals of those at the bum end of the Project to Produce Docile Muslims
3. Sharpen awareness of whats going on around us in legislation, institutional policies and everyday life
4. Convey the experiences of those who have previously engaged with this shit
5. Encourage radical forms of expression, action and imagination
6. Delegitimate engagement and engagers
7. Lampoon and spit upon ideological foundations of the project
8. Reward creative - disengagement with social dignity
9. Share best resistance practice

I do so hope that you share this good news with others.

Critical Thinking on 1971, Sarmila Bose @ Brick Lane Circle

Sarmila Bose on critical thinking on 1971 - part 1 from bricklanecircle on Vimeo.

Bengal famine 1943: Churchill's role

Churchill's Secret War by Madhusree Mukerjee (2010)

Is a tome that I am anxious to get my hands on, concerning Churchill's role in the colonially produced atrocity that killed off an estimated three million Bengali people during the 2nd world war. There also the not so small matter of the role of Churchill, the power holder and the rascist mediating the political negotiations for post british India and Pakistan. In the post book analysis, and british counter attack, some interesting questions are raised over the actual benefit of Churchill's existence.

The Famine and other matters lead me to beleive that the British ego and people have been fed a valourised picture of Britain's actions and significance in World War 2.

Here are some resources:

Outlook India article

Blogging heads video interview with author

Independent (London) Review
Hindu (India) Review
Max Hasting's Review in Sunday Times
BBC India Coverage

Dharti ke lal, film by Khwaja Ahmed Abbas (1946)
Ashani Sanket, film by Satyajit Ray (1973)

President Ahmedinejad goes the Columbia

He was preceded by remarks from the president of the educational establishment doing his bit to promote understanding and good will. NOT

The politically embattled chap ended with the following kind touch,

"I am only a professor, who is also a university president, and today I feel all the weight of the modern civilized world yearning to express the revulsion at what you stand for. I only wish I could do better."

The President of Iran's contribution can be read here.

He covers islamic philosophy of science! From the words on the page you can tell he has a tough mind, undiverted by naff and distrating international vocabulary of righteous virtue that us in the west have been fed on, and that us in the east tend to parrot with zeal. He has his own moral vernacular of the manners of treating ones guest, the respect accorded to women etc. I think this migh have something to do with not being colonised in the way that the other Asiatic hordes were. Its like listening to a confident Turk!

For me this event is not about same-sex attraction or human rights bitching or further research into the despicable treatment and mass murder of the Jews in europe. Unfortunately these are the lenses (UN propelled.. bless) through which more and more people see the world. Each to his own lens so long as it doesnt become an axe, besides I wouldn't know where to start wrt to consoling a Holocaust survivor who has enemized Iran and views its leader as todays Hitler.

It's about the politics of knowledge and some countrys preventing others from certain pools of knowledge, from building stocks of autonomous expertise and political gumption. Iraq was not frozen then destroyed not because of baathist philosophy, the kurds, the shias, it was because they had some resolution behind their own alignment of brains, money and national interest.

Another telling part to this event is that the president has not been allowed to pay his respects at the Ground Zero site in New York. So many people have already made up their minds it is sad.

The Chief Advisor of Bangladesh is due to speak at Colombia this friday. I hope he has some good chops, though to be honest he wont be up against nearly as much hostility, even if embittered Awami League workers attend.