An (op)Press Release from Musty Cathedral of Bumsuckers on the occasion of the passing of Margaret Thatcher into the afterlife

We would like to express
And stand to attention
To the press corps
with a smattering of Tory pretension.

The Long March to Dhaka: The Rise of Hathazari and 13 points to consider

This coming Saturday Allama Shah Ahmad Shafi, an elder respected Islamic scholar, rector of the Hathazari Institution (Chittagong), keeper of the Madani-Deobandi learning tradition, will march to Dhaka with gazillions of fellow protesters. I saw 5 million written somewhere, but to apply the Bangladesh number function, perhaps 200 000 might be a suitably boring speculation.  Efforts are being made by organisers to train  protesters to resist any provocations from political parties  and police. If attacked they are to respond by calling on the names of Allah. Last Friday's demonstrative jumma on the streets of Dhaka, from a different end of the Islamic Establishment could be thought of as a dress rehearsal.

Glorified is My Lord, The Magnificent: An image of last Friday's congregational prayer on the streets of Dhaka. Islami Andolon Bangladesh gathered in the capital to protest corruption and nepotism as well as demand restoration of the caretaker government system for political transition and new legal protections against religious defamation

From the looks of things (thursday night) the government is using pet qaumi leaders, coercion of transport operators and its political supporters to prevent protesters arriving in Dhaka. The guardians of the liberation war narrative ( Sector Commanders and Nirmul Committee) will be striking (what exactly?) from after jumma and the language of jamaati infiltration has been used from the highest level to create suspicions and leave the door open to ruthless suppression.

Meanwhile tweeters in London, as if they are trying to demonstrate the bangladesh governments point, and in true isoc dokhol reterritorialisation mode, continue to paint jamati and misunderstood bhashanian stripes over the long march with twee imagery illustrated below, drawing on the cultural resources of blitz spirit (lie) and #stopkony2012 propaganda with absolutely no irony.

These troubled and challenging times remain an opportunity for jamat to transform, not return to form.

Anyway, back to where this is coming from.

Boro Who?

 Alternatively known as Boro Huzur (big respected Islamic teacher) this is the leader who basically stopped Dr Imran H Sarkar of Shahbag from entering Chittagong last month and making a mess.

With the people of Dhaka generally sick and tired of Shahbag and educated youth organising things like pro-lungi walks against the outrageously snobby folks of the Baridhara Society, Bangladesh observers have been scratching their heads over the rise of this Boro Hujur, who has caused the Awami League to offer sacrificial bloggers in an attempt to buy him off. This betrayal of youngish bloggers has struck realism into some previously deluded people and apparently changed the political chemistry.



Where did that come from?

People are scratching their heads (and arses) because they do not recognise the political formation and have been dwelling in their own bubbles too long. Its like a new mathematical function that performs nebulous magic, only we don't really know how it works. Deoband doesn't go for political power, it makes assertions on occasion, often fruity, it doesn't do the NGO dance, nor does it seek approval from the seculib establishment. Its primarily interested in Islamic education as it sees it. A second-hand account goes so far as to say that political publications are banned from the campus.

But now, functionally it appears like a previous generation of religious revival is saving the arse of its errant young cousin islamists, to understand this we need to drop the year zero 1971ism and reconnect with the History of Muslim Education in occupied India.



Deoband and Alighar were established around the same time, after the failure of the Independence war of 1857 to kick the British invaders out of India. Alighar set a modernist track and went for institutional funding, while Deoband's epistemic politics was to develop the traditional system, stay with the people and reject funds from corrupt princes and corporates.  They set up in East Bengal soon after with variable impact and resilience of mission. Here's my cartoon of the two approaches.

Dhaka University was the Aligharian's Bengal Muslim project set up in 1921 as compensation to Bengal Muslims (upper-middle class ones) after the British bowed to Swadeshi terrorism objecting to their partition of Bengal. Hathazari Madrassa was established in 1896.  Both are older traditions than Bangladesh itself. Dhaka University nurtured, amongst others, Muslim Leaguers, Awami Muslim Leaguers, Awami Leaguers and now by popular perception Nutters & Nasthiks .

Its important to note that Deoband's Shah Ahmad Madani proposed Composite Nationalism in opposition to the League's two-nation theory and was well respected by the Indian Congress. The Madanite tradition is political is a non partisan sense, I see them as offering a nuanced, unpretentious non-jamaat, Islamic and human position on Bangladesh today as evidenced in this video.


Bangladesh Government getting a good bollocking

Awami Leaguers supporters are generally religious people, but the current environment makes it hard for them to reconcile their faith with what their party is doing. Shooting Jamati bogeymen on sight is ok, they have a back story for that which demonises them as rapists, murderers and tendon cutters, but the charges of atheist promotion, as well as the scholar killings and persecution provoked the usually quiet and non-attention seeking religious establishment to assert itself.

The government should have thought about the consequences when firing and killing religious worshippers across the country on 22nd February. Most pitiful at the time was the corporate, yellow and self-serving media's spinning of the story of the day being about journalists, not the members of the public being brutalised.

The most amusing indignation was a friend on facebook, who has never even returned a salam to me expressing rage at protesters setting fire to prayer rugs in mosques. I hope he is still my friend. Most ironic was that 22nd February is a day after 21st February, 'International Mother Language Day' one of the important dates in the cultural nationalist calender.


Boro Hujur's 13 demands.

Talukdar Saheb, a forthright and articulate Islamic-forces blogger in Bangladesh, translated Boro Hujur's 13 points as raised with an assembly of Islamic scholars early last month. They are translated from a Naya Diganta account. I found them much food for thought, and at times problematic, yet these are legitimate demands from a legitimate theological quarter that need to be met with a public dialogue and understanding, not sharpened knives. An ecological (not confrontational) politics of Bangladeshness isn't threatened by them and starts with salam.

I suspect these demands will be mischievously portrayed to titillate anti-terror taste buds, but this is real Bangladesh, not an NGO fantasy representation of smiling subaltern suckers.

1)  Reinstatement of ‘Absolute trust and faith in Allah’ in the constitution of Bangladesh and abolishment of all laws which are in conflict with the values of the Quran and Sunnah.

This is a minimal Government do-no-harm commitment that the pre-war Awami League would have no problem with. But its just words at the end of the day, in elite documentation. If only we lived in the names and with the names of Allah, rather than exploiting them as badges and enchantments.

2)  Enactment of (anti-defamation) law at the parliament keeping death penalty as the highest form of punishment to prevent defamation of Allah, Muhammad (S.A.W) and Islam, and prevent spreading hate against Muslims (highest penalty prevalent for defamation is 2 years).

This is a good discussion point, might also add something about making sh!t up about people defaming islam like the false-accusation of adultery. Its a debate that needs to be opened up to include the non-secular majority and recognise how rules are so easily exploited by gutter politics. I dont think that a death penalty is congruous with the higher objectives of the Sharia ( protection of faith, life, intellect, dignity, property).  Also a libel law is needed to restrain wild talk and media liararchy.

3) Immediate end to the negative propaganda by all atheist bloggers in a leading role in the so called Shahbag movement who have defamed Allah, Mohammad (S.A.W), and Islam and their exemplary punishment.

Relatively specific, doesnt appear to typecast all bloggers or shahbaggers, nor call for their deaths. I would also add the get-out-clause for apology and the seeking forgiveness. Many Shahbaggers and Awami Leagers have cornered themselves and are looking for an exit strategy.

4) End to all alien cultural practices like immodesty, lewdness, misconduct, culture of free mixing of the sexes, candle lighting in the name of personal freedom and free speech.

I love this too much to adequately put into words. its like getting a bollocking from a grandfather. Vintage Deoband and totally feeling the naffness of candle4executions.

5) Abolishment of the anti-Islamic inheritance law and the ungodly education policy. Making Islamic education compulsory in all levels from primary to higher secondary.

Contemporary policies and laws from which their voice has been excluded. Compulsory education stuff is good, esp with a focus on akhlaq. They are not the first to point this our nor will they be the last or only islamic perspective on inheritance and soulful education.

6) Declaration of Ahmadis as non-Muslims by the government and put a stop to their negative and conspirational activities.

Fossil from previous govt movement. Better framed as Ahmedis as citizens with right to life et al, even if they dont let the rest of us into their prayer halls. Islam has the right to define what it isn't.

7) Stop instating more statues in the name of sculpture at road intersections and educational institutions to save Dhaka the city of mosques, from becoming the city of statues.

This is about political aesthetics, a challenge to the artistic community and the soviet looking statues everywhere.

8) Remove all the hassles and obstructions at Baitul Mokarram and all mosques in Bangladesh which prevent Musallis from offering prayer. Also stop creating obstruction for people to attend religious sermons and other religious gatherings.

Right to assemble, worship and learn. no brainer, but lots of social bias these days.

9) Stop the spread of Islamophobia among the youth through depiction of negative characters on TV plays & movies in religious attire and painting negative stereotypes of the beard, cap and Islamic practices on various media.

I agree with this sentiment. Its important to raise the point otherwise seculibs and trash culture will carry on relentless and unresisted.

10)Stop anti-Islamic activities at Chittagong propagated by several NGO’s and Christian missionaries under guise of religious conversion.

local issue. clearly he's got problems with his local developmenshire

11) End to the massacre, indiscriminate firing and attacks on the prophet loving Muslim scholars, madrassah students and the general public.

On 22nd february they ate bullets. hatefull bullets meant for dehumanised jamatis. This we must agree with.

12)End to all threats against Islamic scholars, madrassah students and Imams and Muslim clerics of mosques throughout the country.

Ulama getting shot shocked us all the other day. This is a typical union-type demand. The consequences of razakarology on the whole society have been terrible. systematic evidence gathering should be encouraged to make this explicit to stupid people.

13)Immediate and unconditional release of all detained Islamic scholars, madrassah students and members of the general public and withdrawal of all false cases filed against them. Compensation to families of all injured and deceased and exemplary punishment to all those responsible.

same as 12. I think Shayk Nouri Hamidi has been released now. who knows who else they have locked up. Deobandis, who should know all about fidelity of reporting events given their hadith expertise, haven't been good record keepers/makers in recent weeks.

[New Word] Muslim Botherhood

The crowd of people who appear, positively or negatively, bothered by Muslims.

Boro Hujur marches to Dhaka

As Basherkella and Shahbag merge into eachother in terms of sh!tst!rr!ng and ruthlessness, I pray that Boro Hojur injects some much needed tranquillity and balance as he marches to Dhaka this Saturday.

May the minarets sing sweet Hamds into the souls of the powerful and humble,  the police and brownshirts be overcome with compassion, and the liararchy self-correct.

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] Gossipistemology

A distorting way of knowing that dominates too many others in this world.
The simpler and more complex folk of Shahbag, and around it, base much of their certainty and conviction on it. It has been a while in casting and setting. This makes it hard to reform, as it contains its own override protects like 'tui razakar' and increasingly, bullets.

[New Word] Digital Separatism

Is how disputes dont get resolved,
Antisocial mediums behold
A tenfold spike
as we retweet and like.

[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.

Practical reflections on The Shahbag Fitna

1. Those accused of war crimes and the fallen deserve a fair tribunal process based on quality investigations of matters during and surrounding the Bangladesh War.
2. There must be space for Political Islam(s) to dwell, refine and evolve in Bangladesh. This includes Jamat and it is no matter that they can be annoying.

The interelation between these two commitments is not my making. The Awami liberation warlore and the Nirmul Commission took one particular war experience, amplified it, then focussed all blame and evil on a politically sampled list of 'collaborators'. I do not beleive that it is criminal to have been against the Bangladesh project, which was at its unfurling even less thought through than its predecessor state. It is with unethical, immoral behaviour that I have a problem.

God knew what was in people's hearts and gave us Shahbag as a reminder.

Over the past weeks and days we have come to know ourselves and the Bangladesh nonsense engine's true colours.  From the Daily Star's blatant disregard for truth regarding the 22nd February Jumma shootings and recent attacks on Hindu properties, to Sabir Mustafa's partisan hackery at the BBC, AJE's Nicolas Haque's spinelessness, Sultana Kamal's ironyless appeal for attention, and Shahidul Alam's sick sweetening of Shahbag Spirit,  it has been a sad to see such selective humanity and cowardice.

On an optimistic note, I have never seen so many brothers alive to the situation in desh, cognisant of the conditions that have created it, and getting busy. In testing times like these, just like in those before, our true colours emerge. Who we are, how we roll and what we bowl are embodied by our response.

This is easily said from the comparative safety of far far away from gunshots and police with shoot to kill directives.

The injustice of these tribunals is symptomatic of a wider corruption of state institutions and civil society. The government can only get away with what is has done with the support of public figures, each of whom have stood still, if not participated in the sham. In dealing with the situation at hand we must build a better social infrastructure of active, evidence-based and soulful citizenship.

Shahbag can be seen as  a radicalisation of the Awami League, the secular block, but what is its significance to me/us?

I say this very deliberately so that every word will ring inside. Broad hearted 'Islamic forces' must renew commitments to Justice, Integrity and Dignity by working for fair trials, political space-making and political self-making.

Five areas I think we need to improve on.

ZERO// Learning
Learn, read, ask, search, discover the issues to the best of your ability.
Recent work by Yasmin Saikia and Sarmila Bose are good places to start.
Bose's London seminar on critical thinking on 1971 is online HERE

ONE// Be unprovokable, undistractable, unbwogable
Avoid being drawn into discussions of faith, non faith and anti-Islamic non-faith.
Shahbag is toxic enough already, Atheisation and AlieNation is the topic for another venture.

TWO// Language
Be responsible with language, not like Maulana Sadruddin who made an ass of himself on Obhimot the other day. Not all Awami Leagers are the same. Do not mirror any tyrant's misuse of language.

THREE// Greater Insaniyyat, humanity
Grow dialogical relations with people in all parties and trends. Some have cornered themselves, many haven't really thought carefully about these things.

FOUR// Empathy
Familiarise yourself the the psyche's of reference points of others through personal relationships, art, twitter, alalodulal, drishtipat (archive), muktomona and alochona yahoogroups.

Poetical interpolations of one family's 1971 justice adventures

David married Sara,
Whose father was Kamal.
They kept the country guessing,
In which direction they could snarl.

Kamal was Foreign Minister,
From the story of creation,
A fine barrister, distinguished man,
Mattabar of the Nation.
 
His daughter was quite sharp as well,
Ziauddin she did advise,
To admit some limits of the trials,
To pass by western eyes.

And now we come to David who,
With journalistic hue,
Brought Nirmulity to the airwaves,
Mistakenly at face value.

With great symbolic powers,
Of status, mind and race,
He's proved the witchhunt bollockful,
Right in its secular face.

Oh countrymen it should be you,
To chasten nonsense engines,
But you kill, humiliate, erase,
With the grace of Gotham's Penguin.