From: medusa@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Don't bother me)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
Subject: Re: Moving on from '71 (was Re: To Shakil)
Keywords: '71...Golam Azam...Shakil Ahmed...Biharies
Date: 13 Apr 92 00:35:29 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX


To  all the netters that are concerned with the present situation
in connection with the Traitor-Butcher Golam Azam and his punishment:

Please let's not inflame each other on the issue of Golam Azam and
the present situation in Bangladesh; it will only divert the attention of 
our readers from the real crisis to trivial matters of personal attacks
and inflamed replies and more attacks and so on, and thus in the end aid 
those who want the situation to be so diverted and put aside, once again.

To Shakil and others who sympathize with him, it must be said that while rai-
sing some not so naive questions about the justification of the popular demand 
of Fanshi of the T-B, the impersonal detachment that you show regarding recent
history is admirable, if not outright astonishing! Several netters have 
already replied, and that too quite satisfactorily, explaining the context 
of the Gana Adalat's sentencing the T-B to death. Anyone should be able to 
see through the symbolism and the significance of the whole affair now, 
in my humble opinion. But again, may be unwittingly, the questions that you put 
forward with an apparent air of unbiased and innocent curiosity, I'm afraid, 
simply echo the attitude adopted by the Jamaatis since they surfaced 
after the war during Gen. Zia's rule. To have come up with such questions as 
these, one must really be unaware of the present political situtation and its 
consequences in Bangladesh, or just be trying to turn a blind eye to it, proving
the success of years of the fanatic party's propaganda. With the active and 
passive support of all the Govts. after the assasination of BangaBandhu, the
T-B's party has been trying to make a fool of the whole nation of Bangladesh.
The very fact that they decided to bring the leader to the fore-front by 
formally making him the chairman, (by the way, he is probably the first
'non-acting' chairman in the party's history after liberation) simply betrays
their arrogance and defiance of the values and principles that made so many
whole-hearted Bangalees sacrifice everything and go to the war in 1971. This
defiance has had similar manifestations in the recent activities of organiza-
tions like the ICNA in the mosques all over the USA. Therefore, you must
understand and appreciate the sensitivity of the Bangalees on the issue and 
refrain from adding fuel to personal brawls that can be done without. 

And regarding some netter's query about the Bangalee's reaction and response
in connection with the Bihari-killings, this whole-hearted Bangalee would like
to point out, without leading to a conclusion, the fact that whatever sporadic
incidences took place, they can be seen as an explosive outburst of the public
on the spur of the moment: there are some heart-moving tales of Biharis and
Bangalees helping each other in the time of the war; but then there are also
those tales of the Biharies who joined the Razakar-AlBadr, and who thus became
helping hands for the Pakistani Army in (literally) butchering the Bangalees.
Yes, if anyone commited a cold-blooded crime against a community like the 
Biharies, he deserves his punishment just as the Pakistani Army and its 
collaborators deserve their punishment for their crimes against the Bangalees.
But as pointed out in an earlier posting from the present lurker, we have
our priorities, and let's not cloud the issues by bringing too many of them
into the fore-front; and yes, these are related, but not to be weighed against
one another when the question of justice arises. 

-A. Lurker