Hindus in Bangladesh are facing an existential crisis on a scale very few communities in the world have faced
According to various media reports, The Kashmir Files has not only met its immediate objective of creating an unprecedented level of awareness about the tragic fate of Hindus in Kashmir Valley — the unique case of being refugees in their own country — but also an eagerness to rectify certain other maladies. But then, it was never a classified story; the plight of Kashmiri Hindus was well-known to those who wanted to know. Anyway, it has also tangentially brought to the fore another grim story: The unending sufferings of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and other minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Yes, people all over now want “Pakistan Files” and “Bangladesh Files”. They are also equally insistent on “West Bengal Files”, “Kerala Files”, et al.
This article seeks to stress the imperative necessity of doing something more tangible — more than films or documentaries — to ensure the dignity and honour of the surviving Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, Jains and other minorities in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Of course, before that, Kashmiri Hindus must be repatriated, their landed property, etc, restored and duly compensated. Let there be no compromise on the basics. It’s time to move beyond “Files” and show our collective resolve and character.
For the constraint of space, the Pakistani scenario is being kept out of purview here, but it must be kept in mind that it is no less serious. On the whole, in rescuing these hapless people from their tragic conditions in both the Islamic countries, we also contribute substantially in the establishment of sanity and peace in this part of the world, and thereby ensure the prevalence of inter-communal relations in India. That Hindus are only meant to suffer and forget every barbarism to which they are subjected is no longer acceptable.
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At this stage, a few basic issues must be made clear. One of the most harrowing stories of religious persecution and systematic religio-ethnic cleansing of our times could have been avoided only if India’s “national leaders” had not rejected the very sound proposal of an exchange of population as appropriately demanded by the Muslim League. That alone would have provided a permanent solution for our communal problem. This, we have to keep in mind, was created by the Islamic invaders and the Muslim rulers, and subsequently by Muslim fundamentalists.
Next, we have to understand that history is full of examples where people have been pushed to disaster only because they had political leaders who were confused, petty-minded, and yet pretentious to say the least. In pre-Independence India, we had this political leadership which was not only clueless but also averse to learn the basic lessons from Indian history — the nature of Islamic rule and its treatment of Hindu kafirs.
Moreover, these leaders had another fatal flaw in their worldview — their commitment to promote the religious and political mission of the Islamic ummah. The Khilafat-Moplah genocide of Kerala Hindus was the starting point of this suicidal course. This myopia is clearly reflected in India’s post-Independence domestic, educational, cultural and external policies. The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 was the first dent on this edifice of self-defeat and destruction.
India’s collective failure to save these Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, etc, is also explained by its self-serving “intelligentsia” and its media, best described as jihad-friendly “liberal”. Let’s dwell briefly on the role of the so-called intellectuals of West Bengal. Once, this highly creative class had led our national struggle for resurgence and freedom, but unfortunately it is not so anymore. Also, far from coming to the rescue of those “thrown to the wolves” in East Pakistan/Bangladesh, they are busy inventing make-believe scenario of a common Bengali identity based on language (despite incorporating an ever-increasing Arabic/Persian vocabulary) and fondness for the Ilish (fish) on both the sides of river Padma.
Nobel laureate (originally from Dhaka) Amartya Sen’s reticence on the theologically sanctioned genocide of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh is well-known, and so are the reasons for this. Next are the “leading” Bengali academics abroad. Many of them are from the refugee families themselves, and when not so, are certainly aware of the plight of the Hindus in Bangladesh. Their writings/public lectures — full of gyan for India’ s aam aadmi — scrupulously keep such real issues far away from their academic-political agenda. Of course, it is absurd to expect any useful idea from them as the earlier generations had once imbibed from the likes of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, Sir Jadunath Sarkar, Romesh Chandra Majumdar, RK Mukherji, among others.
Some of these “high-profile” and “internationally known” scholars, exceptions apart, have also been found to be negationists. Moreover, they have repeatedly betrayed their society back home. They have an agenda and why it is so, need no further explanation. For them, the Ayodhya movement, scrapping of Article, 370 and CAA 2019 are dangerous and manifestations of Hindu fascism! Since it does not fit into their agenda, they turn furious and vituperative.
Many of them have projected the break-up of Pakistan in 1971 and the emergence of an independent Bangladesh “sworn to Bengali language and culture” as the beginning of a new dawn — emergence of a tolerant and secular Bangladesh. But we all know, it is a diversionary tactic. Mujibur Rahman’s “secular” experiment was short-lived, if not a smokescreen. Pick up any newspaper, magazine in West Bengal or in New Delhi, to sense the growing danger. It is internal subversion at its worst and goes on unchecked without any attempt to neutralise it. There are various established and well-funded institutions run by New Delhi in West Bengal but they are also keeping scrupulously silent. This is inexplicable to say the least.
Be that as it may, Hindus in Bangladesh are facing an existential crisis on a scale very few communities in the world have faced.
Just think of this: The “non-believers” in this part of Bengal — 100 per cent of the population at the time of the Turkish invasion of Bengal led by Bakhtiyar Khilji — have been reduced to mere 8-10 per cent. They were more than 50 per cent in the mid-19th century and 29 per cent during Partition. As against this, the Muslim population has phenomenally increased all over, including the two Bengals.
This is Part 1 of a two-part series.
The writer is a noted historian and member of ICHR. His most recent book is ‘Citizenship Amendment Act 2019: Some Reflections’. Views are personal.
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