Farooki calls for rethink of ‘pro-liberation vs anti-liberation’ narrative

Cultural Affairs Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki has said it is time to reassess the long-used binary of pro-liberation and anti-liberation forces.

“The phrase ‘pro-liberation and anti-liberation forces’ has been used extensively. Now is the time to look at this binary anew,” he said.

“Who are the forces against liberation today? They are those who have compromised our sovereignty for 15 years. The forces against liberation are those who have removed elections from this country,” Farooki added.

The adviser made the remarks at around 8:50pm on Thursday while speaking at the closing ceremony of the five-day-long “Shaheed Osman Hadi Book Fair”, organised by Ducsu and the Torun Column Lekhok Forum at the Payera Chattar of Dhaka University’s TSC.

Referring to external influence over state affairs in the previous government, he said decisions on who would rule the country or become ministers were made from abroad. “When you hand over the responsibility of taking all decisions of your country to another place and then claim that you are a pro-liberation force, there can be no bigger farce than this,” he added.

Farooki also said Bangladesh needs a “cultural space” that would ensure there is no room for fascism in the future. “The main tool behind the 16 years of misrule by the Awami League was culture. They created a cultural narrative -- high culture and low culture,” he said.

Explaining the narrative, he said, “There is a belief that so-called Bengali culture is synonymous with Awami culture and hegemonic politics, which are then portrayed as ‘high culture.’”

Elaborating on the notion of high and low culture, Farooki said it even determines whose deaths are deemed worthy of mourning. “This concept tells you whose death you should grieve for and whose you should not,” he said.

“Because of this narrative, when Barrister Arman was forcibly disappeared, the middle-class conscience did not grieve, as so-called progressive newspapers taught people that they were not high culture and therefore not worth mourning,” he added.

Towards the end of his speech, Farooki referred to the upcoming referendum, saying, “We do not know whether any of the reforms we are talking about will materialise if the ‘yes’ vote does not win. So I urge all of you to encourage your close friends to vote ‘yes’.”

At the closing ceremony, speeches were also delivered by Dhaka University Proctor Saifuddin Ahmed and Osman Hadi’s elder brother Omar Hadi. The programme concluded with slogans led by Ducsu Vice-President Abu Shadik Kayem.