Many Pak youths still in dark about ‘71 war
Says Tariq Ali
World-renowned political commentator Tariq Ali yesterday said many youths in Pakistan are not aware of real accounts of 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh since much of the country's political records has been distorted.
Many Pakistanis do not even know that Bangladesh was once known as East Pakistan, a part of Pakistan, he said while addressing an international videoconference from London on Islam and politics in South Asia. The two-day conference was organised at the Brac Centre Inn in the capital.
The conference will highlight different global, national and local situations through which Islam has emerged as a key element of political developments around the world.
About post-independence political development in Bangladesh, the renowned political critic said Bangladesh's political situation was identical to that of Pakistan. Both countries saw military rules and political killings.
About Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's assassination, Tariq said some Pakistani military officers had considered it as their victory.
He believes that alongside the unruly army officers, an invisible hand was behind the killings of Bangabandhu and his family members.
Describing Pakistan as the most corrupt state in the world, he said the present political situation in that country is “horrific”.
Syed M Hashemi, director of Brac Development Institute (BDI), said that after the 9/11 incident in the USA, a tendency has been noticed among many Muslims to engage more closely in the teaching of Islamic values and conventions.
The ever-progressive social forces in South Asia could not assess the changing behaviour of Muslims, he noted.
The “secular” and “progressive” non-Islamic world observes Islam as an inferior and backward religion opposed to modernity, said some participants at the conference.
Mashiur Rahman, economic adviser to the Bangladesh prime minister, said, “Islam is now widely misrepresented in the world”.
Islam is a code of conduct, which deals with every possible aspect of human life, be it religious, political, economical or social issues, he said.
The negative stereotyping has been one of the main reasons for the rise of rigid, fundamentalist and, in some cases, violent Islamic groups, observe a few speakers at the conference.
Prof Saba Mahmood of University of California at Barkley presented the keynote paper at the conference while Prof Willem Van Schendel of University of Amsterdam, Prof Kamran Ali of University of Texas at Austin, Dr Samia Huq of BDI, Prof Amina Jamal of Ryerson University, Urvashi Butalia of Zubaan Books, among others, spoke.
Besides, political experts, sociologists, anthropologists, journalists, experts in feminism, governance and other related areas were present on the occasion.
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