Dreams of intellectual emancipation still unrealised: speakers

The emancipation of the intellect -- a vision imagined by a group of Dhaka-based thinkers a century ago -- remains largely unfulfilled in present-day Bangladesh due to social elitism, intolerance, and a lack of moral integrity among the intellectual class.

Speakers made these remarks yesterday at the eighth episode of The Daily Star Itihas Adda, a history discussion series held at The Daily Star Centre. 

The event marked the centenary of the Muslim Sahitya Samaj (Muslim Literary Society), founded in Dhaka on January 19, 1926.

Addressing the theme of the event, senior researcher Wakil Ahmed said the country has reached a point where people use their intellect to justify burning down the offices of The Daily Star and Prothom Alo.

“That intellect dictates: if opinions do not match, burn it down. This is indeed a ‘great emancipation’, which in reality means we have achieved nothing,” he said.

He said the nation has failed to uphold the values nurtured by the intellectuals of 1926. “We have walked our own path. While the Sahitya Samaj was a social and cultural movement, the movements that followed in Bangladesh were largely political,” he added.

“We rise like mercury when heated, reaching the peak in just 36 days. But then suddenly, the mercury drops to the bottom,” Wakil Ahmed said.

He noted that while the nation can mount large political uprisings, it struggles to sustain cultural values. “We fight for freedom, we achieve it, but we cannot hold on to it,” he said.

Referring to the present situation, Wakil Ahmed described it as more “disturbing” than the period the movement originally confronted. “Demonic forces are flexing their muscles everywhere, while human forces are defeated,” he said.

He pointed to growing intolerance, citing attacks on Bauls, Ahmadiyyas, and shrines, as well as the persecution of minorities.

“We are in a civilisational crisis. There is no one to show us the path,” he said, calling for fearless figures like Begum Rokeya and Abul Hussain to rise again and stand against injustice.

Journalist and researcher Kazal Rashid Shahin identified “social elitism” as a major obstacle to the movement’s success. 

He criticised contemporary intellectuals for practising culture in “ivory towers” rather than engaging with the masses.

“You cannot free the intellect from a high tower,” he said.

He, however, described the movement as a distinct “Bangladesh Renaissance” that shaped Bengali Muslim identity and eventually led to the Liberation War.

Researcher Morshed Shafiul Hasan highlighted the moral integrity of the movement’s leaders, which he said is largely absent today. 

He cited Abul Hussain, a guiding figure of the movement, who once resigned from Dhaka University in protest against a “Muslim quota” in recruitment, despite being a beneficiary of it.

“He believed the quota insulted true merit,” Shafiul Hasan said.

“He resigned the very next day after apologising to Dhaka’s Nawab family under social pressure. We will not find such an example of intellectual honesty in today’s politics,” he added.

Joining virtually from the US, historian Dipesh Chakrabarty spoke about the ethical stance of Kazi Abdul Odud, another key figure of the movement. 

He said Odud believed that “the strongest man is he who stands most alone, in the minority of one.”

Dipesh Chakrabarty noted that these thinkers avoided extremism, preferred balanced criticism of religion, and prioritised “prem” (love) as the everyday welfare of ordinary people.

Earlier, The Daily Star journalist Shamsuddoza Sajen delivered the welcome address, drawing parallels between the 1920s and Bangladesh’s post–August 5 reality. 

“The tension that the Sahitya Samaj sought to resolve -- between progressive thought and reactionary forces -- exists in a much larger form today,” he said.

The event was moderated by The Daily Star journalist Emran Mahfuz.