Lakhs, if not thousands, entered Dhaka city in the morning and left at dusk, without inflicting any harm on anyone or anything. How has that been possible in a city of 10 million people, where we stumble upon someone almost on a daily basis while making our way on the streets?
I’m talking about today’s rally at Suhrawardy Udyan, which has already been labelled as an Islamist event.
During this rally, people embarked upon this city like they had done on 5 August, the fateful day, for Hasina of course. The past event was historic, people grabbing the neck of the autocrats. Saturday’s event was for a greater cause, addressing the question of Palestine, in Edward Said’s voice.
It seems that we have always feared any large gathering in the city, as we had feared in 2013, during the Shahbagh and Shapla Chattar incidents.
Did we fear today? Not that much. From personal experience I can share that the doors of this city was open to whoever was coming here, may he be a Jamaat activist or a Hefazat leader.
Dhakaiya people seemed pretty much okay with the presence of close to a million Islamist, or Islamic-minded people today. Partly because they were afraid of what might ensue, or were sympathetic to the cause of Palestine for real.
These are the two aspects that I want to discuss in this piece of writing- why some of us feared and some others welcomed the Maulanas’ or the Imams, as their profession tells.
The onrush of these panjabi-wearing people into the city reminded us of the religion from where we have drifted away bit by bit. Seeing these people, I personally felt fear, the fear that what happens if these outsiders take over power and issue a decree making Islam the state religion
Let’s talk about fear first. Those of us who feared these people in white panjabis and tupis (Islamic Hat) had done so because they were not ready to accept what these people had to offer. These white Panjabi-clad people came here out of their devotion for the religion of Islam and express their support to the people of Palestine, albeit indirectly.
The onrush of these panjabi-wearing people into the city reminded us of the religion from where we have drifted away bit by bit. Seeing these people, I personally felt fear, the fear that what happens if these outsiders take over power and issue a decree making Islam the state religion, not like Ziaur Rahman or Hussain Muhammad Ershad’s Islam, but genuine Islam, which calls for following the Quran and the Sunnah (Hadith) strictly.
Let’s suppose that the Islamists have stayed in the city and create pressure on CA Yunus to hand over power, and threatened to bear the bloodshed that will ensue during the power struggle. What would then Bangladesh look like?
In that new Bangladesh, you wouldn’t be able eat during daytime in Ramadan, like I did.
In that new Bangladesh, you would not get to drink alchohol or take drugs on the eve of the two Eids or the following days, like many of us do.
In that new Bangladesh, you won’t be able to wear half pants, where keeping beards will be a must, where you will be able to see only the face and the hands of the women, no exposure to people a woman is not related.
In that new Bangladesh, girls will be barred from going to schools or working in the media, as Afghanistan has done during Taliban’s rule.
In that new Bangladesh, you won’t be able to work or run your business during times for five major daily prayers, you will have to stop work and shut down your shops and run for the mosque.
In that new Bangladesh, your sister will be married before passing the HSC exams, and will be divorced on the whims of her husband?
Will you be able to accept three more wives of your husband?
Will you be let go all of your English books, collection of your favourite band songs and all those files of your favourite movies and go to Islamic schools, I mean Madrasahs to rot memorise Arabic scripture?
In that new Bangladesh, you would not be able to smoke cigarettes, both in public and private, and no vapes too.
Would you be able to live in that kind of Bangladesh? By you, I mean the middle class of Dhaka city, running the affairs of this place.
Certainly not. You were not made that way. You want all the things I highlighted above, and under an Islamic rule you would suffocate and die.
This part of the city’s population were afraid the entire day seeing these people coming here and raise their voices.
Now let’s talk about the other type of people, the accepting ones.
Let me ask you a question first. Did you notice how many shops of Islamic books were there in this year’s Boi Mela?
The number was huge. Almost half of the Mela was taken over by Islamic literature publishers. Why so many Islamic booksellers? Because the number of people reading Islamic books has increased by a huge margin over the years.
Because more people in this city believes in or sympathise with Islam now, which include the middle class, too.
This group of people may wish for an Islamic state, an era of religious rule, at least for once in the history of Bangladesh. But they can’t gather and make a statement on a regular basis as they are bound by responsibilities.
This is a new breed which have grown within a few years. They have grown conscious of the Islamic world by reading Islamic books without telling anyone. They know at least the basics of Islam, and find it as a way out of the current world order.
As I’ve said, these middle class people can’t come to streets due to bindings. But they must show their support and encourage those who can do the hard work of achieving Islam. What do they do?
They opens their door during crisis period and contentious issues like Narendra Modi’s arrival and Israeli Aggression on Palestine. It is this middle class people of the city who sympathises with the Hujurs or Mollahs, as our media industry sometimes call them.
But those people who entered Dhaka today need political and military support behind them to make their presence a success and achieve something big out of it. These mullahs are ready to carry the mantle of Islam forward and make Bangladesh a theocratic country, a shariah nation, not like Saudi Arabia, I suppose.
When the dots are connected, the middle class and the hujurs assimilate, and carry out such successful gatherings as the one for Palestine today.
But this is it. They can’t go beyond this point.
Full stop. Remain where you are or backtrack.
The hujurs need the army, which has the arms to cause destruction.
The hujurs need the political sphere, which runs the country.
The hujurs need the economists and the banks, because the latter has all the money.
Do our hujurs have the support of all these groups of people?
Certainly not.
The banks invest where customers pay interests. The economists are taught in the western way, and they advises to run the country in the IMF-World Bank format, not like the Islamic way.
The army might help the hujurs, but then the hujurs will need to share a remarkable percentage of power with the army, which the Mullah’s can’t handle.
The answer to these questions is a straight ‘No’.
No. The mullah’s won’t take over. Stop to panic.
The economy doesn’t want them. The military does not need them.
Only the middle class politicians need them to collect votes on the day of the national and local polls.
In this scenario, there will not be an Islamic revolution, at least not for now.
Reading Islamic books is one thing, sitting on the chair at the office doing the real work is something else.
The mullahs don’t have any political, cultural, economic or military support behind them.
The just come and go into this city. They do not come here to stay for long, unless they disturb you.
They raise voices, vents their anger. But the powerful people either avoids their plea, or use them for their own need.
So, don’t be afraid. By the time this writing is published, almost all the people who came to the city have gone back to their villages.
You’re safe now. But what happens if these hujurs do not tolerate the country’s situation anymore and come to power one day.
Will you be ready to accept an Islamic rule without any booze or bank interests.
Think for yourself.
Muhammad A. Bashed is the operational editor of Muktipotro
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