Change: a choice or a challenge

The American political figure Benjamin Franklin advocated, “When you're finished changing, you're finished.” Any hope for the future comes to an end for an individual when their ability to change comes to an end. As something ends and something else begins, it inspires one to move forward and apply what is gained to society and to the world. Winston Churchill asserted, “There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction.”

A positive change in the right direction is the highest need on the Indian subcontinent, especially for Bangladesh. The areas of society and politics are groaning for change in Bangladesh. Yet the nation has failed to see positive and lasting change in its social life and politics. The question is whether change is a choice or a challenge before the nation.

The nation of Bangladesh was born out of an armed conflict pitting West Pakistan against East Pakistan. Nine months after the war broke out, the Pakistan Army of West Pakistan surrendered at last on December 16, 1971, when the Mukti Bahini, a guerrilla force supporting East Pakistan, decisively defeated it. During the war, there were widespread killings and violations of human rights carried out by the Pakistan Army with support from political and religious militias of East Pakistan of that time. Three million people were killed, 200,000 women were tortured and raped, and the women who were raped gave birth to thousands of war babies.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “The true democrat is he who, with purely nonviolent means, defends his liberty and, therefore, his country's and ultimately that of the whole of mankind.” It is very clear that the political regime of West Pakistan was not democratic and that the people and nations who supported them were equally liable for the brutal genocide committed against the innocent people of East Pakistan.

The nation of Bangladesh was obviously a result of a positive, dynamic change. Prominent writer Nathaniel Branden said, “The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.” The nation of Bangladesh was created with a deep desire for secularism, but the nation has now been named as an ultra-Muslim country, as declared in the constitution itself. Almost four decades after the war for independence, all of the political parties and leaders of Bangladesh are failing to recall the principle of secularism put forth in the constitution of Bangladesh, with some politicians and political parties even fighting the removal of the declaration of Islam as the state religion from the constitution.

Once the people of Bangladesh took a strong position in '71 to fight against sectarianism and challenged the world in the way it thought about Bangladesh. Yet now, the world still thinks of Bangladesh, not with sympathy or love, but with a fear of Islamic terrorism.

Bangladesh remains a threat to the world due to its expanding Islamic terrorism and will be one of the highest global threats in coming years. Political Islam is deeply ingrained in the way of life and politics of Bangladesh. There was a time when Bangladesh was under attack by foreigners, but now the nation is under attack from a power that controls the people and life of the nation, namely, Islam.

The minorities paid the most during the Bangladesh Liberation War, but the nation has failed to recognize their sacrifice. In almost all the ways possible, the minorities are persecuted by state-backed Islamic fascists, yet the nation has failed to secure their rights. The change is very visible. The minorities were persecuted during the Liberation War and are now being persecuted again for having a different religious faith. The war is run by Islamic fascists against secular forces.

Discrimination is highly visible if you look at the position of minorities in the state machinery. After almost four decades, not a single minority had the chance to be a prime minister or president of the nation, because of the sectarian forces out to destroy the minorities and secular forces. Recently, the government decided to change the name of the BDR for the mutiny, where more than 50 army officers were killed by the native paramilitary forces. The government said that the name of the BDR was hampered, so the name should be changed.

Bangladesh has failed greatly in various ways. The government should think about changing the name of Bangladesh. Benjamin Franklin said, “When you're finished changing, you're finished.” Yes, obviously if Bangladesh fails to change as a whole and move towards progressive political naturalism, the nation will face more than a BDR mutiny in the near future.

It's time for the nation to think about whether a change for Bangladesh is a challenge or a choice before them. The nation of Bangladesh should remember the famous saying of Victor Hugo, that, “Liberation is not deliverance.”