-Tanvir Ratul
The state of Bangladesh is a brutal monster that has systematically destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of minorities based on their religion and ethnic identity – and with the help of MASSIVE economic and military aid, it has played the role of Rottweiler for both US and Indian imperialism in the South East Asia.
No nation on earth has the right to be a religious state, not Bangladesh, not Israel, Iran, Pakistan, Wakanda, anywhere…The right to self-determination does not mean the right to discriminate against anyone within your borders on the basis of race, religion, nationality, sexuality…
There is a natural tendency for people oppressed by the state to equate the Republic with rest of the population – natural, but entirely wrong and chaotic!
It is absolutely essential to fight against any kind of anti-semitism in the fight against Zionism and the state – and to fight against every other form of bigotry too. If there is any hope for the world, we must fight against every form of oppression as if it were done to us…
2.
Currently, Bangladesh is a personified metaphor for all exiles and displacement of history. Unlike Palestine, Bangladesh’s wound is a self-inflicted one. A Bangladeshi lives in exile, even in his/her/their homeland. He/She/They lives a disguised yet the most primitive form of exile. Brave sailors from the south of my land say: “when someone gets lost at sea, when all searches have been useless, everyone must come to shore and touch the drum”. Touch the drum for the lost so that they can find the way to the coast. Poetry on every side of the world is playing the drum. Maybe there we find our coast…
3.
The search for a quick solution is a disease of our time. It always existed, but it’s becoming an attribute of many cultures and that’s shocking. Rumi says: “more than water, seek thirst!” if we do not feel this thirst, our pain absorbs us blindly. There will be no exit. Polarisation, speeches without foundation of hatred or love will give us ephemeral a false image of the action in our absolute passivity. ‘Populism’ is an epidemic and is very contingent. You have to take care!
4. Bangladesh’s political project cannot be limited to only having madmen (from whatever side) as leaders. That is just one dimension of this project: the dimension involved in classical policy discourse and focuses on elections, institutions and centralised power. However, politics has other more important dimensions: real policy goes towards people without voice: towards communities and indigenous. When they will be able to act against the indifference, impunity and injustice of those of more, real policy begins. Dream of Utopia will never stop: Viva la power to people, Viva la Bangladesh… And you mongers, good luck… but I don’t give a bleep….
