Engineer M. Hossain
Czech and French novelist Milan Kundera said in his The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, “The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history. Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long, the nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was. The world around it will forget even faster.”
Hollywood horror films often depict aliens invading human bodies, taking possession of those bodies, and killing people. Sometimes, the villain is shown introducing a virus into another human’s body. Infected individuals either kill others or infect them with the virus. Currently, similar supernatural themes are being portrayed in Bangladesh, referred to as “The Dissolution of the Bengali Nation.” The Bengali ethnicity is associated with this dissolution. In these scenarios, when aliens take over someone’s body or a virus turns someone into a zombie, their body remains alive, but their personality becomes inactive. This process is particularly effective when attempting to dissolve a nation.
That is, killing a nation does not mean only physically killing all its people. Some must be destroyed, and some must be seized. The country will cease to exist if it forgets its ethnicity by appropriating it. If you look at history, you will see that the Nazi forces did not stop at killing the Jewish population in the gas chambers. They systematically burned books and destroyed other Jewish artifacts. The formula for the Bengali genocide in Pakistan in 1971 was to kill 3 million, then rape a few hundred thousand women and sow true Pakistani seeds. Then there will be no purer Bengalis. Children born in this way cannot go against their Pakistani fathers; it is said to be a blood tie. The imposition of Urdu instead of Bengali, an initiative to write Bengali in Arabic script, and cultural destruction initiatives as part of Bengali extermination were ongoing from the beginning of Pakistan. Although the Bengalis won the war of liberation, the efforts to destroy the Bengali nation did not stop. Destroying a country does not mean killing all its people but erasing the characteristics and identity of that nation. However, it may not be possible to eliminate all humans physically. However, it is possible to kill the Bengali nation by applying the formula mentioned by Milan Kundera. It was done after 1971 as well.
Even after Pakistan’s defeat, the enemy’s anti-liberation war propaganda did not stop. Bengali nationalism united Bengalis in 1971, leading to the creation of an independent Bangladesh. During the country’s rebuilding, those against independence spread rumors that Bangladesh would become a part of India. They threatened the pro-independence government in various ways, including circulating a photo of Basanti caught in a net. The military also staged a coup, resulting in the assassination of the nation’s Great Leaders. The propaganda against the liberation war continues, with even the anti-independence war criminals from Jamaat creating the ‘National Freedom Fighters Council’ to distort the narrative of the liberation war.
The history of Bangladesh was that the Bangabandhu government initiated trials for war criminals. Even though amnesty was granted to those who were not directly involved in crimes such as murder, rape, and arson, the prosecution of 11,000 individuals was ongoing at that time. However, after the assassination of Bangabandhu, all trials were halted. The most appalling action was the deliberate destruction of documents related to the liberation war. They destroyed and burned whatever documents they could find. Once documents are burned, they cannot be recovered. Following this, Zia began promoting an anti-liberation war narrative to dispute the legitimacy of the “liberation war” itself. This pattern is reminiscent of the symptoms of genocide described by Milan Kundera. First, the truth is destroyed, then replaced with a different narrative.
Bangladesh has been able to prosecute war criminals since 2009, a significant achievement. However, documents related to the Liberation War were destroyed on a large scale. If the eyewitnesses passed away, the war criminals would never be brought to justice. The Bangabandhu Museum at 32 No Road Dhanmondi was burned within one hour of the Pro-liberation government falling on August 5, 2024. This is part of an ongoing conspiracy to eliminate the Bengali nation. Once history is destroyed, it cannot be recovered. We must ask ourselves how many digital documents can be saved, how many liberation war sculptures can be restored, and when this will happen. Dr. Yunus is in a position of permanent settlement and will likely cause more destruction. When the Bengali people regain power, will they have the spirit of reconstruction? The recovery of destroyed history is possible in parts but never in its entirety.
It is essential to recognize the significance of disconnecting the new generation from the spirit of the Liberation War to control a populous nation like Bangladesh. The opposing forces against independence in Bangladesh have consistently had significant financial resources. Initially, they utilized this wealth to establish influence at the highest power levels. Over the past decade, these forces have shaped long-term policies in Bangladesh. Changes in the content of textbooks have created a gap between the government, parents, and students. The pension scheme has created A similar division between teachers and the government. Both print and electronic media, including social media, have held the government responsible for all shortcomings. Consider the implications of empowering the Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam. If you are still having trouble understanding, consider the statistics of infiltrators in the Awami League and affiliated organizations. During the Awami League’s tenure, many individuals lacking the spirit of the Liberation War were placed in high-ranking positions, such as at the MP level, in exchange for money. The rate is even higher at the mid-level.
I will not go into detail about the structure of this system. However, I can see the results right before my eyes. In recent years, some troll videos surfaced, where school and college students were unable to answer basic questions like what happened on February 21 or what Independence Day is. The most terrifying aspect is that they do not even show remorse for not knowing these things. The awareness that 3 million people shed their blood to free this country from enemies is utterly absent among them. In other words, the consciousness of Bengali nationalism has been entirely erased from the current generation. They do not hesitate to chant slogans, calling themselves ‘Razakar (Collaborators of the Pakistani forces) ‘ who have killed their Ancestor and Raped of their mothers and sisters. However, a vacuum does not remain unfilled. The rule for destroying a nation is not just to eradicate consciousness but to “replace” it. The consciousness of Bengali nationalism has been replaced by the so-called “Islamic consciousness.” This so-called “Islamic consciousness” is oppressing dissenters. The example I provided at the beginning about aliens or viruses taking over a body is the realization of the current generation in Bangladesh.
Even in horror movies, not everyone gets infected with the virus. Some people survive. For generations who are not anti-independence and will not come under the Jamaat-sibir, for that personnel, there is the Hitler-style gas chamber treatment. That is why Hindus are being attacked in the country, Awami League leaders and workers are being killed, and police are being killed. So far, these have been done under Jamaat-Shibir and Mob Justice. Top terrorists and militants have been freed to go on a killing of pro-liberation-supported people. The Army has also gone directly into this work through the joint operation, which started a few days ago. In 1971, Al Badr killed the intellectuals by holding the list; now, Awami Leaguers are being killed by holding the list. In this case, there is no need for a law court; there is no need to have a case. Catch him, beat him, kill him. If a part is killed this way, the rest will flee the country. All obstacles will be removed for the dissolution of the Bengali Nation in the future. There will be no obstacles in the formation of a new nation.
Dr. Yunus wants to press his reset button and create this new nation by Bengalis killing the country. He was asked what his government’s view was on the destruction of the Bangabandhu museum after August 5;
Why was the mourning day canceled on August 15, and why was the statue of the father of the nation, Bangabandhu, broken? Yunus replied, “You are talking about the old days. There has been a mass uprising in between, which you probably don’t remember. We have pushed the reset button. Everything is gone; the past is erased! Now, we will build in a new way.”
The Bengali nation no longer exists due to this so-called popular uprising led by Dr. Yunus; its history has become irrelevant. In other words, the dissolution of the Bengali nation is now in its final stages. There is some truth to Yunus’s words: the disintegration of the Bengali nation has occurred on a large scale, and this process is still ongoing. However, I do not believe the Bengali identity has completely disappeared; I am not pessimistic. Just as in horror films where once-possessed aliens are defeated, possessed zombies can be returned to normal humans with the help of antidotes. The journey is undoubtedly challenging, but it is not impossible.
Engineer M. Hossain, Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh