BANGLADESH IN CRISIS (FOR PUBLICATION ON SUNDAY THE 23^RD OCTOBER 2005)

 

By Kazi Anwarul Masud( former Secretary and ambassador)

 

Perhaps both the great Arab historian Ibn Khaldun and Scottish philosopher David Hume (who greatly influenced Skepticism and Empiricism school of thought) shared oscillation theory in their observation of religion. While Ibn Khaldun believed that popular religion in Muslim societies tended to oscillate between periods of strict religious observance and of devotional laxity; David Hume believed that men changed from polytheism to monotheism, not in a continuous unilineal change,  and back again because “men have a natural tendency to rise from idolatry to theism and sent again from theism to idolatry”. This oscillation, argues Hume, is not caused by thoughtful and considered reasoning but by politics of fear, uncertainty and a “kind of competitive sycophancy”. Hume is, therefore, not surprised that Hercules, Thesus, Hector and Romulus are replaced by Dominic, Francis, Anthony and Benedict. Hume was a protestant and a skeptic at that. His distance from Catholic philosophy, however interesting, does not form the core of our discussion. What is important is the relevance of the commonality in the perception of Hume and Ibn Khaldun of oscillating devotion of human beings between monotheism and polytheism and also differences in the character of devotees in both creeds which have plunged the world today into a black hole of  holocaust because a minuscule part of the adherents f one creed would repeatedly inflict upon the world their weapons of hatred. It has been surmised that Christianity’s urging of its followers to give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s is because it initially flourished among the politically disinherited, among those who were persecuted for their belief in a monotheistic religion when “competitive sycophancy” obliged most people to practice idolatry because Caesar  had both gold and sword which an unseen God in His wisdom did not chose to use to save His followers from the jaws of death. It took the Christians thousand years till Emperor Constantine converted himself to Christianity and Emperor Charlemagne converted Europe to Christendom. Before that time a faith born without political power could hardly be expected to preach otherwise. By contrast the initial success of Islam was so rapid that it did not have to give anything unto Caesar and it spread its wings often at point of sword and grew into a rich civilization dominating a large part of Europe. By the eighth century the Muslims had conquered North Africa, the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, most of Spain, established bases in Italy, substantially reduced the size of the Eastern Roman Empire and besieged its capital Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire’s assault on the gates of Vienna could perhaps provide a background to the stringent Austrian opposition, though mellowed down temporarily, to start European Union’s talks fro Turkey’s entry into the EU. If historian Bernard Lewis’ clash of civilization denoting those between Muslims and   Christians and post-Christians, rigid theocratic hierarchy vs. permissive secular modernism is to be given credence then one could imagine that the seat of non-Catholic Christianity has now taken residence in the White House combining both temporal and spiritual powers( how can one forget President Bush’s communion with God ordering him to attack Afghanistan and Iraq and to establish the State of Palestine). Whether the Americans have reelected an evangelist and fundamentalist as President could have been ignored by the world had not that person also at the same time been the most powerful man in the world presiding over a country described by some as one which has so much economic, cultural and military power not accrued by any nation since the days of the Roman Empire. One hopes that despite the horrific terrorist transgression into America—both physical and psychological—President Bush would not be totally converted to Bernard Lewis’ perception of the Muslim world’s “downward spiral of hate and spite, rage and self-pity, poverty and oppression” having been caused by the defeat of the Muslims at hands of the Judeo-Christian civilization but would retain his belief in the conviction expressed by John F. Kennedy in his posthumously published book A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS that Jefferson and Madison’s America would see immigrants as ethnically-hyphenated (e.g. Arab-American) or as ethnicity of origin(e.g. a Bangladeshi). In reality, however, the Muslim Diaspora in the West is seen through tinted glass by their predominantly white neighbors (a recent survey shows that a majority of both whites and African-Americans favor a decrease in the current level of immigration) reminiscent of the internment of the Japanese-Americans during the Second World War. In self-defense the Muslims have adopted, as Professor Kay Deaux points out, many taxi drivers in New York city (immediately after 9/11) who by appearance could be labeled as Arabs or Muslims pasted American flags on the windscreen of their cars. Another tendency displayed by the Diaspora is to turn inward, a tendency to “circle the wagon” in the face of unfriendly stares which a western liberal values imbibed modern person would have been loathe to do under ordinary circumstances. Yet the stigmata generally stamped on the Muslim community despite the realization that terrorism is not and had never been a proprietorial  element of Muslim faith and had been and continues to be practiced by others in abandon. Undoubtedly the current discontent prevalent in the Middle East has been a scapegoat as a primary cause of global turbulence. A deeper analysis would reveal that the present discontent of  the Muslim youth is primarily due to the failure of Pan Arab nationalism not only to deliver basic political goods but also to hide their failure the leaders strangulated the voice of dissent. Added to this was the acquiescence or blatant support extended by the West due to the demands of the then Cold War situation which fuelled Muslim anger. And of course a constant source of Muslim frustration has been occasioned by the unqualified support given to the Israeli genocidal and expansionist policies in the Middle East. While the expression of this anger and frustration through terrorism can never be justified because terrorism even in its most expansive definition can only be abhorred, one has to address the root causes of this malignancy not in terms of “defeat” of one civilization by another but to secure a coherent globalized society where prosperity and poverty are not totally segmented. It is natural for the West as it for the victims of terrorism in some developing countries to attack the terrorist where ever they may be as Plato had advised centuries back that the price of civilization is the need to defend its own material preconditions by force of arms if necessary. Equally it is necessary to recognize that the Muslims of the world differ substantially not only in their religious views but also in their politico-cultural orientation. Islam is trans-ethnic, trans-social and trans-national yet it far from being homogenous as the simplistic would tend one to believe. Indeed as Professor Ernest Gellner points out Islam provides “a scriptural faith; a completed one is available and there is no room for further accretion or for new prophets; also, there is no warrant for clergy, and hence for differentiation, and there is no need to differentiate between the church and the state, between what is God’s and what is Ceaser’s”. But there are cleavages between the Sunnis and the Shiias(the current situation in Iraq provides the most glaring example); between the Arab and non-Arab Muslims; between those who believe in hereditary and hierarchical system as Bernard Lewis put it “The Imam is central to the Ismaila system of doctrine…the Imams were divinely inspired and infallible” and those who believe that no intermediary is necessary between God and His devotees. These differences have arisen with the passage of time and have caused both social and political conflicts. The merchants of death today are exploiting these differences not only to promote sectarian violence within the Islamic world but also to deny the fruits of technological advancement to the Muslim subalterns of the yesteryears. Our misfortune is that these ideologues of hatred, semi-literate themselves, are convincing the illiterates( of secular education) madrasha students of their inerrant moral and intellectual “superiority”  over others to the extent that these “others” being moral degenerates need to be physically eliminated to purify the earth of apostates. This kind of Hitlerian menace( who believe in superiority of faith in place of racial superiority) has now assaulted our shores. As it is  according to Human Development Index, Growth Competive Index, Failed States Index and Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index Bangladesh has fared miserably. Unless our authorities can free themselves from the vortex of being a politician who can see only up to the next elections and graduate to that of a statesman who thinks of the next generation Bangladeshis may have to account for their failure to the elders of the global village.