Pakistan would not have been created without Jinnah, and without Pakistan, ‘Bangladesh too would not exist,‘ Islamist Speakers said while commemorating the 76th death anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the National Press Club in Dhaka, Bangladesh. They marked the death anniversary of Pakistan’s founding father with Urdu songs and poetry on Wednesday (11th September 2024).
Interestingly, the development which can only be dubbed as the mother of all irony is the first time that Bangladesh observed the death anniversary of Jinnah with speakers calling him the creator and father of Bangladesh. For those unversed, Bangladesh (once East Pakistan) fought a blood-drenched Liberation war against Urdu-imposing Jinnah’s forces with the Bangla pride acting as the central pillar of its Independence movement.
However, it is pertinent to note that ever since regressive and Islamist forces like Jamaat-e-Islami have gained control of the country after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina govt, the nation of Bengali speakers has been gravitating back to the language it had detested for centuries – Urdu. It is also aggressively pushing to rekindle its “brotherhood” with Pakistan, thus besmirching the very existence of their country, massacre of their Bengali-speaking ancestors, and Independence movement.
In a tragic first, Bangladesh marks Jinnah’s death anniversary, invites Pakistan’s diplomat as Chief Guest: Details
On Wednesday (11th September 2024), the Nawab Salimullah Academy held a discussion session at the Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah Hall of the National Press Club in Dhaka. During the event, they commemorated the 76th death anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah with Urdu songs, poetry, and musical performances. Several speakers mentioned various aspects of Jinnah’s life and claimed that without him, Bangladesh would not have existed.
While the organisers had invited the Pakistani high commissioner to Bangladesh as the Chief Guest, he was conspicuously absent during the event. However, Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner Kamran Dhangal addressed the event.
Presenting the keynote paper, Professor Mostafizur Rahman mentioned various events from Jinnah’s life right from his birth to his death. Jafarul Haq Jafar also recited an Urdu poem about Jinnah. Two Pakistanis studying in Bangladesh, Mohammad Tahir and Kamran Abbas, performed songs in Urdu dedicated to Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Spewing venom against India, an Islamist speaker Samsuddin said, “If Bangladesh had not been part of Pakistan in 1947, we would have been in the same position as Kashmir today, with the Indian junta holding weapons to our necks. Bangladesh gained independence because of Pakistan, which Jinnah helped create.”
He added, “Why should we change the name of Allama Iqbal Hall or Jinnah Avenue? These changes were made because Delhi wanted them, but we did not. Bangladesh must foster strong relations with China and Pakistan.”
Another speaker Nazrul Islam, said, “Regardless of how it happened, we have gained independence. We must maintain our relationship with Pakistan. If Jinnah had not been there, Pakistan would not have existed, and without Pakistan, Bangladesh would not exist. Jinnah is the father of our nation, but we do not acknowledge it. We must preserve our brotherhood, and I hope that both Jinnah’s birth and death anniversaries will continue to be observed here every year.”
Another speaker, Md Shakhawat claimed that Jinnah ended the political incompetence and strife in the Indian subcontinent that erupted after 1757.
He added, “Had Jinnah not taken responsibility for Bangladesh in 1947, we would have been in the same situation as West Bengal, remaining a part of India. It was because of his leadership that East Pakistan remained united with West Pakistan. Now we must assess our friendship.”
Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner Kamran Dhangal said that Jinnah’s leadership in the Muslim League had been outstanding which according to him, was the beginning of an important mass movement for the Muslims of India.
While the Islamists rejoiced in commemorating Jinnah and absolving Pakistan of its genocidal war crimes, and celebrating Urdu language, a section of Bangladeshi citizens lambasted the event calling it an attempt to “rewrite history”.
Slamming the organisers for marking Jinnah’s death anniversary, Dhaka-based journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury said, “It was a slap on our war of independence, where 3 million Bengalis sacrificed their lives. I am speechless!”
He added, “Is Bangladesh rewriting its history?”
Islamabad-based analyst Ashfaq Hassan asked if Bangladesh was rewriting history.
Nonetheless, it is both ironic and perplexing that Bangladesh celebrated Jinnah and Urdu as millions of their Bengali-speaking ancestors suffered unspeakable atrocities at the hands of the Pakistani army and its supported Islamist forces in erstwhile East Pakistan just for resisting Pakistan’s authoritarian ways and imposition of Urdu as the national language.
Prolonged atrocities on Bengali speakers which culminated in the form of the Bangladesh Liberation War
Millions of Hindus, Bengali-speaking freedom-seeking Muslims were killed, and thousands were raped in a genocide carried out by Pakistan, until its independence in 1971.
Strikingly, East Pakistan witnessed massive protests to demand that Bangla should be recognised as a co-official language, used in government, education, media, currency, and stamps, and to retain its script way back in 1952. However, the Urdu-imposing Pakistani regime launched a brutal crackdown in which dozens were killed in police firing. Later, five of them were recognised as martyrs by the Bangladesh government.
While the list of Pakistan’s military excesses and persecution of Hindus and Bengali-speaking Muslims is endless in erstwhile East Pakistan, a few incidents like Operation Searchlight mark the darkest chapter in the history of the Indian subcontinent.
The Pakistani army carried out ‘Operation Searchlight’ on the night of 25th March 1971. It was a brutal military manhunt to crush the surging nationalism among Bengali-speaking people in East Pakistan following the election mandate of 1970. The Pakistan Army resorted to mass massacre, rape, and genocide of Bengali Hindus and freedom-seeking Bengali Muslims to create a reign of terror and scare Bengalis into submission.
The operation was led by then-General Yahya Khan of Pakistan and put in action by General Tikka Khan, who was the then martial law administrator of East Pakistan.
During ‘Operation Searchlight’, the Pakistani forces brutally killed the Bengali members of the East Pakistan Rifles and police, students, and teachers of Dhaka University. They opened indiscriminate firing at unarmed civilians killing thousands, set houses and properties ablaze, and looted business establishments.
Notably, it was the same night when Bangladesh’s founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made the proclamation of independence before he was arrested by the Pakistani troops and subsequently flown to West Pakistan.
In his book ‘Witness to Surrender’, Pakistani Major Siddiq Salik had described ‘Operation Searchlight’ saying, “The gates of hell had been cast open.” Salik worked as the Pakistan military’s spokesman in the then East Pakistan.
The atrocities in East Pakistan only ended after India’s military intervention and finally on 16th December 1971, then commander of the Pakistan Eastern Command Lt Gen AAK Niazi was forced to sign the Instrument of Surrender in the presence of Lt Gen JS Aurora of the Indian Army in Dacca (now Dhaka) that birthed the country of Bengali-speakers, now known as Bangladesh which is tragically moving firmly in the grip of pro-Urdu, Pro-Pakistan Islamist forces.
