The New Nation - Internet Edition

M.T.Hussain

One woman activist had an interview with the BBC Bengali Radio service on the 28 March morning wherein she has seriously objected to the formation of an Ulema committee for scrutiny of the inconsistencies of the recent recommendations of what is known as formulated by women's rights group for bringing complete 'equality' of women and men. Her objection blasted out any legality whatsoever of the Ulema Committee having had been initiated by and in presence and persuasion of 4 members of the ten Advisors including the one for looking after law and legal matters, an eminent Barrister himself in his own right of high level expertise and standing. She appeared in her interview using words in Bengali that sounded very much arrogant so much so that she asserted that the matter had been 'settled' one as the Chief Advisor had given his nod in their conference sometime ago on the 'equality' issue.

Apart from her abusing all Ulemas summarily in a blanket for all wrongs against women in Bangladesh and for the women's group claiming rightly formulating the 'equality' policy papers that need only to be implemented by the government of Bangladesh and nothing more of any further interference, much less for any reconsideration, particularly by the Ulemas, howsoever qualified they could be in Islamic jurisprudence and learning.

It is claimed further by the quarter that the policy drawn is consistent with UN declaration of human rights and the recent Bejing declaration for women's 'development'. It is, in addition, complained by the group that the present Caretaker Government (CG) of late has yielded to pressures by 'Fundamentalist' in their forming the Ulema Committee.

There is possibly nothing to deny that soon after the issue started to be celebrated in jubilation by the particular group, not necessarily by some groups of women alone but by the ultra left atheist group, some Islamic groups rose to react and oppose the matter as it appeared to them to run in conflict with the Quranic provisions for women's right of inheritance of paternal properties.

It is true that the government yielded to the Islamic groups is proved by the formation to the Ulema Committee. The issue would not at all come into head on as it has surfaced provided the Chief Advisor (CA) avoided attending the women's conference or else could use diplomatic niceties on the main issue. He could have well done so giving them a simple plea that the issue could not be any matter to be decided by the CG but by the elected representatives of the people in the national parliament. Such assertion by the CA would have been nothing misfit, because, the matter can in no way be any job of the non-political CG led by Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmad but by the national parliament alone.

Now that the Ulema committee is formed and the report is due in less than three weeks time, there is nothing to murmur by the women's group at this stage. Let the report come in; let all see what they recommend. There will be time then for the ultras to bring their grievances. And if in the meantime the matter is not settled up to their satisfaction they would be free to lobby with the 9th parliament members to be soon elected. In all legal yardstick and good reason the matter is to be decided in the parliament and not in any way by the CG. Whoever had brought the matter for the CG to make final decision and implementation of the socially sensitive issue hardly been sincere enough but only to create some untoward condition to delay the election to the parliament, if not to make it difficult to follow the road map already announced by the Election Commission.

Possibly in the same token way and for the hidden agenda to foil the road map of next parliament election, the 37 year old issue of 'war criminal' has been brought forward by another group but having known close link between the groups that the CG can do nothing except, if would try to do anything that would only waste their energy for no fruitful outcome just as the most charismatic leader Sheikh Mujib could do little except making some humbug rhetoric of and on for about two years in 1972 and 1973. Soon after he let the listed 195 war criminals safely and honorably to go to their own country Pakistan, he had to make the last rhetoric of humbug in the matter, 'we know how to forgive'! It is interesting and very painful to note that these issues are given high weightage in a section of the lobby here and outside when at the same time, people have been witnessing lot of foul games in regard to rice import from India, pressure for inland transit including giving India alone the unhindered use of Chittagong seaport, and the renewed pressure for yielding to the so-called Bangbhumi/Notun Bangla movement now known to have been led by Subash Chakravarty based in India coincidentally at the same time when the renowned Indian Jewish General Jacob with his team making a 'courtesy' visit to Bangladesh. One must wonder if these groups having unity in thinking with the long dreamers for the goal of realization of the Akhanda Bharat or reunited India have not made the national independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh a hostage. The political vacuum now running in the country in the clear absence of politically elected government made a safe haven for all these groups to grind their own axes of vested interests not for real welfare of the common people, much less for the poor women that the elite women group masquerading to represent.

One may recall and think a bit deeply that Bangladesh as an independent country, no doubt, is bound by international obligations, but it is at the same time a member of the 57 member OIC or Organization of the Muslim Conference that made it imperative for her to abide by the basic norms and values of Islam.

But romantics of the ultra left atheist have some shyness in the matter that although their own right for belief is, yet overwhelmingly common people of Bangladesh having a different belief and faith are in all likely tend to distance away from the ideological persuasion of the ultra left that had been clearly manifested in the issues including the few mentioned above that may well be termed as a sort of unrealistic romanticism on their part so far as common peoples' ethos, beliefs, practices and usages are concerned. Their approach continued to have been counter-productive as is proved by their isolation from masses, a well-established fact so far as it had been proved time and again in the past several general elections. I recall the late and great parliamentarian Dr. Alim Al Razi stating without any ambiguity that the Muslim people of this land would part away with bread but not with Islamic belief. The romantics may have a good lesson from the observation of the great man believing in Islamic equity including between men and women as they both husband and wife hold Ph.D. degrees.

There are many other serious matters of priority as containing illiteracy, reducing social ignorance, minimizing unemployment rate and thus attempt to reduce extreme poverty or destitution of millions of poor and helpless people in the latest vicious attacks by unprecedented price spiral of essential food items.

How about giving attention to these critical problems rather than engineering social commotion by unreasonably demeaning Islamic norm of inheritance that even 'secular' India failed to do as yet and also by digging up once again the issue of 'war criminal' settled finally in 1973. I am afraid, such counter-productive romanticism would only help our enemies of independence and sovereignty.