Maulana Bhashani; The Statesman, The Voice
It is a story of a land, a region, a culture, a history, and a struggle; this is about the people of greater Bengal. People here had a history of struggling, depression, fighting, and prosperity. When we go over time, we see the people of Bengal experiencing all sorts of odds and suffering and hoping for a new life, a new fate, and a new leader. Here people often dream of a leader, a pioneer who will be a reflection of them, who can feel the same way they do, and who can talk for them. From coal mines to paddy fields, from fisheries to rural crafts, from agriculture to the urban economy - each had a way of impacting the masses. The way of living here got influenced by the types of rules it experienced. Once there were the Britishers, ruling all of India with their mighty power, technology, and their intellect. This made the people of Bengal think again about their way of living, their beliefs, and their perspectives. As each of the foreign powers touched the ground and inner society of the Bengal region, it got influenced and changed through the flow of time. Political and administrative borders evolved very often according to the interest of the ruling power. Sometimes, it got into prosperous regions, sometimes all of the vulnerabilities accumulated into one region, or sometimes all kinds of frictions gathered into one. So, people here worshiped God for their later life and worshiped leaders for their material life. We can not say people had their own choice of political view, let alone an economic or social view. They had to rely on the communal choice; the choice that had been developed and imposed by the front-line members of society. Thus, the leaders drew up the geographical, religious, and political fate of the people of this region throughout the 20th century.
We found the policy-makers of this region came from several sophisticated backgrounds and strong religious beliefs. Each of them created a very unique branch of followers and comrades. Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, known as Maulana Bhashani, had his genre of political and socio-economic views. He cultured the very basic theories of the common people of the Bengal region along with his features. His political involvement flourished throughout British colonial India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh periods. General people often call him Red Maulana, as he was the pioneer of Islamic Socialism in the Bengal region. As he graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband, he was an active participant in all Muslim-oriented movements. Here he raised his rapid popularity through his political activities on behalf of the greater interest of peasants, and therefore, he got recognition as the representative of peasants. He raised his political profile during the later British ruling period, fighting along with his comrades against the ignorance and torture imposed upon poor countrymen and pulling them out of the dark fatality.
He was born in the 1880s when the mass people had finally realized the necessity of resurrection, they began to unite and raised their voices against the landlord system all around the Indian subcontinent. His political inspiration was Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das. Maulana Bhashani emerged among the poor peasants during the great depression of Bengal in 1919. He received his designation ‘Maulana Bhashani’ from the peasants’ land Bashan Char, as he led a welfare campaign in this area. When the anti-British movement took several drastic turns because of the world wars and the active participation of Mahatma Gandhi, Shubash Chandra Bose, and Bhagat Singh; the British Government pulled off their old-fashioned policy to create a fallacy in the Bengal region, the center of the anti-British movement. Thus, in 1944-1945, in Assam, there was a riot and ‘Bengal Kheda’ against the immigrant Bengal people of Assam. Till then, Bhasahni was an influential member of the All India Muslim League and successfully signed a treaty with the chief minister of Assam, and originated the Line System Law to secure the basic rights of migrated Muslim Bengalis in Assam. All of his initial political activities were social and human welfare-oriented and this helped him grow along with most of the potential and influential legislators of his time.
After British rule, it was the start of Pakistan’s reign and Bhashani was one of the frontiers of the establishment of Pakistan along with Kaede Azam and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. People were expecting a stable country with new hope and a new government, but everything started to turn over as time passed. Bhashani was one of the first few statesmen who realized that the partition of the Bengal region and dividing Calcutta, Assam, Tripura, and East Pakistan was not a wise decision. Most of the industries and coal mines were distributed among the capitalist giants and the common people had nothing but membership in labor unions as apparent extortion. People thought that after British Rule and the Bengal Partition, there would be a flourish of employment with less workload and better income, which was not the reality. The Company and British rule had provided industrial laborers with both homes and wages. However, after independence, the workers had to choose either one of them. Moreover, East Pakistan inherited a few mineral mines. The actual mines here were fertile lands. The Pakistani government started the same old-fashioned culture of atrocities as they forgot the contribution of the East Pakistani People in the establishment of Pakistan. However, Bhashani took the initiative to form Awami Muslim League in 1949, after he stepped down from the All India Muslim League. This was intended for the sake of the advancement and proper socio-economic credentials of the people of East Pakistan. This initiative from Bhashani flared up nationalism and motivation among the youth politicians and activists. Sheikh Mujib was one of them. Leftists and Calcutta-based communists were very much motivated by the root-level initiatives of Bhashani, yet something was missing for the effective uprising to blow up. Language Movement in Dhaka, in 1952, under the leadership of religious and political saint Bhashani and young Mujib, had emerged as the potential thrust for the mass uprising against the West Pakistan autocracy. Bhashani and Mujib had both been barred for the whole time, but the motivated youth accepted the value of heroism and martyrdom. Kaede Azam’s vision to merge the culture of Pakistan went on an unexpected path that eventually resulted in the mass movement against the Martial Law of Pakistan in 1969. Bhashani was very much disturbed by his fellow activists. His fellows always looked upon his aim for the betterment of peasants. That was why he founded NAP in 1957. During the reign of the West Pakistan government, all of his initiatives and public welfare movements were interrupted by autocratic rulers. He understood that the proper establishment and implementation of peoples’ rights was not possible through the partition of Bengal, and was not even feasible under Pakistani rule.
Maulana Bhashani was not a typical religious activist, neither did he preach any communal propaganda. He grew up in the soil and air of Bengal and felt his devotion to this land from the core of his heart. He developed every step on the path of modesty and prosperity for the people. He fought for the rights of working-class people, he respected the sweat of peasants, and therefore, fought and struggled for the liberation of his countrymen till the liberation of Bangladesh. He motivated a lot of potential fellows like Mujib and Ziaur Rahman. Bhashani was not a radical nationalist or socialist leader because he believed in the unity of greater Bengal again. He developed his vision till the end of the tunnel. Whenever people got repressed by the ruling authorities, Bhashani emerged with something politically sustainable. During World War l & ll, the people of this region were confused with the political and strategic perspectives of the policymakers. Bhashani acted as a catalyst to make people observe and think about the proper outcomes and steps of the war situation accordingly. Farmers needed all kinds of support, and Bhashani was the first to ensure that and organize this peasant community on that occasion. He never tolerated his misguided fellows. He raised his voice against the selfish 6 Point Movement led by Sheikh Mujib and protested against his political idol Marshall Ayub Khan.
People fall, people rise. There are two types of people in the world. One is the conqueror, and another one is the fool. Those who know the future begin a revolution. Maulana Bhashani received a natural death. He is the unsung hero in the history of greater Bengal, East Pakistan, and Bangladesh. He is a motivation and pioneer of the modern movement for change, a movement for the welfare of his people.
