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Humayun: "No" To Oblivion Published on May 05, 2005
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Humayun: "No" To Oblivion
Published on May 05, 2005
Modernity, as twentieth-century German Jewish philosophers Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno argued, is marked by a superstitious worship of oppressive
force and by a concomitant reliance on oblivion. Such forgetfulness, they argue, is willful and isolating: it drives wedges between the individual and the collective fate to which he or she is forced to submit.
In an age of atrocity, witness becomes an imperative and a problem: how does one bear witness to suffering and before what court of law?
The resistance to terror is what makes the world habitable: the protest against violence will not be forgotten and this insistent memory renders life possible in communal situations.
- Carolyn Forche: Introduction to Against Forgetting, 1993.
Humayun Azad, 57, found dead on 12 August 2004 in his apartment in Munich, signaled the diabolically planned culmination of the murderous 27 Feb. attack on him in Dhaka, on the road across Bangla Academy, on his way back from the annual Dhaka Book Fair. Everything in the murder of this widely respected, versatile and prolific writer and erudite scholar of Bangladesh was so riddled with political mayhem and pervasive mystery that all of Bangladesh was shaken to its roots and engulfed in massive national mourning as never before. In his death both hope and history seemed entombed as planned by the assassins.
This comes out brilliantly in the ten essays constituting his last book, published posthumously, Amar Natun Janmo (My New Birth), Agamee Prakashani, Dhaka, Feb. 2005. The writer of over sixty books in various genres seems to have left, perhaps presciently, his manifesto and testament in these essays, written on various burning issues from time to time, and included in this slim volume of 96 pages. Analytical and perspicacious, these essays would remain relevant for long and for all of the Indian sub-continent, and quite as tenaciously pertinent to the present and future of Bangladesh as a nation state. Those who love Bangladesh as Humayun Azad did, would find this ineffable work an indispensable guide, and a clarion call to thwart the demolition squad of traitors, theo-terrorists, and thugs rampaging all over Bangladesh today.
The essays are titled: 1. My New Birth, 2.Open Letter to Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, and Fellow Citizens, 3. Banning the Publications of Ahmadiya Muslim Jamat: Has Bangladesh Become Talibani Afghanistan?, 4. My First Book, 5. State Terror: From Democracy to Nationalist Repression, 6. New York Journal, 7. Poet's Struggle, 8. Me,
9. Scrutinize the Source of the Taliban, 10. Human Rights and Writer's Freedom: Perspective Bangladesh.
The titles represent Azad's universal vision, his humanist philosophy, and his ideal of a democratic and egalitarian society comprehensively, though I will be quoting just a few
slivers mainly from two pieces, viz., the first and the last, nos. 1 and 10. This being neither a eulogy nor a requiem, I will resort to an attenuated mode of recit eclate, a procedure which the French call -- shattered, exploded, or splintered narrative. (Forche, Ibid.). For rendering a proper eulogy I may be presently ill qualified and hence uninclined; for a requiem, I insist on a studied No. That would negate and invalidate all his work, his martyrdom, and his legacy. Let his memory keep scholars and writers, activists and artists in Bangladesh, always anguished and agitated as to the price he paid for the freedom of thought and expression, for the right to dissent, and the right to civic liberties which denote and designate a modern state from which Bangladesh seems irretrievably skidding away.
****
From Amar Natun Janmo (My New Birth):
The novel for which I have been killed -- I have survived this death -- is Pak Sar Zameen Saad Baad; this is an artistic representation of Bangladesh situation. (Its end). . . from the ocean and its green arose a red sun. This is a symbolic idea, that Bangladesh will not be overwhelmed by fundamentalism, Bangladesh will not be overpowered by fundamentalist assassins, Bangladesh will never become Afghanistan.
I recall that our intellectuals, poets, novelists, essayists, and teachers were assassinated in a planned manner on 14 Dec. 1971, and the very Razakars and Al Badar who had participated in those assassinations had tried again to kill me according to a plan in independent Bangladesh. Probably in this independent Bangladesh I am the first well targeted victim of the reactionary Razakar and Al Badr.
I will survive in my own country, in Bangladesh, and I want a Bangladesh which is free of Al Badr , free of Razakar, free of fundamentalists. I will urge the presidents of two major political parties to uproot fundamentalism from Bangladesh. . . Under the false cover of religion, all these killers who were directly associated with 1971 mass murders - are propagating fundamentalism -- they are spreading Talibani ideas -- they want to kill and destroy the mind and talent -- they want the nation to regress to Medieval Age...Propagating fundamentalist politics via the most modern process, the medium of the TV -- this must be stopped. . . If my restoration to life bears any purpose that would
be to eradicate fundamentalism from Bangladesh totally. . .
These fundamentalist forces -- ministers, MPs -- are unable to understand any book of mine -- not even Pak Sar Zameen Saad Baad. They understand where their interests were dented -- in this book I have candidly presented their ruthlessness, their life stories --
it has been done so nowhere else. . .Inside they are terribly uneducated idiots, hypocrites and barbaric medievalists, and all of them are assassins. Our nation is at present swarming with assassins. . . (After my death) within a month and a half, at least 2000 people have been murdered, 2000 to 4000 women have been raped; from this state dispensation it is necessary to redeem this rotten, diseased, and bloody nation. . .
I think that when Saudi Nizami Golam Azam will be writhing in his grave, when various kinds of pythons coiling around him would be pulverizing him, when their graves will be ablaze inside, Bangladesh will keep my name in its memory. It would not be very easy to wipe off my name very easily; but the names of these Saudis and Nizamis will be erased in a very short time as of dirty men and killers. Nobody will utter their names.
I will write, writing is my life, writing is my delight, and all the progressivism, of which I speak and write, contains human freedom, freedom of Bangladesh, human well-being, right to individual freedom, and always my aim is to create art against the despots.
I never consider my work accomplished; and one more thing, I never want on bended knees to get anything from the politicians who have taken over the nation.
I want a healthy, welfare-oriented Bangladesh, and this is the responsibility of the politicians -- but the politicians have become so rotten and nasty that they have no ideals, no integrity, no love for the nation, they are only hoarding illicit money, and nurturing quite a few killers, that is why Bangladesh is in such a sorry state. In the world at present, Bangladesh is very ill reputed, repeatedly ranked first in corruption. Many are of the opinion that Bangladesh is the world's scandal, Asia's shame. . . the same bloody, ravaged and decadent Bangladesh I want to live in, I want to go back to.
****
Amar Prothom Boee (My First Book)
I had written a poem under this title (Supernatural Steamer). Childhood's (experience of) the sound of siren from the steamers on Padma, its look from a distance, as if from the other shore of the universe, a supernatural steamer emerging into view -- this picture constantly moves in my inner being. In my mind's Padma, a magic steamer has always been afloat. I named the book after that poem.
...as if the cargo of sadness, like friends, would alight in my heart.
Poetry is worldly, but the mystery of creativity is ethereal.
****
Ami (I)
. . .I want to survive. At least for forty years. Because I have been unable so far to make meaningful and purposeful this beautiful, incomparable, meaningless, purposeless life
according to my dream. For that are needed several thousand years . . .
****
Manavadhikar o Lekhoker Swadhinata: Prekshit Bangladesh (Human Rights and Writer's Freedom: Perspective Bangladesh).
The scriptures try to perpetuate human inequality because their authors believed in inequality. They never thought of any radical social change.
I think the Bangla literature until 1950s is Muslims' Bangla literature and the literature of 1960s is the literature of Bengalis' Bangla literature. . . From the very beginning, the people of Bangladesh faced lack of human rights. . . Human rights in Bangladesh remain inscribed in certain documents. In real terms there are no human rights here.
The society we live in is a kind of monarchy even though we keep calling it a democracy.
. . .we know that the person who is our Prime Minister is the real king; our cabinet of ministers is the king's council. They want to enjoy all the rights of the state. For this they want to pocket all the wealth of the nation and fill their houses with. All of them wield power down to the sub-inspector of a police station. . .Here ordinary human being has no rights.
. . .If our MPs think that on the basis of two-thirds vote today they would pass a law that MPs would remain alive for ever and rule Bangladesh forever, they can do so. No matter if it is not possible for them to stay alive eternally. But they certainly can pass such a law. Nature, though, would not abide by their law. That until now they did not legislate so is quite surprising. . .Meantime it has been decided that they cannot be accused of any charge. But members of opposition will be arrested right away. . . The heart of Bangladesh beats in Dhaka University. Best teachers of Bangladesh teach there. At present they themselves feel apprehensive in speaking. They are afraid of students. . ..Because a few of these students are power-wielders. . . The conditions in Bangladesh warrant that it be called a barbaric nation. . .Here ordinary human beings are totally helpless.
At present in Bangladesh,we are under intimidation and muscle power. . .In childhood I had read in Bangla grammar the story of an extraordinary character, Gopal. He ate only banana, nothing else. Our Susheel Samaj (civil society) too keeps eating only banana. . .it is dead deaf. By saying Susheel Samaj we understand a weak person, terrorized and afraid. He wears well ironed clothes, oils his head abundantly, and parts his hair in the middle. . . In fact, we need Asheel Samaj (uncivil society). The Asheel Samaj which has always transformed the society. . . I like to propose the Bangla word Jan Samaj (mass of people). All civil society is not civil. . . For establishing its rights, long has it had to be uncivil. For without becoming uncivil no society can become transformed. . .
There is no human right in Bangladesh. Whatever rights the United Nations may give us, whatever rights may be (guaranteed) in our Constitution, all that does not materialize in our lives. Our lives are bereft of rights, and are subjugated by the powerful. At present our lives are stalked all the while by assailants, terrorists, and assassins. This life is not a life invested with human rights. . .Our women are tortured at home, a large number of poor women are terrorized from the fear of rape. . .
At present we live in Banglastan, which is even worse than East Pakistan. In it nobody's right is recognized. Who is here who can forcefully say that he would be able to stroll or hitch hike in Bangladesh all by himself? He can be assaulted by the police. He can be rushed by a terrorist . . . perhaps waylaid by a fundamentalist. . . There are two zones of lack of rights in Bangladesh -- Fundamentalist and Nationalist. A despot established nationalism in Bangladesh. All of you know that Zia Islamized the constitution of Bangladesh. Thereafter an evil man like Ershad established nationalism. . .No democratic government wielding power, after him, repudiated nationalism. They too became committed to nationalism. It is this nationalism which has made a majority of people in Bangladesh bereft of rights. Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and Chakmas living
in the hilly areas -- all of them are deprived of rights. When a nation makes one
religion prime, the implication is that the followers of other religions will have to be exterminated. Like Saudi Arabia, and now Afghanistan. In various Muslim countries this dispensation is well in effect. . .All different religions have been uprooted in Saudi Arabia. There is no place of worship of any other religion there. In fact, there is no constitution there. When Abdul Aziz established the Saudi nation by deceit and with lies, his cohorts were fundamentalists. . . Man there has not an iota of right. . .the kings have strengthened their power by flaunting religion, made their atrocities acceptable, and rendered their despotism divine.
Afghanistan's fundamentalism has infiltrated Bangladesh. In Bangladesh
fundamentalism now is a daily affair. . .They (the jobless youth) are surrendering to the easy money coming from the Middle East. Religion has built for them two
establishments -- mosque and madrasa. . .Muslim extremists have turned mosques into their strongholds of power. . .There the police is barred entry. In our country at present, mosque- and- madrasa-based fundamentalism is getting entrenched. Fundamentalism is murder, robbery of others' rights. They are being persuaded that if they kill they would go to paradise. Kill the enemy. . . In the country as the criminals and black marketers grow in numbers so do madrasas. . . Fundamentalism is uprooting now all the rights of man. It wants to destroy the wholesome, natural human being. . .In this situation, everyone bears immense responsibility. . .Just processions, or opinion pieces in newspapers will not avail any more. We will have to go to every mosque to see whether religion is being taught or wielding firearms. From the happenings around us, from the way fundamentalists' violent barbarism is spreading, from the way people are being
killed, it would seem that all these are jumping out straight from the pages of my novel
Pak Sar Zameen Saad Baad. Its characters are becoming real.
(Translation of excerpts from Amar Natun Janmo mine. IKS.)
****
A quote from my article Dhaka Bans Humayun Azad's Nari, Mainstream, New Delhi, 16 March 1996, p.35:
It is not material whether the writer chosen for persecution is eminent or a novice, whether his work -- creative or critical -- is great or ordinary. It is the writers' and artists' prerogative to claim autonomy of domain, to assert their self-determination in regard to their craft. That is their province. No trespass on this territory can be tolerated, no transgression against this basic human morality forgiven -- let the message ring loud and clear, in Dhaka and elsewhere.
That the electoral politics in Bangladesh has its own logic need not be elaborated. The wobbly state has gone on tilting towards fundamentalism incrementally. But the ban on Nari, calculated to garner fanatics' votes and thus extend the life of this regime, is a wrong signal. It may boomerang. It may encourage and vindicate enemies of the state and traitors of the nation. A regime strengthens itself not by abridging but by extending human rights, by enlarging the scope of creative energies and constructive projects. Anything to the contrary brings demise, besides others', its own.
[ I have written Nari to have the patriarchal proscriptions over a large segment of humanity withdrawn, for giving woman her human rights; for demolishing all the traditions of our dark region. Woman in this region is destitute; whatever small rights of hers were conceded over a few centuries are in danger of being rescinded. Today reaction is strong all around. Its first victim is woman. . .In Bangladesh woman did not get freedom, still the campaign to shackle her hard is on. Every institution is working against woman; there are medieval fundamentalists who are committed enemies of woman. Even the progressives of our region are traditional, among them too the old prejudices are alive; they too behave like the fundamentalists when they hear about feminism. Their progressivism is the progressivism of establishing male dominance with the woman banished. This book is a repudiation of tradition and patriarchal civilization. I want total equality of men and women.
- Humayun Azad: Preface, 2nd edition. From the Mainstream article. Trans. by IKS. ]
****
Two letters of Azad.
From: Dr Humayun Azad 11 January 1996
Professor and Chairman: Department of Bengali
University of Dhaka: Dhaka 1000
Bangladesh
To: Professor I K Shukla
552 W 12th, San Pedro, CA 90731, USA.
Dear Professor Shukla,
Thank you very much for your letter, which gave me much pleasure. The Government of Bangladesh banned my book Nari on 19 November 1995. A handout says 'the book hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslims and contains materials against fundamental beliefs in Islam.' The Government informed neither me nor my publisher about this ban, I came to know about the ban through newspapers. The grounds for banning the book are totally false. The party in power in Bangladesh is becoming more and more fundamentalist. The national election will be held soon. The Government banned my book with the hope that the fanatics will be happy and vote for them.
I shall be really happy if you could arrange to translate and publish it in Hindi and English. I am especially interested in Hindi and other Indian languages. I would like to send you a copy of the book, but it is difficult now. The book is available in the USA. Could you please contact Mr Bishvajit Shaha to the following addresses: Prabashi, New York, Fax 212 808 4469 or Muktadhara, 39-25, 65th Street, Apartment 2E, Woodside, New York 11377, Fax and Tel 718-458-3616. Mr Shaha will supply you a book. I have got an invitation to visit New York which may take place in the last week of February 1996. If I go I would certainly like to meet you.
Could you please inform the Feminist and Human Rights Organizations of the USA about the ban?
Here is some information about the book and ban below:
On the book : Nari, Woman, is the first full-length feminist research work in Bengali on the condition of women. The book (published by Agami Prakashani, 36 Banglabazar, Dhaka) contains 406 pages. It was first serialized in two weeklies in 1991, and was published in book form in 1992. Three editions and eight reprints of the book have been published so far. The book enjoyed immense popularity, and has become a modern classic. The book borrowed feminist theories from the West in order to analyse the condition of women. It also contains chapters on Rammohan, Bidyashagar, Rokeya who first wanted to liberate Bengali women from bondage, and it also contains chapters on feminist criticism and the novels written by Bengali women novelists. It is the most popular dissertation ever written in Bengali.
About the author : Dr Humayun Azad (born 1947) is a major Bengali poet, critic, linguist, and novelist, who has a PhD in Linguistics from Edinburgh (1976). He is professor and chairman of the Department of Bengali, University of Dhaka. He has published 35 books (poetry, criticism, essays, linguistics, novels) so far, and won many prizes including the prestigious Bengali Academy Prize. He is considered the most modern and most anti-traditional writer in Bangladesh.
Reactions against the ban : The Dailies and weeklies of Bangladesh reacted sharply against this ban. On the first day after the ban (21 Nov 1995) the daily newspapers gave huge publicity of the ban, published comments of the author, and a daily, Banglabazar Patrika, made it the second lead news. Radio BBC transmitted the news several times in English (including a telephone interview with the author) and Bengali. The Daily Star published an editorial 'A foolish ban', and Sangbad published one captioned Nari : Woman. A group of protesters arranged a seminar on 'Scholarship, Creativity and the Rights of a Writer'. News of the protests against the ban is being published everyday.
I have filed a writ petition against the ban in the Highcourt on 3 December 1995. Barrister Amirul Islam is my lawyer. The Highcourt has served a Showcause notice on the Govt. Thanking you.
Residence address: Sincerely,
14E Fuller road Humayun Azad
Dhaka University Residential area
Dhaka : Bangladesh
Phone: 509544 (Res); 505715 (Off)
Fax : 880-2-865583
****
Dear Prof. Shukla,
I received 3 letters from you within a short period of time, but I am sorry that I could not reply as we were in violent non-cooperation movement that brought the downfall of the reactionary BNP government. I always kook forward to hearing from you, because all your aerograms and envelopes bring some happiness for me. I could never dream that anybody in the universe would write an article like Dhaka Bans. I shall remain grateful to you for what you are doing for me.
I feel so happy when I think you have read my book, and it gives me much pleasure that you have liked it. I have written a lot, about ten thousand pages in Bengali. Now I am working on a new novel. The hero of the novel is an Indian prophet who disowns his own holy book and is murdered by his followers.
My visit to New York did not take place, although VOA said that I visited New York in Feb. 1996. If I go the USA, I shall certainly contact you.
The books and journals you mentioned in your letter are not available in Bangladesh.
I would like to see NARI translated in English, Hindi, and in other Indian languages. No publisher has yet approached me. I would suggest you to find some publishers who can publish the book in translation.
With regards. Yours sincerely,
6.4.1996 Humayun Azad
*****
Which magic steamer did you board
And sadly, suddenly sail away
To horizons unknown
Depriving us of the golden hoard
Of vibrant poems and venerable books?
Padma would always keep wondering
In ceaseless moan.
28 May 05.