Hindu-Muslim Religious Encounter in Bangladesh: a Case Study of Dhaka
HINDU-MUSLIM RELIGIOUS ENCOUNTER IN BANGLADESH: A CASE STUDY OF DHAKA
BY
MD. ASADUR RAHMAN
A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Phlosophy in UÎËl al-DÊn and Comparative Religion
Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences International Islamic University Malaysia
AUGUST 2016
O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well-acquainted (with all things). Al-×ujurÉt 49: 13
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the present condition of Hindu-Muslim relations in Bangladesh, a multi religious country in South Asia with Muslim majority. It is based on in-depth interview with 18 Hindu and 18 Muslim respondnets in Dhaka, the capital city. Among these 18 from each category, the type of the respondents the researcher has selected is religious scholars, cultural activists, and educationists cum community representatives. The study aims to justify the propagations and sense of Hindu-Muslim confrontation as reflected in many narratives and literatures where an attempt to portray the felt absence of interreligious harmony. The in-depth interviews emphasize religious issues, includes religio-cultural and socio-political mtters which manifested in the relationships. As such, the study explores the current scenario of relations between these two communities which opposes present-day literatures and narratives which depict friendship and intimacy among those who are living peacefully and harmoniously. In the study, special attention is given to issues relating to commonly held causes for the decline of the Hindus in Bangladesh as widely believed by Hindu and Muslim alike. Both Hindu and Muslim respondents are asked to describe what they think are causes for the decrease of their number. Surprisingly the data analyzed, nullifies the common supposition that torture of Hindu is reason for the decrease. It is therefore found to be a myth or a mere speculation. Denying this, the study shows that the widely believed assumption of Hindu decline has been challenged. Most importantly, it indicates that the Bangla language, spoken by both Hindu and Muslims in their daily lives, –as the study has examined- has played a fundamental role in the process of Islamization to its speakers irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds. And last but not least, it is found through their narratives that religion is an inevitable element for peace and stability for in the context of Bangladesh, religion, as such, significantly contributes to the making of good citizens, an essential element for co- existence and interreligious harmony.
ii خالصة البحث Abstract in Arabic
هذا البحث يُعىن بدراسة العالقات املعاصرة بني اهلندوس واملسلمني يف دولة بنغالديش وهي دولة متعددة األداين يف جنوب آسيا ذات أغلبية مسلمة. وقد بُنيت الدراسة على مقابالت شخصية معمقة ومتميزة مشلت 18 من اهلندوس و18 من املسلمني على السواء يف العاصمة دكا.منبني اجملتمعني اليت أجريت معهما املقابالت علماء الدين، والناشطون يف جمال الثقافة، ورجال التعليم وذلك الستقصاء مواضع املواجهة واحلراك أو التعايش السلمي بني اهلندوس واملسلمني. وقد ركزت املقابالت على القضااي الدينية على وجه اإلمجال واليت مشلت املسائل الثقافية، واالجتماعية، والسياسية. وقد أفضت هذه املقابالت بيان أبعاد اللسانية احلميمة بني اهلندوس واملسلمني على عكس ما هو سائد من صورة قائمة روجتها األحباث واألدبيات الرائجة يف هذا اجملال. وقد أولت هذه الدراسة عناية خاصة مبوضوع تناقص أعداد اهلندوس يف بنغالديش، وحماولة معرفة األسباب وراء ذلك األمر، ولع ّل السائد يف األوساط السياسيةأن ذلك بسبب االضطهاد الديين الذي يتعرض له اهلندوس ولكن ابلنظر يف وجهات نظر َم ْن أُجريت معهم املقابالت سواء كانوا من املسلمني أم اهلندوس يتضح لنا أن مثة أسباابً أخرى بعيدة كل البعد عن أمر االضطهاد الديين. وهي استخدام لغة البنغال بواسطة املسلمني واهلندوس للتعبري عن أنفسهم يف كل اجملاالت ومن بينها اجملال الديين، وبسبب تعرض هذه اللغة إىل األسلمة التدرجيية فقد أاتحت فرصة أفضل وأكرب للتفاعل اإلجيايب بني املسلمني واهلندوس وكل ذلك قد أسهم بنصيب وافر يف خلق جّو من االستقرار، والتعايش يف العالقات بني اهلندوس واملسلمني يف بنغالديش وقد بينت هذه الدراسة أيضاً أن الدين يؤدي دوراً فعّاالً يف خلق املواطن الصاحل الذي هو األساس يف بناء جّو سلمي من التعايش الديين يف اجملتمع.
iii APPROVAL PAGE
The dissertation of Md. Asadur Rahman has been approved by the following:
______Ibrahim Mohamed Zein Supervisor
______Md. Yousuf Ali Co-Supervisor
______Haslina Ibrahim Internal Examiner
______Tahira Basharat External Examiner
______Mohd. Abdur Rahman Anwari External Examiner
______Ismaiel Hassanein Ahmed Mohamed Chairman
iv DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.
Md. Asadur Rahman
Signature ...... Date ......
v
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA COPYRIGHT page DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH
HINDU-MUSLIM RELIGIOUS ENCOUNTER IN BANGLADESH: A CASE STUDY OF DHAKA
I declare that the copyright holders of this dissertation are jointly owned by the student and IIUM.
Copyright © 2016 Md. Asadur Rahman and International Islamic University Malaysia. All rights reserved.
No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder except as provided below
1. Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement.
2. IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.
3. The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieved system and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other universities and research libraries.
By signing this form, I acknowledged that I have read and understand the IIUM Intellectual Property Right and Commercialization policy.
Affirmed by Md. Asadur Rahman
……..…………………….. ………………….. Signature Date
vi Dedication
Dedicated in humble gratitude to
Professor Ibrahim Mohamed Zein
My parents
Late M. M. Fazlur Rahman (AllÉh yarÍamu-hË)
Fatimah Begum
My wife Shahnaj Parvin
My children Maryam and Faatimah
vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
All praises be to Allah the almighty for giving me the strength and guidance for completing this study. It is a product of four years study completed at the International Islamic University Malaysia. Here, I would like to single out number of individuals who have rendered their tangible and intangible form of assistance throughout this study. First and foremost, I owe a particular debt of gratitude and deep appreciation to my Supervisor, Prominent Professor Dr. Ibrahim Mohamed Zein for his fatherly love and notable generosity, patience, interest and commitment not only in guiding this academic work but also providing me financial aid to survive during this long journey of research including the expenses of conducting interviews even, I do not find suitable words that can express my gratitude for his contribution to me. I take this opportunity to acknowledge it once again, with warmest thanks and humble regards. My special thanks also go to my co-supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Md. Yousuf Ali for his valuable comments, suggestions and guidance towards completing the dissertation.
I also would like to extend my warm appreciation to my Internal Examiner Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslina Ibrahim for her valuable suggestions, observation and constructive comments. With the same recollection of pleasure and gratitude I also would like record my warm gratitude to my External Examiners, Prof. Dr. Tahira Basharat from the University of Punjab, Pakistan and Prof. Dr. Mohd. Abdur Rahman Anwari from the Islamic University Kushtia, Bangladesh for their fair evaluation, valuable suggestions and constructive comments. My appreciation also goes to the Thesis Examination Committee Chairperson, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ismaiel Hassanein Ahmed Mohamed.
My appreciation also goes to the International Islamic University Malaysia for giving me the opportunity to complete my doctoral studies and particularly to its Library, for providing the required data and materials, which made it easy to complete my dissertation.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to my friend Abdullah al- Mahmud, a teacher in the Department of World Religions at the University of Dhaka and a PhD candidate at IIUM who made it possible for me to complete the research work providing me a group of trained students from his Department for conducting interview, namely Md. Faisal Bin Ashik, Nazmul Haque and Md. Amanul Haque; without their support, the writing of this dissertation would have been much more difficult if not impossible, I am really indebted to them. In the same manner, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my friend, Md. Ruhul Amin, also a PhD candidate at the IIUM, who helped me greatly with technical support into the shape of this dissertation, truly I am indebted to him.
viii This acknowledgement will remain incomplete unless I extend my heartfelt gratitude towards thirty six respondents from both Hindu and Muslim communities in Bangladesh who willingly gave their valuable time to talk about their experiences and who are the core ingredients in building my confidence and to complete this project.
Above all, I should like to place my special thanks to my late father, M. M. Fazlur Rahman and mother Fatimah Begum, for their continuous spiritual and material support, encouragement and love that I have received. I must thank my enduring wife, Shahnaj Parvin for her kind support and for not demanding many things from a poor Ph.D. student. She even showed patience when I became very frustrated giving me emotional support, love and encouragement to enable me go through this study successfully under challenging circumstances. My thanks also recorded to my children, Maryam and Faatimah who have missed my accompany a lot. May Allah reward all of them the best with His infinite bounties.
Singularly I bear in mind my cousin Prof. Dr. Abulhasan M. Sadeq and my sister in law, Saleha Sadeq, for their inspiration and cooperation to further my study until this level who were in great help throughout my student life at IIUM. Similarly, I would like to record my profound gratitude and deepest appreciations for Mr. Salahuddin Kashem Khan, the Chairman of the SEACO FOUNDATION who helped me financially dring my crucial time in overcoming the tuition-fee hurdles with the university. In the mean time, I woe a great deal to Assoc. Prof. Md. Isharaf Hossain who helped me greatly be among the recipients of SEACO scholarship. I would like to mention here my brothers Azizur Rahman, Hafizur Rahman, Kawsar and Sazzad and my sisters Mahfuza, Asma and Seema for their continuous inspiration and spiritual support during this long journey of my study. May Allah swt. accept us all, ÉmÊn.
ix TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract ...... ii Abstract in Arabic ...... iii Approval page ...... iv Declaration ...... v Copyright page ...... vi Dedication ...... vii Acknowledgements ...... viii
INTRODUCTION ...... 1 Background of the Study ...... 3 Statement of the Problem...... 4 Research Questions ...... 6 Objectives of the Study ...... 7 Justification of the Study ...... 7 Literature Review ...... 10 Significance of the Study ...... 17 Theoretical Framework ...... 18 Methodology ...... 21 Selected Mandirs (Temple) and Masjids...... 21 Indepth-Interview ...... 22 Categorization of Aspects of Interview...... 25 Scope and Limitation of the Study ...... 30
CHAPTER ONE: BANGLADESH: HISTORICAL MILIEU OF RELIGIONS .... 32 1.0 Introduction...... 32 1.1 Historical Background of Bangladesh ...... 32 1.1.1 A Brief History of Bangladesh ...... 33 1.1.2 Bangladesh Before 1947 ...... 33 1.1.3 Bangladesh During 1947-1971 ...... 36 1.1.4 The Language Movement ...... 36 1.1.5 1971: The Liberation War ...... 38 1.1.6 Bangladesh: a New State (1971-2015) ...... 40 1.2 Bangladesh: The Demographic Information ...... 43 1.2.1 The Population ...... 43 1.2.2 Ethnicity ...... 43 1.2.3 Language ...... 44 1.2.4 Education...... 45 1.3 Religions in Bangladesh ...... 45 1.3.1 Islam in Bangladesh ...... 46 1.3.2 a Hinduism in Bangladesh ...... 48 1.3.2 b Historical Overview of Hinduism ...... 49 1.3.3a Buddhism in Bangladesh ...... 52 1.3.3b Buddhism: An Overview...... 53 1.3.4 Christianity in Bangladesh ...... 54 1.3.5 Demographics of Dhaka City ...... 56
x CHAPTER TWO : SOCIO-RELIGIO-CULTURAL-POLITICAL ASPECTS OF THE ENCOUNTER: HINDU PERSPECTIVE ...... 59 2.0 Introductoin...... 59 2.1 Religious Perspective...... 61 2.1.2 Summary ...... 78 2.2 Social Perspective ...... 79 2.2.1 Summary ...... 86 2.3 Cultural Perspective ...... 87 2.3.1 Summary ...... 96 2.4 Conclusion ...... 97
CHAPTER THREE : SOCIO-RELIGIO-CULTURAL-POLITICAL ASPECTS OF THE ENCOUNTER: MUSLIM PERSPECTIVE ...... 100 3.0 Introductoin...... 100 3.1 Religious Perspective...... 101 3.1.1 Summary ...... 111 3.2 Social Perspective ...... 112 3.2.1 Summary ...... 119 3.3 Cultural Perspective ...... 119 3.3.1 Summary ...... 127 3.4 Political Perspective...... 128 3.5 Conclusion ...... 133
CHAPTER FOUR : CONCLUSION ...... 136 4.1 Conclusion ...... 136 4.2 Recommendations...... 144
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 148
APPENDIX 1 HINDU RESPONDENTS ...... 154
APPENDIX 2 MUSLIM RESPONDENTS ...... 215
APPENDIX 3 QUESTIONNAIRE ...... 274
GLOSSARY ...... 276
xi INTRODUCTION
Bengal, a historical region in the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent, generally corresponding to the area inhabited by speakers of the Bangla language and now divided between the Indian state of West Bengal and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
Bengal formed part of most of the early empires that controlled northern India1.
From the 8th to the 12th century, Bengal was under the Buddhist Pala dynasty, based in neighboring Bihar. After about 1200 it was governed by semi-independent
Muslim rulers, and from 1576 it belonged to the Mughal Empire. When Mughal power declined in the 18th century, a separate dynasty emerged in Bengal. Its rulers, known as the Nawabs of Bengal, soon came into conflict with the British, who had established themselves at Kolkata in western Bengal in 1690 and who took possession of the Nawabs’ realm in 1757–64. Bengal was thenceforth the base for British expansion in India. From 1773 its governor-general was the chief executive of British
India; from 1834 he bore the title ‘Governor-General of India’. In 1854 the government of India was separated from that of Bengal, though Kolkata remained
India’s capital until 1912. With the end of British rule in 1947, West Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa became part of the Republic of India and East Bengal went to Pakistan, but in 1971 it became the independent state of Bangladesh.
Most of the people of Bangladesh follow Islam which was made the official religion by a 1988 constitutional amendment. The arrival of Muslims in Bengal at the beginning of the 13th century and the rapid increase in their strength and influence permanently changed the character and culture of the area. When the Muslims first
1 Dr. Abdul Momin Chaudury, Dr. A.B.M. Mahmud, Dr. Muhammad Abdur Rahim, and Dr. Shirajul Islam, Bangladesher Itihas (The History of Bangladesh) Dhaka: Nawroze Kitabistan, 14th edn., 2010.
1 arrived, Hinduism was by far the dominant religion, although there were pockets of
Buddhists and a few adherents of local religions. The Hindus remained in the majority through the Mughal period (16th to 18th century). Even as late as the early 1870s, there were more than 18 million Hindus in Bengal, compared with about 16 million
Muslims. From the 1890s onward, however, the weight began to shift toward the
Muslims2.
There were several reasons for the increase in the proportion of the Muslim population. Perhaps the most significant was the activity of ascetics and Sufis, who won converts among lower-caste Hindus. Also significant was an influx of Muslims from northern India and from other countries. In Bengal, the Muslim missionaries found the greatest response to their message among the outcastes and the depressed classes, of which there were large numbers in Bengal. To them, the creed of Islam, with its emphasis on equality, must have come as a liberating force. Another factor in the large number of conversions is the somewhat peculiar religious history of Bengal.
From the eighth to the twelfth century the Pala dynasty had supported Buddhism.
Then in the twelfth century the Sena dynasty, which had its roots in South India, began to encourage Hindu orthodoxy. The result was probably a good deal of religious unrest and uncertainty, which made it possible for Islam to find an opening for its work of daÑwah3.
However, Hinduism is the second largest religious tradition in Bangladesh with a population of 10.5% (US Department of State, 2001). Even though their percentage has declined considerably due, mainly, to migration and increase of the total population, yet they hold a significant role in shaping the Bangladeshi culture
2 C.A. Bayly, Origins of Nationality in South Asia Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998. 3 Abdul Mannan Talib, Bangladeshe Islam (Islam in Bangladesh), Dhaka: Islamic foundation, 3rd ed., 2002.
2 and state affairs4. In the mean time, the influence of Islam on Bangladeshi Hindus is also comparatively visible5.
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
To the researcher, despite having different viewpoints in the subject of Hindu-Muslim religious encounters in the sub-continent, the example of communal harmony in
Bangladesh is exceptional; but to some quarter it is a space of enmity, to some others there is bridge of amity. To date, South Asian scholarship has typically focused on space of enmity; moments of communal-violence and conflict that have differentially characterized in Indian sub-continent’s social landscapes. This has been especially the case in recent decades with the public and political ascendance of the Hindu Right and associated episodes of riots in some of India’s urban as well as rural areas and subsequently shed negative impression on Bangladeshi Hindu-Muslim relations. But, I would argue that the everyday reality of Hindu-Muslim religious encounters is overwhelmingly shaped by the everyday collaboration of peaceful meeting and coexistence6.
With the virtue of researcher’s birth place, Bangladesh, growing up, living and mingling with the Hindu community, he seeks to understand the mundane and everyday nature of intercommunity religious encounter and coexistence, and the active maintenance of peace that plays out in contexts of inter-community insecurity and tension. As the extract contends, he constructs peace not as the absence of violence, but as a generative process, which is in itself worthy of scrutiny. Given that
4 The world factbook, Bangladesh, See:
3 the mechanics of peace and of neighboring amongst communities of difference are rarely explored, at least in the Bangladesh context, he is interested to discuss approaches in studies elsewhere that investigate and interpret the dynamics of peace.
Moreover he would ask how we can conceptually and practically work with the complex relationship between everyday experiences of violence and non-violence without obscuring the other.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Since human beings are imperfect, any human society they create is imperfect. No pluralistic society in the world is free from a sense of malady or tension, but this state of malady or tension is not necessarily an evil. In fact, very often it is a blessing since it stands against a society’s becoming stagnant and apathetic. Pluralism is good precisely because it embodies points of view which are not identical or even harmonious and thus cannot lead to a totalitarianism in which human differences are not tolerated and all human beings are subjected to the supreme oppression of having to conform to uniformity imposed from without. It is the effort to evolve a pattern of the good life within the framework of differing perspectives and values which makes pluralistic societies creative and dynamic.
Hindus and Muslims have lived together in the subcontinent of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh for over 1,000 years. During this time many kinds of conflict – historical, political, socioeconomic, cultural, theological, philosophical, psychological, and personal- have prevailed between these two religious communities. There have also been periods of violence when members of one community, generally the majority one, have perpetrated acts of aggression against the members of the other, generally the minority one. Sometimes these acts of aggression have been brutal to the
4 extent of being barbarous and sometimes their magnitude is shocking, as was the case when in the bitter aftermath of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan in August 1947, a bloodbath took place in which tens of thousands of human beings -
Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and others- were massacred7. The nature and number of communal -particularly Hindu-Muslim- riots which have taken place in post-partition India are undoubtedly causes of serious concern to those who would like to see the peoples of this ancient land live together in peace. The troubled history of
Hindu-Muslim relations in this area is, thus, clearly recognized at the outset of this research. I do attempt to explore the fact that, in a number of ways, Hindus and
Muslims are, and have always been, neither only in antagonistic to each other’s realities but also showed fraternity and kinship among themselves.
The soul and spirit of Bangladesh are already torn apart from several undercurrents of tensions, an important one of which is Hindu-Muslim relationship.
For several reasons this underlying tension has been seriously deleterious to the overall environment of South Asia. Even, among several other factors, the evolving nuclear threat in South Asia also related to this relationship. Whether it is military, economic, political, social or cultural arena, the distrustful and adversarial attitude among various countries in the region has not only prevented development of any healthy relationship of harmony, coexistence and cooperation, but also it has contributed toward so much misery, agony and suffering of so many lives. Whether there was any inherent enmity between religions or not, religion is a powerful tool too that galvanizes and energizes people as powerhouse. Such energy can be harnessed both for positive ends as well as negative ends. Unfortunately, for a good part of
7 S. R. Bakshi, Congress, Muslim League and Partion of India, Deep & Deep Publication, New Delhi, 1990, pp.256-261, also see H. V. Hodson, The Great Divide, Oxford University Press, Karachi, 1989, pp.403-418
5 human history, religion has been exploited by opportunists to advance their narrow personal or group vested interest. And some counter-opportunists took the chance to gain their personal ends attacking on the innocents and exaggerating the actual phenomena. The case of Bangladesh is no different.
Localized and bits and pieces of violence may certainly characterize aspects of some Hindu-Muslim religious encounters in Bangladesh, but it would be misleading to foreground physical violence as the principle mode of inter-community relations.
On an everyday basis the vast majority of Bangladeshi Hindus and Muslims live together ever peacefully. Yet, despite constituting the daily norm, the everyday living together of Hindus and Muslims has received consistently less attention than has inter- community conflict, therefore, an account of their friendship and harmonious living has been felt urgent where this research turns to.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is the general perception of Hindu-Muslim religious encounters?
2. Do they tolerate and respect each others or confront?
3. Do they demonstrate to adapt and minimize each others’ or not?
4. What are the common values that strengthen their relationship?
5. What are the differences that divide them from each other?
6. In what way mutual understanding and respect between these two religious
communities can be improved?
Finally would be sought whether there is any influence of Islam on Hindus or not. Hence, the study is to give a comprehensive picture of the Hindu-Muslim religious encounters in Bangladesh.
6 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objectives of the study are as follow:
1. To study the general perception of Hindu-Muslim religious encounters
among the people.
2. To study whether they tolerate and respect each others’ differences in their
social, religious and political life or confront.
3. To scrutinize whether they demonstrate to adapt and minimize each
others’ difference or not.
4. To discover common values that strengthens their relationships.
5. To discover the differences that divides each other.
6. To examine whether the communities are playing any role for a friendly
and cooperative relationship between the two communities.
JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
Dhakeshwari Mandir (Temple) is a hub of socio-cultural as well as religious activities.
Each year, the largest celebration of Durga8 Puja9 (the most significant event in the
Bengali Hindu calendar, like Deepavali in other countries) is held at this National
Temple, and a number of dignitaries such as the President, Prime Minister, and Leader of the Opposition, Members of Parliament and media celebrities come to felicitate the
Bangladeshi Hindu community from the temple premises. Several thousand worshippers and onlookers, many from Muslims, rush to the premises where they are offered prasad (snacks). Same scenario is observed in other temples of Dhaka
8 Durga (Invincible) is the principal form of the Goddess, also known as Devi and Shakti in Hinduism. Durga the mahashakti, the form and formless, is the root cause of creation, preservation and annihilation. Durga Puja is the most magnanimous religious events among the Bengali Hindus. 9 It is a Sanskrit word which means honour, adoration and worship. Hindus perform puja which includes a series of rituals to adore and worship the goddess and offer gifts to the deity to have their blessings.
7 metropolitan as well, like Laxmi Narayan Mandir, Ramna Kali Mandir,
Shiddheshwari Mandir, Joy Kali Mandir, and Jagannath Hall Mandir (at Dhaka
University), though not by high profiles, the common men rush to enjoy the events;
Hindu and Muslims alike.
That is not the end of the story, the same festivity is observed elsewhere in the rural areas of Bangladesh where Hindu and Muslims live together, Hindu festivals are attended by huge Muslims; they share mutually their good times and bad ones. As the researcher has observed in a remote village, Pirpur, located under Raipura Police station of Narsingdi district which is nearby the capital city, Dhaka. Like other villages in Bangladesh, in that village too, many Hindu people are living ancestrally in a very harmonious environment where other than Islamic religious events all societal activities are participated by all walks of life irrespective of Hindu and Muslim; their mingling is very common and a virtual norm of the villagers. Sweetmeats and the dairy items are mostly provided by the Hindus; carpentry seems to be the unique occupation for those Hindus alone living in that village where Muslims are completely dependants on them for anything related to carpentry. In cultivation of the land, many of the Hindus lead their life cultivating the lands belong to Muslims which they do in a mutual share of the crop they grow in the land, as such, in various aspects of life,
Hindus are not singled out, rather sometimes it is confusing who are Hindus and who are not. So, that is definitely a mixed society where both communities are very friendly to each other.
That is not the end of the story also; Tapan Biswas, a Hindu man addresses a
Muslim old woman dadi (grandma), goes to her house routinely to check what help she needs to extend, accomplishes various jobs for her who helps him giving money, lending different house hold items and even shelter. It is not that the Hindus only
8 giving labor for Muslims or working for them; there are many Muslims who are laboring for Hindu land lords who are comparatively rich in the village, so, the sense of religious background is totally insignificant and absent from their minds in their daily life, the sense of religious background does not work at all. More interestingly, the participation from both sides in occasional event like wedding feast is very common; Muslims do not hesitate to invite Hindus, at least the heads of the community and close friends in their feasts; as well as Muslims are invited by Hindus in their marriage ceremonies commonly and entertain them with the foods that have required sanctity for the Muslims.
However, the researcher does not deny the other side of the coin too; yes, there is occasional crisis time also faced by Hindu community; like the event of Babri
Masjid abolition in December 1992 which sparked a vengeance among the Muslims; but in that very crisis time also those Tapans were protected from the attack coming from the outsiders, tense atmosphere prevailed for couple of days when villagers were determined to protect their fellow Hindu friends from outsiders’ attack, if there were any. Furthermore, there are bits and pieces of conflicts and clashes also among them which are not generated from communal conflict, rather are personal contradictions from which Muslims themselves even are not spared.
Unfortunately, all the literatures and narratives lack these stories that take place in that mixed society like that in the Pirpur village, intentionally or unintentionally, these untold stories and unrevealed truths remain hidden from the literatures; where an outsider cannot understand whether those Tapans are Muslims or Hindus unless someone informs. Therefore, a study should be conducted to unearth all the hidden sweet stories of Hindu-Muslim encounters and reveal the long prevailing friendship, and thereby the Hindu-Muslim religious encounter could be brought into light.
9 LITERATURE REVIEW
Through different literatures and narratives it has become very tricky to identify the real state of relation between the Hindu and Muslim over there in Bangladesh. Most of the classical writers of Bangla literature, who were not influenced by the Western culture, have left behind them a plethora of works demonstrating the good friendship between Hindu and Muslims. On the other side, in the modern time, there are numerous literatures, and still developing and being produced, presenting in a subtle way the negative aspects of the encounters10.
Although Bangladesh is considered a multi-religious nation in the contemporary world, much academic attention has not been paid yet to the issue of
Hindu-Muslim religious encounters. Thouth the religion is always a strong part of identity of Bangladeshi people, up to now, very limited academic works have been done on this issue. The works are not only limited in number but also in scope and method as well as period covered.
Despite the scarcity of the existing literatures and narratives, some works are partially related to the present study which has been conducted by both Muslim and non-
Muslims and academics from home and abroad. Some of these works deal with historical dimension of Hindu-Muslim religious encounters and its development in a multi-religious and multi-ethnic environment.
The issues of minorities’ rights and their social-political status have been debated profoundly over the past few decades in Bangladesh. Many of Muslim non-
Muslim scholars argue that the minorities are discriminated, neglected, persecuted,
10 Hiranmay Karlekar, Bangladesh: The next Afghanistan? New Delhi: Sage publications, 2005, see also: Badruddin Umar, Sampradhyikata (Communalism) Dhaka: Mawla Brothers, 8th edn., 2011.
10 tortured and anguished constantly by the majority in every step of their life.11 The statement reveals that there are ferocious encounters between majority and minority communities in Bangladesh. In this regard, there are many academic as well as non- academic studies have been conducted to show the real situation of minorities in
Bangladesh. Study on this issue includes Ali Riaz’s “God Willing: The Politics of
Islamism in Bangladesh”.12
One of the five chapters of Riaz’s work is “Persecuted Minorities and the
Enemy Within” explores how much difficulties and occurrences of violence have been faced by minorities (non-Muslims specially Hindus) in Bangladesh since her independence in 1971. While Ali Riaz has the experience as a BBC journalist, his work shows some stories of persecution of minorities in Khulna, Barisal, Dinajpur,
Pabna and Netrakona of Bangladesh in 2001. It should be noted that the study conducted by Riaz claims against the period of the coalition government of
Bangladesh—comprising its mainstay, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP, along with the Jama‘at-e-Islami, the Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ)13 and the Jatiya Party14
(Naziur) or JP (N))—”15 elected in 1991 & 2001. He also asserts that the condition of minorities had been changed during Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) government
(1996-2001).16 This study also claims that the time period until beginning of 1990s,
11 Ali Riaz, God Willing: The Politics of Islamism in Bangladesh (United States of America: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2004), 49-60. 12 This book has been published from Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., United States of America in 2004. 13 United Groups of Islamic Parties. 14 Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The founder of this party is former president of the people republics of Bangladesh Hussain Muhammad Ershad. In 2001, this party has been divided into two groups, e.g.: Hussain Muhammad Ershad’s group and Naziur Rahman’s group both are called Bangladesh National party with mentioning their leader’s name. 15 This was the first coalition government in the history of the Government of the People Republics of Bangladesh. There were four political groups under the leading of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). 16 Ali Riaz, 62.
11 Bangladesh was considered as a “model of communal harmony”17 and the minorities were enjoying their rights. It provides a statistical scenario of the Hindu parliament members and secretaries in the government of the people’s republic of Bangladesh.
Riaz’s claims are based on the political thought while the minorities issue has an enormous significance in Bangladesh politics. The people associated to the secular government try to show that the situation of minorities in Bangladesh is vulnerable.
They are always persecuted and their rights are dishonored.
Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh18 by the same author (Riaz 2008) gives an account of contemporary Bangladesh where he portrays Islam and Islamic parties evils and
Hindus are not safe and not spared from Islamists’ evil hands; whereas friendship between Hindus and Muslims there in Bangladesh did not have an iota of treatment by this author. On the contrary, Fazlul Karim (1882-1936) a pioneer and expert of literature demonstrated through a number of his works the Hindu-Muslim friendship prevailing for long.
The book entitled Understanding the Bengal Muslims: Interpretative Essays 19 edited by Rafiudding Ahmed deals with an imperative question that is how do we assess the Muslim community of Bengal, its changing perceptions, ideas and ideologies? The book, a compilation of some articles related to the traditions of
Muslims in Bangladesh, demonstrates the origin of the Bangladeshi Muslims as a community and examines the patterns of historical developments in their religious belief, social circumstances, cultural orientations, and political growth. However, euphemistically it portrayed an enmity between the Hindus and Muslims. As stated
17 Ibid., 60. 18 Ali Riaz, Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh, Routledge, New York, 2008. 19 Rafiuddin Ahmed (ed.), Understanding the Bengal Muslims: Interpretative Essays (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001).
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