The Political History of Muslim Bengal an Unfinished Battle of Faith
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seizure of Crimea and hybrid war in Eastern rative, alternative narratives and schools of Ukraine. It is a must-read for anyone who thought, as well as previous approaches in works on Russia, foreign policy and secu- the current literature are provided in the rity policy. Its strengths clearly overshadow text. Causal relations in the chapters are well- the minor questions that comes in mind. The organized. Indeed, the authors’ criticisms field research conducted for the purpose of of arguments in the current literature and this study is among the strengths of the book. their thorough critiques of several widely- It is very informative and easy to read. The accepted narratives might force readers to authors have more than enough competence, forget what they have learned regarding the intellectual background, related research on reasons for and practices of Russia’s hybrid similar subjects and unique, well-reasoned warfare and clashes with Ukraine. Neverthe- ideas. This is an important factor that makes less, one should not acknowledge the ideas the research even stronger. Although the put forward in the study as ultimate truths Western perspective of the authors, not to but consider them as mindopening and al- mention the Ukrainian background of Taras ternative perspectives that push us to think Kuzio, could pave the way for a biased nar- otherwise. The Political History of Muslim Bengal An Unfinished Battle of Faith By Mahmudur Rahman Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019, 412 pages, $ 99.95, ISBN: 9781527519350 Reviewed by Mohammad Hossain, Ibn Haldun University The Political History of Muslim Ben- to map out the trajectory of that gal, while speaking of the history of identity amidst the socio-political a lesser-known part of the Muslim undulations of Bangladesh’s post- world, has an interesting story of its colonial and post-independence own. The author, a former energy period. advisor to the Bangladesh govern- ment and the opposition-associated In terms of structure, the book is editor of a well-known news daily divided into twelve chapters and called Amar Desh (My Nation), contains both a prologue and an wrote this book in ten months while being im- epilogue, the latter written after the author prisoned for political activities in Bangladesh. was released from prison. Despite its claim As an attempt to narrate a political history of to being a narrative of political history, how- Muslim Bengal from its earliest origins, the ever, the historical background starting from book aims to be ambitious in its scope. Start- the earliest times of the independent sultans, ing as a venture in exploring the roots of the Mughal rule, and the independent nawabs to Bengali Muslim identity from the beginning the British colonial period before 1947 is lim- of the thirteenth century, the author attempts ited to just two chapters, while two more cov- 2020 Fall 269 BOOK REVIEWS ers the Pakistan era between 1947-1971, their The author further epitomizes the period total being about one-fourth of the book. of Muslim rule until 1757 by noting that it The rest of the book deals with present-day was largely egalitarian (p. 26). It is this con- Bangladesh, from 1971 to date, followed by ception of a Bengali Muslim identity that appendices containing several important his- is later subjugated by the ‘Hindu-Company torical documents. nexus’ in Bengal during the colonial period (p. 40). The ongoing “overall feeling of su- The chapter headings give us an idea of the periority and a patronizing attitude among content and the argument in each chapter, the Hindus towards the Muslims (p. 78).” while selective sourcing is indicative of who Fueled by the ‘Hindu Bengali Renaissance’ the author trusts and thinks is important. It was the main reason behind the failure of is notable that while veteran scholars such as Congress in pre-partition Bengal, and the Eaton, Mohar Ali, and Karim are used to nar- ultimate division of Bengal to form Paki- rate pre-colonial history, as we move past the stan under Jinnah’s Muslim League (p. 50). 1990s era, many of the observations are from However, precarious manipulative politics the author’s recollections and actions as an within the Muslim League meant that the insider to major socio-political events, such seeds of division between the East and West as the military coup on January 11, 2007, and were sown as early as 1947 (p. 100). While the events leading up to the anti-Shahbag He- Muslim rulers in the period before 1757 pa- fazat mass gatherings in 2013. This begs the tronized Bengali language and culture, the question as to why the author began the book author points out the attempt by the Paki- as a scholarly treatment of Muslim political stani administration to impose Urdu upon history but ended it as a scathing attack on the Bengali population, mainly through Jin- the current authoritarian government’s poli- nah’s famous speech in 1948 (p. 104) and the cies and practices. The key to understanding killing of language martyrs by the Pakistan this transition, it seems, lies in the author’s army on February 21, 1952, as indications of treatment of the ups and downs of the history the failure of the idea of Pakistan as a home of the region as a “battle of faith” (p. 354). for Muslims. The author argues that these incidents led to the flourishing of ideas of While ‘faith’ in this book refers to Islam, the race and ethnicity over religion as the basis author also uses it as a marker for the last- of identity and contributed to the victory ing political and cultural changes wrought of bhadrolok (Calcutta based Hindu elite) by Muslims and Muslim rule in the Bengal culture-inspired ‘Bengali Nationalism’ over region, rather than a reference to theology the Muslim national identity associated with or Sharia. This ‘faith as culture’ framework Pakistan’s origins (p. 113). is a reason behind the author’s disagreement with Richard Eaton’s thesis that the spread In the latter part of the book, Rahman shows of Islam in Bengal was due to the “agrarian us the development of a secularism-autoc- revolution” (p. 22). Instead, it is seen as a racy nexus in post-independence Bangla- result of ‘cultural evolution’ powered by the desh, starting from Sheikh Mujibur Rahman success of ‘political Islam’ which facilitated and continuing with the current government large-scale conversion to Islam, formed a of Sheikh Hasina. More importantly, Rah- strong political entity, and developed an man links this development with the Nehru- indigenous national language (pp. 27-28). vian dreams of expansionism leading up to 270 Insight Turkey Akhand Bharat (Undivided India)–he identi- One could criticize Rahman for his choice of fies the independence of Bangladesh as the scholarship, particularly his focus on iden- achievement of Nehru’s dream (p. 170) and tity politics and great political personalities argues that India and its clients in Bangladesh rather than working toward a socially or were the ultimate victors of the 1/11 military culturally informed history of East Bengal. takeover in 2007 (p. 302). In exploring the However, it is important to note why Rah- secularism-autocracy nexus in Bangladesh, man wrote the book in the first place, and for Rahman notes that it serves Indian interests whom. An engaging read, written in clear and and is Islamophobic. While the rise of secu- succinct prose, the book is intended for gen- lar forces espousing a Hinduised Bengali na- eral audiences interested in Bangladeshi po- tionalism had threatened the Muslim identity litical developments. It represents his attempt that had grown for over a thousand years (p. to wake up a nation unaware of its glorious, 175), Rahman sees the ‘faith-based’ Bangla- faith-based roots, since a blind, unaware na- deshi nationalism and model governance as- tion cannot remain politically and intellectu- sociated with General Ziaur Rahman and his ally independent (p. 14). This becomes clearer nationalist brand of politics as a reawakening in his final chapter, titled “The Unfinished of a lost Muslim identity (p. 238). However, Battle of Faith,” which serves as a clarion call it is important to note that despite acknowl- for a struggle against anti-Islam secular au- edging the importance of faith, Rahman thoritarian forces and their Indian overlords makes it clear time and again that he is not seeking to undermine or destroy the Bengali an Islamist–the ‘cunning’ Ershad regime is Muslim identity. In this regard, The Political criticized for the uncalled-for move to make History of Muslim Bengal is more than a mere Islam the state religion (p. 256), Jamaat-e- book on political history; it vividly captures Islami is criticized for its political follies and the tensions and intricacies of emerging no- collaboration with the Pakistani army in 1971 tions of Bangladeshi Muslim identity in the (p. 177), and the author himself denies any face of constant socio-political upheaval and links to Islamism (p. 15). adversity. 2020 Fall 271 BOOK REVIEWS Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine By Dana El Kurd London: Hurst Publishers, 2019, 226 pages, $62, ISBN: 978-1787382138 Reviewed by İbrahim Karataş, İstinye University The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a ter elucidates the study’s theoreti- century-old dispute that has culmi- cal framework, the following three nated in a sovereign Israeli state and chapters encompass empirical anal- an occupied Palestinian state that yses generated from qualitative and is still struggling to gain its sover- quantitative research, followed by a eignty. After the Israeli-Palestinian final chapter comparing the case of War right after the UN decision to Palestine with those of Bahrain and partition Palestine into two states Iraqi Kurdistan.