DEBATING NATIONALISM IN BANGLADESH: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL IDEOLOGY OF SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN BY ATIQUR RAHMAN MUJAHID A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Human Sciences in History and Civilization Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Science International Islamic University Malaysia NOVEMBER 2018 ABSTRACT Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been the central role player in the movement of Bangladeshi independence. His dominant role and presence has earned him the title “Father of the nation.” However, his political ideology has been debated intensely. Sheikh Mujib being the most towering figure in Bangladeshi politics, has been explained, claimed and counter claimed by political parties and intellectuals as a secular, a Bengali and a socialist or a mix of all. This thesis argues that such understanding about Sheikh Mujib is only partial, and is conditioned by two factors: firstly, looking at only half of Sheikh Mujib’s entire political career, that is post-1947 Sheikh Mujib in Pakistan politics; and secondly, looking at Sheikh Mujib in the context of independence movement alone as an anti-Pakistan politician. The thesis argues that the true political ideology of Sheikh Mujib should be constructed based on the context of nationalism-debate, political psychology and political trend that he inherited, oriented with and practiced in his entire political career spanning during the last two decades of British India and the first two decades of united Pakistan. In analyzing his entire political career the research found that Sheikh Mujib and his political ideology are embodiment of the spirit of independence and Muslim identity consciousness inherited from Wahhabi-Farayezi-Deobandi anti-British Islamic movements, modernist Aligarh movement, Muslim League and Pakistan movement. Sheikh Mujib was a blend of universal Muslim identity and ethnic Bengali nationalism. ii ملخص البحث يركز هذا البحث على بيان حقيقة اترخيية تتعلق ابلشيخ جميب الرمحن من خﻻل دوره الرايدي يف حركة بنغﻻديش املستقلة انطﻻقًا من محله لقب: )أبو الشعب البنغﻻديشي(. وتتمحور مشكلة البحث حول فكره السياسي العميق. لقد كان الشيخ جميب شخصية اكثر بروًزا يف السياحة السياسة البنجﻻديشية ومثاًرا للجدل، حيث مت شرحها وادعائها من قبل اﻷحزاب السياسية واملثقفني على أنه علماين وبنغايل واشرتاكي أو أنه مزيج منها كلها. حيث إن تلك الفكرة السابقة بينهم لشخصية الشيخ جميب تتعلق جزئيًّا بعاملني: أوًًل ما ينظر فقط إىل نصف حياة السياسية الكاملة للشيخ جميب، وهو الشيخ جميب بعد سنوات 1947م، يف السياسة الباكستانية. واثنيًا، النظر إىل الشيخ جميب يف سياق حركة اًلستقﻻل وحدها بوصفه سياسيًا معادًاي لباكستان. كما يركز هذا البحث على أن الفكر السياسي احلقيقي للشيخ جميب جيب أن يتم بناؤه على سياق فهم الفكرة الوطنية، وعلم النفس السياسي، واًلجتاه السياسي الذي ورثه، وحياته أبكملها املوجهة إىل العمل السياسي الذي امتدت خﻻل العقدين اﻷخريين من اهلند الربيطانية، والعقدين اﻷولني من ابكستان املوحدة. وقد أثبت البحث من خﻻل إبراز أهم النتائج أن الشيخ جميب وأيديولوجيته السياسية جتسدان لروح اًلستقﻻل، ووعي اهلوية اﻹسﻻمية املوروثة من احلركات اﻹسﻻمية الوهابية-الفرائزية-الديوبندية ضد الربيطانيا، وحركة عليغراه احلديثة، وحركة احلزب اﻹسﻻمي، واحلركة الباكستانية. فكان الشيخ جميب حمبًا ابهلوية اﻹسﻻمية العاملية كما كان عاشًقا ابلوطنية البنغﻻديشية احمللية. iii APPROVAL PAGE I certify that I have supervised and read this study and that in my opinion, it conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of History and Civilization. ………………………………….. M. Moniruzzaman Supervisor ………………………………….. Arshad Islam Co-Supervisor I certify that I have read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of History and Civilization. ………………………………….. Fauziah Fathil Internal Examiner This thesis was submitted to the Department of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Science and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of History and Civilization. ………………………………….. Arshad Islam Head, Department of History and Civilization This thesis was submitted to the Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Science and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of History and Civilization. ………………………………….. Mohammad A. Quayum Dean, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Science iv DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigation, except otherwise I 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 Atiqur Rahman Mujahid Signature ........................................................... Date ......................................... v COPY INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH DEBATING NATIONALISM IN BANLADESH: A CRITICAL ANALAYSIS OF POLITICAL IDEOLOGY OF SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN I declare that the copyright holders of this thesis jointly owned by Atiqur Rahman Mujahid and IIUM. Copyright © 2018 Atiqur Rahman Mujahid 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 Atiqur Rahman Mujahid ……..…………………….. ……………………….. Signature Date DEDICATION vi This thesis is dedicated to My loving parents Amjad Hossain and Arjuna Begum Whose compassion for me flow like a waterfall That continually nourishes my soul vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS All praises are due to Allah, who is most merciful and the most compassionate, without his grace and blessings we are helpless. I must confess that without His mercy I could not have completed this task. My very sincere gratitude and prayer goes to Associate Professor Dr. M Moniruzzaman, my supervisor, for his patience, encouragement, invaluable suggestions, acute observations and useful criticisms, all of which contributed to making this dissertation possible. His words always give me a hope, especially the sentence inspired me a lot “you are on the right track and doing well.” I would like to express my heartiest gratitude to Associate Professor Dr. Arshad Islam, my co- supervisor, for his awesome support during this journey. It would be incomplete without giving thanks to Professors, Doctors and Lecturers of the Department of History and Civilization in IIUM, who have taught me invaluable knowledge like Professor Abdullah Al Ahsan, a man of integrity, Assoc. Prof. Hafiz Zakaria, Dr. Fauziah Fathil, Dr. Elmira Akhmetova, and Dr. Helmi. I also wish to extend my gratitude to those brothers and friends whose generous help and encouragement allowed me to complete my research, especially my young brother Ashikur Rahman, Br. Muhibbullah, Young poet Abdul Kader Zilani, S. A Masud, Mahmudul Hasan, Md. Saifullah. My special thanks to AB Noman for his help in translation. In particular, I want to acknowledge International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) for sponsoring my studies. Without their help this task would have been impossible. I also must thank to my parents and relatives who have always assisted me and wished my success. Finally, I would like to thank my unnamed friends who helped me much during the process of document collections, proof reading, translating and editing. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................................................... ii Approval page .......................................................................................................... iv Declaration ............................................................................................................... v Copyright ................................................................................................................. vi Dedication ................................................................................................................ vi Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. viii Table of contents ...................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1 1.1 Background of the Study ........................................................................ 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem........................................................................ 5 1.3 Research Questions ................................................................................. 7 1.4 Objectives of the Study ..........................................................................