What Advisor Mahfuz wrote about the tag ‘Shahbagi’
Md. Mahfuz Alam the interim government’s information and broadcasting advisor has called on everyone to stop calling everyone Shahbagi out of political vendetta. He said, “Inciting mobs or creating divisions against the students and youth of Shahbagh who fought against Mujibism and fascism with the Shahbagi tag will harm everyone.”
He said these things in a post on his verified Facebook account on Wednesday night.
Mahfuz Alam’s Facebook post titled “Fascism in Shahbagh and the Atonement of ‘Shahbagis'” is presented for the readers-
Jamaat was an accomplice in war crimes. But as Nahid Islam said, they atoned through this coup. I also said that those in Jamaat who are pro-Bangladesh have the right to do politics in this country. With a few exceptions, none of the new generation of Jamaat are pro-Pakistan. As a result, the political rights of Jamaat-Shibir cannot be undermined by using the anti-liberation tag. We have to win against them through a political and ideological fight. We have to respond to their propaganda war with the truth.
A large part of those who went to Shahbagh fell into the blindness of ‘consciousness’. Many students and youth were there not out of hatred for Islam, but simply demanding the trial of war criminals. The Awami League and the Mujibist faction of the left used the emotions of the young generation to establish a mobocracy in this country. The result of which was a decade-long fascist misrule – the disappearance, murder, rape and oppression of opposition party workers.
But many students and youth who participated in Shahbagh have realized their mistake and wanted to go beyond the Mujibist narrative. They were participants in the fight against fascism for the past few years. The wounded and the dead. They are our fellow fighters. They are our comrades! They ensured the defeat of the League and Mujibism by playing a strong role in this coup. They have already atoned for their political mistakes.
I myself came to Shapla in the Long March out of love for the Prophet. I could not come on May 5. But we were not interested in the war crimes trial and the role of Jamaat leaders. We had come to Dhaka primarily with the respect and love for the Prophet. In the pro-Sarshina madrasa where I studied, Jamaat leaders were considered followers of false beliefs. And the hanging of Jamaat leaders was seen as the result of their opposition to their scholars and true ‘Islam’. We have known Jamaat since childhood as opposed to scholars and ulama.
Many people may not notice that most of the workers of Shapla are actually against Jamaat’s beliefs (beliefs and policies) and leadership. Many of the leaders of Shapla are victims of opposition from Jamaat’s scholars and pirs. Even many have been harassed and oppressed by Jamaat and Shibir leaders. But Jamaat has successfully used them as proxies. Like the League has used the ‘Shahbagis’.
We have reached the post-coup period. Here we are against the narrative that Jamaat or Shibir workers are ‘Rajakar’, ‘anti-freedom’ and are worthy of death. Similarly, our position is against the Islamophobia of Shahbag. I myself have been a victim of this Islamophobia. From calling anyone who wears a Punjabi cap a militant to the demonization of madrasa students and scholars, Shahbag is responsible for the demonization of BNP-Jamaat and other opposition leaders and activists. The cultural settlement of Shahbag turned BNP-Jamaat and other opposition leaders and activists into subhumans.
But in the post-coup period, a time for dialogue has arrived. An opportunity arose for the old Shapla and Shahbag workers to come out of the Shapla-Shahbag binary and become ‘comrades’ against the lifeblood of Shahbag – Mujibism, Bharatism and the Sheikh family. In fact, Sheikh Hasina’s downfall occurred because the Shapla-Shahbag workers became comrades. Meanwhile, a beautiful opportunity arose for the Shapla leadership to demand respect and partnership in the state without being anyone’s proxy.
I had thanked the scholars and ulama in my previous two posts for their strong role (picture attached). I hope that the leadership of the monotheistic people should not be in the hands of fringe elements but in the hands of mainstream right-wing scholars. I hope that the mainstream scholars will stand in favor of the mass uprising, in favor of the country, and stand against the culture of treason and impunity of Shahbag. They themselves will not imitate that culture. In this case, we will be on the side of the oppressed and democratic mainstream scholars.
The current interim government has taken the initiative to prosecute the Shapla massacre. The chief advisor has talked about documenting the Shapla massacre. I hope that the barbaric Sheikh Hasina will ensure a fair investigation, documentation and trial of the indiscriminate massacre that was carried out against the martyred madrasa students and scholars in Shapla.
Former ‘Shahbagis’ who expressed their just position and fought through the coup – they cannot be made eligible for execution in any way. The possibility of greater solidarity in the post-coup period cannot be destroyed by giving them the tag of ‘Shahbagis’. If anyone in favor of Shapla thinks that they will succeed by making the former ‘Shahbagis’ who are anti-League and in favor of the coup enemies and eligible for execution, it will not happen. If you demand treason and impunity on behalf of Shapla, will you also become a ‘Shahbaghi’, or not? Those among the left who are anti-Mujibism have been vocal against the Shapla massacre for a long time (photo attached). Therefore, it is very important for us to distinguish between enemies and friends.
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