Kasim Bazar kuthi revisited

In Bangladesh we lack a powerful democratic opposition in the street and in the parliament. This vacuum is filled up by conspiracies, terrorism and unrest

When I was making my film on the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman I visited Murshidabad, now in West-Bengal for shooting the graveyard of Nawab Alivardi and Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah. The episode of the killing of Siraj ud-Daulah was included in my film which mainly dealt with the killing of Sheikh Mujib. After the shooting I was having a cup of tea in a tea stall on the bank of the river Bhagirathi. A local associate of mine, Bijoy Chowdhury, asked me whether I had any intention to visit Kasim Bazar Kuthi. Kasim Bazar is not far from Murshidabad. Bijoy Chowdhury said that we could go there the next day. I eagerly agreed to his proposal. I know the history of Kasim Bazar. I know once this Kasim Bazar changed the fate of Subah Bangla. The conspiracy to overthrow and kill the young Nawab was hatched in this place. All the conspirators including Mir-Jafar, Yar Lutuf, Jagath Seth, Rai Durlabh and Omichund used to meet at this place in the dead of the night to prepare their plan. Robert Clive, the-then representative of the British East India Company also joined them to give his seal of approval to the conspiracy to overthrow Siraj ud-Daulah. Clive came to this Kuthi sometimes under the disguise of a woman in a Palki (Palanquin) to avoid the eyes of the Nawab's spies.
My local associate Bijoy Chowdhury was a history teacher and was living in Murshidabad. He told me that the history of Bengal is very contradictory in nature. On one hand it is a history of glory and pride, on the other it is a history of shame and self-destruction. The original Subah Bangla which included Bihar and Orissa is full of heroic tales but again is also full of political conspiracies and killings. And this is true from the Pala dynasty to the present day. Nadia, Sonargaon and Dhaka whatever the capital cities of the Bangla of old times, they were never free from political conspiracies and killings despite their glorious past. When Dhaka was the residence of the Mughal governor Nawab Murshid Quli khan there was a conspiracy to kill him by a Mughal Prince Azim-us-shan. One day Murshid Quli khan was passing through Hussaini Dlalan area in old Dhaka in a Palki and an attempt was made on his life. He survived and transferred the Capital of Subah-Bangla from Dhaka to Maksudabaad which is now known as Mur­shidabad. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah was overthrown and killed. He was a young ruler of Bengal and was running the country from the capital city of Murshidabad and a kuthi near Kasim Bazar, a nearby place in Murshidabad was selected by the conspirators to overthrow the regime and their conspiracy was successful in the Battle of Palashi.
After visiting Kasim Bazar Kuthi I came back to Murshidabad. On the eve of my departure. Bijoy Chowdhury suddenly told me "You could again visit Kasim Bazar without coming here again. The second Kasimbazar is situated on a road in Dhaka named Agamasi lane. You wrote a play on the killing of Sheikh Mujib. This Agamasi Lane which I call the second Kasim Bazar  Kuthi played a major role in the killing." I easily understood his comparison between Kasim Bazar and Agamasi lane. After 200 years a conspiracy was hatched again in this second Kasimbazar Kuthi to overthrow and kill Sheikh Mujib. This time the chief conspirator was Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad in place of Mir-Jafar and his residence was at Agamasi lane. Many so-called trusted associates of Bangabandhu came to this residence at midnight to conspire against the Mujib government. Later it was revealed that Boster, the-then American ambassador in Dhaka used to join these meetings from time to time in a car without his ambassadorial flag. The conspiracy in No.2 Kasim Bazar  Kuthi at Dhaka was successful and Bangabandhu was killed with many family members in the early morning hours of 15th August 1975.
Sometimes the repetition of history is a fact not a rhetoric. After the killing of Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah the Bengal passed through a difficult time for many years. First the country was ruled by some puppet Nawabs of British East India Company. Then the company took over directly and their repression and exploitation knew no bounds. Then the British monarchy included Bengal in their empire and eventually the whole of India. Likewise, after the killing of Sheikh Mujib, first came the puppet regime of Mostaq Ahmad subservient to the killers of Mujib. Then came the direct military rule of Ziaur Rahman and Ershad. Then in the place of the rule of cantonment, a political party born in the cantonment took over power under the disguise of a civil government. Corruption and abuse of power was rampant and people had to wage a long war to re-establish a democratic rule in their country.
But the country is not free from the political conspiracies and unfortunately like the past a section of the elite class, the new rich class and the communal forces joined this dirty game. The role that was played by the rich business class under the leadership of Jagath Seth during the Nawab's period, the same role is now being played by a section of powerful new bourgeoisie in Bangladesh under the leadership of a powerful ex-banker and a reputed lawyer with the association of a section of powerful media. It seems that the conspiracy to change the democratic regime in Bangladesh again is brewing in a new Kasim Bazar Kuthi, this time in Dhaka and the place is known as Kawranbazar. All sorts of people come here. Not all of them are suspects. But the people who come here some of them are associated with different controversial organizations like Shujon, Transparency and Dialogue etc. and are not above suspicion. They cry for democracy but their activities and utterances are creating confusion among conscious people if they are crying for democracy or trying to destabilize a very fragile democracy which is still fighting for its Life. This time again Kasim Bazar  Kuthi at Kawranbazar seems to be trying to serve  the purposes and interests of some big businesses, big NGO's and their big foreign patrons.
The present Hasina Government has many faults like other democracies at other places in the world. Almost everywhere there are powerful democratic opposition to replace the regime peacefully according to the wishes of the people. In Bangladesh we lack a powerful democratic opposition in the street and in the parliament. This vacuum is filled up by conspiracies, terrorism and political killings. Some killings were done in the name of re-establishing multiple-party democracy. But that proved to be a great bluff from time to time. People had to fight in Bangladesh to free themselves sometimes from military and sometimes from civil tyrants. Good or bad the present government is a democratic one with its limitations. To make democracy strong and to change the present government the country needs a powerful democratic opposition not a conspiracy by the new rich elite class which is brewing in a new Kasim Bazar Kuthi.
What is the alternative of the present government? A Taliban or an IS government? Would we like to see our country to be turned into a killing field like Afghanistan or Syria? Our all-out efforts should be to strengthen the government campaign to defeat terrorism and the conspiracies of anti-democratic forces. The government and the people should encourage to develop a powerful democratic opposition which will help to establish a two-legged healthy democracy in their country. Only that will end the continuation of the politics of conspiracy hatched in Kasim Bazar Kuthis in Murshidabad and Dhaka.

London, Friday 15 April, 2016

Kasim Bazar kuthi revisited

In Bangladesh we lack a powerful democratic opposition in the street and in the parliament. This vacuum is filled up by conspiracies, terrorism and unrest

When I was making my film on the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman I visited Murshidabad, now in West-Bengal for shooting the graveyard of Nawab Alivardi and Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah. The episode of the killing of Siraj ud-Daulah was included in my film which mainly dealt with the killing of Sheikh Mujib. After the shooting I was having a cup of tea in a tea stall on the bank of the river Bhagirathi. A local associate of mine, Bijoy Chowdhury, asked me whether I had any intention to visit Kasim Bazar Kuthi. Kasim Bazar is not far from Murshidabad. Bijoy Chowdhury said that we could go there the next day. I eagerly agreed to his proposal. I know the history of Kasim Bazar. I know once this Kasim Bazar changed the fate of Subah Bangla. The conspiracy to overthrow and kill the young Nawab was hatched in this place. All the conspirators including Mir-Jafar, Yar Lutuf, Jagath Seth, Rai Durlabh and Omichund used to meet at this place in the dead of the night to prepare their plan. Robert Clive, the-then representative of the British East India Company also joined them to give his seal of approval to the conspiracy to overthrow Siraj ud-Daulah. Clive came to this Kuthi sometimes under the disguise of a woman in a Palki (Palanquin) to avoid the eyes of the Nawabs spies. My local associate Bijoy Chowdhury was a history teacher and was living in Murshidabad. He told me that the history of Bengal is very contradictory in nature. On one hand it is a history of glory and pride, on the other it is a history of shame and self-destruction. The original Subah Bangla which included Bihar and Orissa is full of heroic tales but again is also full of political conspiracies and killings. And this is true from the Pala dynasty to the present day. Nadia, Sonargaon and Dhaka whatever the capital cities of the Bangla of old times, they were never free from political conspiracies and killings despite their glorious past. When Dhaka was the residence of the Mughal governor Nawab Murshid Quli khan there was a conspiracy to kill him by a Mughal Prince Azim-us-shan. One day Murshid Quli khan was passing through Hussaini Dlalan area in old Dhaka in a Palki and an attempt was made on his life. He survived and transferred the Capital of Subah-Bangla from Dhaka to Maksudabaad which is now known as Murshidabad. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah was overthrown and killed. He was a young ruler of Bengal and was running the country from the capital city of Murshidabad and a kuthi near Kasim Bazar, a nearby place in Murshidabad was selected by the conspirators to overthrow the regime and their conspiracy was successful in the Battle of Palashi. After visiting Kasim Bazar Kuthi I came back to Murshidabad. On the eve of my departure. Bijoy Chowdhury suddenly told me You could again visit Kasim Bazar without coming here again. The second Kasimbazar is situated on a road in Dhaka named Agamasi lane. You wrote a play on the killing of Sheikh Mujib. This Agamasi Lane which I call the second Kasim Bazar Kuthi played a major role in the killing. I easily understood his comparison between Kasim Bazar and Agamasi lane. After 200 years a conspiracy was hatched again in this second Kasimbazar Kuthi to overthrow and kill Sheikh Mujib. This time the chief conspirator was Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad in place of Mir-Jafar and his residence was at Agamasi lane. Many so-called trusted associates of Bangabandhu came to this residence at midnight to conspire against the Mujib government. Later it was revealed that Boster, the-then American ambassador in Dhaka used to join these meetings from time to time in a car without his ambassadorial flag. The conspiracy in No.2 Kasim Bazar Kuthi at Dhaka was successful and Bangabandhu was killed with many family members in the early morning hours of 15th August 1975. Sometimes the repetition of history is a fact not a rhetoric. After the killing of Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah the Bengal passed through a difficult time for many years. First the country was ruled by some puppet Nawabs of British East India Company. Then the company took over directly and their repression and exploitation knew no bounds. Then the British monarchy included Bengal in their empire and eventually the whole of India. Likewise, after the killing of Sheikh Mujib, first came the puppet regime of Mostaq Ahmad subservient to the killers of Mujib. Then came the direct military rule of Ziaur Rahman and Ershad. Then in the place of the rule of cantonment, a political party born in the cantonment took over power under the disguise of a civil government. Corruption and abuse of power was rampant and people had to wage a long war to re-establish a democratic rule in their country. But the country is not free from the political conspiracies and unfortunately like the past a section of the elite class, the new rich class and the communal forces joined this dirty game. The role that was played by the rich business class under the leadership of Jagath Seth during the Nawabs period, the same role is now being played by a section of powerful new bourgeoisie in Bangladesh under the leadership of a powerful ex-banker and a reputed lawyer with the association of a section of powerful media. It seems that the conspiracy to change the democratic regime in Bangladesh again is brewing in a new Kasim Bazar Kuthi, this time in Dhaka and the place is known as Kawranbazar. All sorts of people come here. Not all of them are suspects. But the people who come here some of them are associated with different controversial organizations like Shujon, Transparency and Dialogue etc. and are not above suspicion. They cry for democracy but their activities and utterances are creating confusion among conscious people if they are crying for democracy or trying to destabilize a very fragile democracy which is still fighting for its Life. This time again Kasim Bazar Kuthi at Kawranbazar seems to be trying to serve the purposes and interests of some big businesses, big NGOs and their big foreign patrons. The present Hasina Government has many faults like other democracies at other places in the world. Almost everywhere there are powerful democratic opposition to replace the regime peacefully according to the wishes of the people. In Bangladesh we lack a powerful democratic opposition in the street and in the parliament. This vacuum is filled up by conspiracies, terrorism and political killings. Some killings were done in the name of re-establishing multiple-party democracy. But that proved to be a great bluff from time to time. People had to fight in Bangladesh to free themselves sometimes from military and sometimes from civil tyrants. Good or bad the present government is a democratic one with its limitations. To make democracy strong and to change the present government the country needs a powerful democratic opposition not a conspiracy by the new rich elite class which is brewing in a new Kasim Bazar Kuthi. What is the alternative of the present government? A Taliban or an IS government? Would we like to see our country to be turned into a killing field like Afghanistan or Syria? Our all-out efforts should be to strengthen the government campaign to defeat terrorism and the conspiracies of anti-democratic forces. The government and the people should encourage to develop a powerful democratic opposition which will help to establish a two-legged healthy democracy in their country. Only that will end the continuation of the politics of conspiracy hatched in Kasim Bazar Kuthis in Murshidabad and Dhaka. London, Friday 15 April, 2016