New Delhi: Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina has said that anti-independence forces have illegally seized power and were actively trying to destroy the country’s secular culture as she urged people to drive the usurpers out.
“Today, anti-liberation forces have illegally seized power in Bangladesh. They are actively trying to destroy Bengali culture,” the 77-year-old self-exiled ousted premier said in a statement on the occasion of Bengali New Year- Pohela Boishakh.
Hasina left Bangladesh in August last year after her nearly 16-year-long Awami League government was toppled in a student-led uprising. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who was in a protracted row with the Hasina regime for obscure reasons, assumed the charge of an interim government.
“Whenever anti-independence forces gained control in the past, they attacked the nation’s history, heritage, and culture. They not only tried to stop the Mangal Shobhajatra but even attempted to change its name,” Hasina said.
Hasina, who now lives in India, said that those who now run Bangladesh are “enemies of the nation” and “enemies of our culture”.
“Let us drive out the anti-liberation and anti-culture forces, and raise Bangladesh’s head high on the global stage,” said the former premier as Bangladesh celebrated the Bengali New Year in a changed cultural scenario.
“On this auspicious moment of Bengali New Year, let us commit to rejecting all that is unhealthy, ugly, or part of a distorted culture – and instead, embrace a healthy, beautiful, and creative way of life,” she added.
This year, Bangladesh authorities renamed the traditional “Mangal Shobhajatra” procession, a central attraction of Pohela Boishakh celebrations, as “Anondo Shobhajatra” after conservative Islamist groups like Hefazat-e-Islam called the “Mangal Shobhajatra” a “Hindu ritual” and urged the government to change its name.
Dhaka University’s fine arts faculty, which centrally stages the colourful street march in Dhaka, at a press conference last week announced the renaming of the event where towering masks, handcrafted puppets, and vivid depictions of animals feature the procession.
Dhaka University’s new Vice-Chancellor Professor Mohammad Niaz Ahmed Khan, however, said on Monday that “Anondo Shobhajatra” this year was the largest and most diverse to date with representation from the highest number of ethnic communities, including indigenous groups.
UNESCO declared “Mangal Shobhajatra” an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016 while Hasina said the Bengali New Year became a symbol of the “secular consciousness” of the Bengali nation.
“Those who dared to change the name of Mangal Shobhajatra, those who engage in such heinous conspiracies against our heritage and culture, are enemies of the nation, enemies of our culture, enemies of Bangladesh,” Hasina said.
“The people of this country will never let them succeed,” she added.
Recalling the brutal assassination of her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with his family in 1975, Hasina said, “There was an attempt to erase Bengali cultural identity and revert to a Pakistani ideology. Political toxins were insidiously injected into the realm of culture”.
“But the Bengali people did not remain silent – they carried forward an unyielding cultural resistance,” she added.
Hasina said Pohela Boishakh is the most universal celebration of the Bengali people. “This occasion is celebrated with hopes for happiness, peace, and prosperity while leaving behind the grief of past mistakes and failures,” she added.
“The first light of dawn on this day brings forth new dreams, aspirations, and possibilities. It unites the Bengali nation in its unique worldview and rich cultural identity. I call upon all to step into the new year, leaving behind the old and the worn, embracing harmony that transcends religion, race, and community,” she added.
