Anisur Rahman on Bangladesh: ‘A nation where all secular culture is under attack’

In an article for Upplitt Magasin, poet, writer, journalist, and researcher Anisur Rahman analyses the way in which recent events in his home country are threatening the very existence of secular culture in Bangladesh.  Rahman argues that although the student-led protests have helped to bring about political change, ousting the longest-serving female prime minister in the world, the destruction of academic and cultural institutions and monuments will have much more profound consequences for Bangladeshi society.

You can read excerpts from the article below and read the full article in Upplitt Magasin.

‘After the shocking fall of Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh enters a new era with a non-partisan government headed by US-backed businessman and Nobel laureate, banker Muhammad Yunus. The Hasina regime fell in a massive student-led uprising. Following the end of her rule, the country experienced widespread destruction of sculptures, academies, museums, and libraries. The devastation included statues of the country's founding president, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Nobel laureate Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, pioneer modern Bengali artist Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, pioneering feminist writer Begum Rokeya, and the country's 1971 liberation war heroes. The perpetrators looted banks, zoos, shops, and houses…‍

They destroyed transportation, schools, and hospitals. Not only that, but they also vandalized prisons and helped many prisoners escape. Who are they? Do they seem like Islamist fanatics carrying the legacy of the Taliban, ISIS, or al-Qaida? What continues to happen in this Muslim-majority secular country is alarming. Does it not resemble the events that took place in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, and Syria in the 2010s? What we are witnessing in Bangladesh today is difficult to describe in words. Despite emerging as a secular, progressive, socialist country through the Warof Liberation in 1971 under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s fundamental principles have been eroded by successive regimes, both military and civilian, over the last five decades…’

Originally from Bangladesh, Anisur Rahman is based in Uppsala, Sweden. Rahman was the ICORN resident in Uppsala between 2009 and 2011.