|
The most hideous development however was the joining of the Islamic
fundamentalists with the Pakistan army in wanton killing, raping, torture,
and extortion of the Bengalis. They said that they were protecting
Islam and Pakistan, both from becoming extinct in East Pakistan.
Many of the Mullahs justified the killings and rapes mentioning the
rulings in Qur’an (verses of God) and Hadith (sayings of Prophet
Muhammad). All the fundamentalist forces came together and they
organized to form Islamic paramilitary militia forces with the support and
training given by the Pakistan military in power. Three main forces
they formed were: Razakars, Al-Badars, and Al-Shams. Razakars were
composed of the fundamentalist members and supporters from the whole
country. Al-Badars and Al-Shams were mainly the members of the
student wing of the fundamentalist party Jamaat-e-Islami headed by the
political leaders Maulana Abul Ala Moududi (now deceased), and many
ideologues of Moududi such as Golam Azam (retired, living comfortably in
Bangladesh), Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami (currently a Minister in
Bangladesh), and few other Bengali Islamists.
The members of Razakar, Al-Badar, and Al-Shams forces were trained by
Pakistan army just like Talibans of Afghanistan. They could kill
anyone if they deemed them to be an enemy of Islam or of Pakistan.
They carried out this brutal operation till our independence on 16th
December 1971. During the turbulent nine-month period in 1971, the
Pakistan army and the Islamic Militia forces could investigate anyone to
check whether he knew the four basic Kalemas (Kalema means the
pledge or allegiance to Allah and Muhammad, which every good Muslim must
know by heart). According to a fundamentalist Muslim, one cannot be
a good Muslim unless one could recite those Kalemas in Arabic
uninterruptedly. That was not all. Everyone had to wear
Islamic cap (called “tupi” in Bangladesh) to show the army and their
allied Islamic militia that he was a Muslim. Just for being Hindu
was a crime of the century! Many Hindus who could not flee to India
were thus killed. Many supporters of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Awami
League who could not hide and/or flee to India were killed as well to keep
Islam and Pakistan intact.
In 1971, on one day, I was riding a bus. The bus was halted by
Pakistan army and Razakars. Before the bus could come to a dead
stop, the driver instructed everyone to wear Islamic cap and memorize the
four Kalemas of Islam in Arabic. The first Kalema,
which is better known as Kalema Taiyeb in Arabic, is “La Ilaha
Illallahu Muhammadur Rasulullah” meaning “there is no other God but
Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet.” I remember quite well the
terror and tremor in the bus. Everyone was panicked and terrified
and couldn’t wear the cap properly because then all of us were terrified
and our hands were constantly in tremor. We were ordered to get down
from the bus. We approached one-by-one. We had to recite the Kalemas.
A Pakistan army and few Razakars asked everyone whether we were Muslims.
Fortunate for us, all the passengers could say the Arabic pledges and we
were allowed to board the bus and resume our journey. I still could
remember seeing few hapless persons handcuffed (probably from another bus)
on one side. I heard people saying that most probably those
unfortunate ones couldn’t utter the Islamic pledges and they failed to
prove that they were Muslims. In those turbulent days, this could
have been a horrendous crime in the eyes of the brute Pakistani military
and their Islamist allies. A harsh death penalty was given to many
who failed to prove that they were Muslims. Many Hindus started
memorizing the four Arabic pledges of Islam just to save their neck.
The Pakistan army and Islamic militia forces came to know about this
later. So, they started checking whether they were circumcised like
Muslims even though they were able to recite the Kalemas.
Therefore, it was rather difficult for a Hindu to escape death from the
Pakistan army and Islamic militia forces in 1971 inside East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh).
I still remember the mass scale massacre of Hindus of a small village
called “Naria” near Moulvibazar, in the northeastern part of
Bangladesh. Pakistan army in cohort with the Islamic paramilitary
forces (“Razakars”) attacked all the Hindu families of that village.
I was living with my Aunt’s family at the time in a neighboring village.
I still remember the heartfelt crying of one Hindu survivor “Mr. Nolini,”
whose all family members were killed by the Pakistan army and Razakar
Islamists. He survived because he became unconscious (and that’s
why he survived) probably a second before the army and the Islamic forces
shot bullets from the machine guns on the columns in which all the members
of his family were lined up by the army. Mr. Nolini was probably in
his early 60s and was recovered by the neighboring villagers from the pool
of blood of his near and dear ones. He was brought by the
sympathizers to my Aunt’s house where I was living. My Aunt’s
husband was a friend of Mr. Nolini. As the only survivor, he was
crying and regretting the following day by saying why he was not being
killed by the Pakistan army and by the fundamentalist forces. What
we came to know was that he felt unconscious (probably a second before the
army and the fundamentalist forces opened fire from the machine guns) when
he saw every one of his family including his little grandson crying and
waiting for imminent deaths standing on the columns. About thirty
members of his near and dear ones (his sons and their families and others)
were mercilessly killed in that village in one evening sometime in
April/May of 1971. Everyone standing there (including myself) cried
after seeing the gentleman the following morning. Still, it is hard
for me to check my tears whenever I remember that old gentleman rolling on
the ground for the loss of his near and dear ones. The villagers
later tried to help him to flee to India because they figured that the
army and the Razakar Islamists would come back and would even kill those
who helped Mr. Nolini, a Hindu.
Back
< 1
2 3
> Next |
