A Planned Cultural Aggression Is Under Way in Bangladesh, Says Ruhul Kabir Rizvi
A subtle and planned cultural aggression is being carried out in Bangladesh, according to Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, acting secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and political adviser to the prime minister. He said an imperialist conspiracy is trying to change the original form of the language.
But however much conspiracy there may be, the people of this country themselves have the capacity for spontaneous resistance against any aggression, he also noted. He made the remarks as chief guest at a seminar held in the seminar hall of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in the capital.
The seminar, titled 'The Crisis of Bangladesh's Culture: In Search of Its True Form', was organised at the initiative of Sammilita Sanskritik Oikya. Language, culture and national identity were discussed there in detail.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said some new words are being deliberately inserted into our language and culture. Discarding words that have long been practised and used, and imposing new forms in their place, is part of an imperialist activity.
Giving examples, he said a subtle attempt can be seen to replace well-established words such as those for murder, blood or corpse with other words. In his words, these subtle changes are the signs of a planned aggression.
Rizvi said this nation has a history of struggle, a history of giving blood for its language. As a result, an invisible inner capacity to resist any cultural aggression runs in the blood of this people.
Explaining the historical context and nationalism, he said the so-called 'Bengal Renaissance' of the nineteenth century was not a complete renaissance in the overall sense. It was mainly confined to Hindu revivalism, where the education and social reform of the then majority Muslim peasant society were completely neglected.
In his view, it was through the flow of those historical events and through the struggles of '47 and '71 that this country's geographical and political self-identity, or 'Bangladeshi nationalism', was formed.
Rizvi also said that in every crisis period in history, a class of intellectuals has flattered fascism. Just as many famous intellectuals lined up behind Hitler in the past, the same was seen in our country during the fascist period. They said nothing against disappearances, enforced disappearances or the taking away of voting rights.
By contrast, patriotic intellectuals always stand beside the people of the soil and speak the truth, he said. He viewed cultural figures coming together to discuss the country's own culture, national identity and heritage as a positive initiative.
National Professor Dr Mahbubullah spoke at the event as chief discussant. Chaired by Bir Muktijoddha M A Malek, president of Sammilita Sanskritik Oikya, the special guests who spoke included BNP joint secretary general and member of parliament Abdus Salam Azad, BNP cultural affairs secretary and film actor Ashraf Uddin Ahmed Ujjal, volunteer affairs secretary Mir Sarfat Ali Sapu, Ekushey Padak-winning rhymester Abu Saleh and former vice-chancellor of Patuakhali Science and Technology University Dr Abdul Latif Masum.
The keynote paper was presented by Bangla Academy Award-winning researcher Dr Mustafa Majid. Other discussants included Rezabuddoula Chowdhury, film actor Helal Khan, veteran journalist Gaziul Hasan Khan, music director Ethun Babu, Md Abu Horayra and Parveen Sultana Rabbi. Educators, literary figures, writers, researchers, film and cultural personalities and journalists attended the seminar. Speakers expressed hope that such events would increase the practice of national culture and strengthen efforts to protect the country's distinctiveness.
