Muslim Nationalism in South Asia - Bangladeshi Nationalism

Bangladeshi Nationalism

Bangladesh is home to more than 135 million Muslims. It is the fourth largest Muslim community in the world. Originally the Eastern wing of Pakistan, it gained independence in 1971 following a bloody civil war that claimed the lives of many people.

The founding of Bangladesh is open to controversy. While many Indian analysts see it as proof positive of the failure of the two-nation concept as purported by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, its formation is more due to socio-economics and political feudalism than a strong desire by the members of the state to step away from the idea of a Muslim homeland.

After the founding of Pakistan, the dominant political parties within the Western block were controlled by Urdu-speaking Indian migrants (especially those from Aligarh), who were seen as the leaders of Muslims in British India and (right or wrong) the "champions" of Pakistan. Because of their fluency in the lingua franca of Muslim South Asia, Urdu, and desire to transplant the tried-and-true institutions of the old Indian state to newly-created Pakistan, Urdu became the National language. This caused great concern among native Western and Eastern Pakistanis, the majority of whom spoke languages such as Bengali, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Pashto, Sindhi and Balochi rather than Urdu. On the other hand, due to its neutrality, it was seen as the perfect language to build the nation-state upon.

Unfortunately, Urdu itself came under attack, to the chagrin of some prominent Bengalis who spoke it and believed in it as a means of bridging the many gaps throughout the newly-created Pakistan. Some Technocrats and Elitists saw Urdu as a means by which to retain power, keeping non-speakers out, alienating most Bengalis. This, along with the economic disparity between West and East Pakistan that saw massive transfers of capital from the East to the West, created a situation where Bengalis felt increasingly isolated and unable to participate in the new nation-state. Few West Pakistanis saw this and continued to participate in both sides of the country (many Memons and Gujaratis were living and building businesses in East Pakistan). This led to the creation of Bengali political parties that espoused greater regional autonomy and recognition of Bengali as a second National Language.

Following a stunning victory whereby Bengali parties captured the majority of the seats in the elections of 1970, the elite enclaves of Western Pakistani Muslims, primarily residing in Karachi and Lahore at that time, feared ethnic domination and sectarianism. With the rise of ethnic politics, it would be very easy for other ethnicities to feel threatened, and besides, they argued, it would be counter-intuitive to the idea of one Muslim state where ethnicity is irrelevant and greater importance should be placed on the common heritage of Islam.

Bangladesh was created and millions of residents of the former West and East wings were displaced. Most non-Bengalis, fearing persecution, attempted to flee to Western Pakistan. A significant number of Biharis, who identify with Pakistan, continue to live in Bangladesh with limited status and recognition from the Bangladeshi government, while communities of Bengalis continue to live in Pakistan and are mostly integrated into the fabric of a culturally diverse Pakistan.