e_Paper_Thursday_December 30, 2016

Opinion 21
DT
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2016
Bangla Academy, the Srabon Publishers
ban, and the long shadow of Ayub Khan
Is Srabon Prokashoni’s ban from the Ekushey Boi Mela a sign of our culture being compromised?
The Ekushey Boi Mela is synonymous with Bengali culture
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU
• Afsan Chowdhury
Bangla Academy, in its
infinite wisdom, has
banned Srabon Publishers
from having a stall at the
Ekushey Boi Mela this year.
The excuse is that it disrupted
the book fair last year by
protesting the closure of a stall and
the arrest of a fellow publisher.
This publisher was accused
of publishing books which were
considered anti-religious in nature
by the police, but the legal verdict
is not there.
Srabon protested the decision
last year and so it has been banned
from hosting a stall for the next
two years.
Not only is this decision
insensible but, given the fact that
court judgment on the case is not
out, also illegal.
Guilt has been assumed of a
case still not decided.
* * * * *
Most people are not familiar with
the name of Field Marshall Ayub
Srabon protested the decision last year and so it has been banned from
hosting a stall for the next two years. Not only is this decision insensible
but, given the fact that court judgment on the case is not out, also illegal
Khan, the man who ruled Pakistan
from 1958 to 1969 and basically
killed Pakistan. He did the most of
playing politics with culture.
Ayub tried to ban Tagore,
arrested cultural activists of
East Pakistan, promoted a
military brand of civilian culture,
promoted wealth-making and
wealth concentration, initiated
the Agartala conspiracy against
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib and
others, and considered Bangalis
uncivilised all in the hope of
strengthening Pakistan.
The result was, of course,
the exact opposite. And East
Pakistanis gave up on whatever
little confidence they had in
Pakistan and began to make their
own plans.
It made Bengali culture strong,
created many resistance points,
and basically initiated the 1969
political movement which ended
his rule.
Ayub was followed by Yahya
Khan’s rule and finally the
elections of 1970 which ended
Pakistan itself.
Among other things, the biggest
lesson from his history is that
don’t play a cultural mastaan in a
neighbourhood which has a long
history of resistance to similar
efforts. Chances are, the mastaan
exits but the neighborhood stays
on.
* * *
If certain rumours are to
be believed, then a political
disservice is done through this
incident as well, and the price may
have to be paid by the party in
power in terms of its popularity.
The Bangla Academy is a
symbol of resistance, and is rooted
in the 21 points of the United
Front of 1954 which birthed and
organised Bengali nationalismbased
politics, so please respect
the spirit of the birth of the
institution.
It’s not always about singing
and dancing and chatting and
walking around the Mela -- it’s
about upholding the cultural
essence of a people who have a
long tradition of not taking it lying
down.
One may not have liked the
fact that Sarabon and others had
protested, but to accept protest as
a valid form of cultural activism is
important.
Compliant culture is impotent.
When protest dies, so does
culture. Srabon is more in line
with the spirit of Ekushey than any
of the parties involved in its ban.
* * * * *
Protest, small or big, will happen
and it may well grow on the issue.
The Bangla Academy belongs to
the people, not the government.
Unless the ban is withdrawn,
which has been put into effect on
such absurd grounds and with the
intent of punishing a dissident
protestor, the consequences will
have an impact on all parties
involved.
History shows that trying to
kill dissidence never works, and
Pakistan and the Soviet Union are
two very good examples. Why try
to be yet another? •
Afsan Chowdhury is a journalist and
researcher.