(Translated excerpts from the statement of Socialist Party of Bangladesh (SPB) published in Vanguard, December-January 2024)
In the current situation, the SPB feels that people in Bangladesh must be inspired with a secular democratic spirit to confront national chauvinism and communalism. We feel that is the only way ahead.
After the mass uprising, there was no government in Bangladesh for three days. The internal law and order as well as police force was disorganized and uninitiated. This opportunity gave an uncontrolled outlet to the anger that had been accumulating in the public mind for 15 years against the misrule of the Awami League, lack of democracy and unbridled corruption in the country and the misdeeds of the Chhatra League. This anger turned violent in many places. During this time, many people associated with the Awami League were at the receiving end of unwarranted political attacks, and some of them belonged to the Hindu community. However, it is true that in some cases, the opportunity was used to attack minorities in a targeted way. However, it is also true that in many places, people from the majority community have resisted all these attacks and have taken to the field to ensure the protection of minorities.
We firmly believe that even a single incident of targeted attack against anyone from the minority community is totally condemnable. However, the Indian mainstream media is spreading these unwanted incidents in a biased manner, mixing truth with falsehood, exaggerating them and spreading them in a frantic way to create communal division between the people of the two countries.
The BJP with its ideology of Hindutva is creating ultra-nationalist and communal hysteria to fulfil its political objectives in India. The provocative media campaign in India regarding Bangladesh is being created to hide the misdeeds of Modi-Adani from the people of India.
Therefore, even if a section of the people of India is confused by the propaganda of the media, we must not fall into the trap of fanaticism and hyper nationalism by mirroring the actions of the Indian ruling class. Rather, at this moment, we must attempt to present the reality of the conspiracies by the Modi government in front of the people of India. We want unity of the working people of both countries and want to say in a strong voice that the interests of the working people of both countries are one, the struggle is one, and the future goal is also one.
The mass spirit of the Liberation War desired for a secular democratic Bangladesh that will be free of exploitation. We believe that this time too, the mass uprising of students, workers and the public in July-August has been organized with the same secular democratic spirit in mind. We cannot help but notice that some quarters have become eager to erase the history of Bangladesh's independence by using anti-dictatorship slogans as a tool. We believe that this an effort to dismantle the secular democratic spirit in Bangladesh and a manifestation of the latent desire to rehabilitate the defeated forces of 1971.
The left democratic progressive forces must take a firm stand against this trend and continue the united fight to ensure that the hopes and aspirations of the people expressed through the 2024 uprising are fulfilled. We also call on all the left progressive democratic forces to further strengthen and consolidate the trend of mass unity at the national level. We must keep a vigilant eye on the new government so that it accelerates reforms towards this end and quickly transfers power to the government elected through a fair, acceptable and participatory election.
We call on the interim government to be more proactive and focused in addressing the existing crisis, including resolving the country's financial crisis, preventing the rise in commodity prices, restoring peace in public life, preserving communal harmony and ensuring that no one stays hungry and undernourished.
The Government of Bangladesh Must Ensure Full Security and Rights of the Minority Hindu Community
The Polit Bureau of the Central Committee of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) expresses grave concern over reports of continuing attacks on members and institutions of minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. We urge the government of Bangladesh to ensure full security and rights of the minority Hindu community and individual citizens and stop fundamentalist and sectarian forces from spreading hate and disturbing harmony. We express our full solidarity with the voices of reason and peace in Bangladesh, standing up against divisive communal forces and wish them more strength in dealing with the situation. Religious minority communities must enjoy full freedoms and rights without being forced to succumb to majoritarian dictates. Minorities in India, Muslims in particular, are also facing heightened insecurity and communal forces are trying to use the reported events of attacks on minorities in Bangladesh as another tool to dehumanise and intensify attacks on Indian Muslims.
We call upon all peace- and justice-loving Indians to reject the politics of hate, lies and violence and stand firm and united in support of peace and harmony in India and good neighbourly relations between India and Bangladesh.
