It's time Bangladeshis face the 'music' and decide

Yet another bombing in Bangladesh and it seems the whole situation has gone out of control of the government. Until and unless the suicide bombings hit you , you probably don't know what it feels like - so helpless. I could never imagine Bangladesh would fall into such a horrible situation. The problem for Bangladehis now is to decide what they really want. I don't think the government or the opposition parties are worried about people's opinion and that's where the real problem is. It's time we examine ourselves and decide what we want based on our religion, society and future ahead.

If we are to understand the mind set of the 'terrorists' we need to look back at the history of sub-continent. The arrival of Islam in the Indian sub-continent had been pretty late compared to the other parts of the world. It was the Mongols (Chengis Khan) who managed to conquer this part of the world and later on the Moguls (Babar , a follower of Shii Islam , and his sons) who spreaded Islam in this part of the world. But the people of Indian-subcontinent never tasted a state completely controlled by Islamic values and traditions. Muslims have been in the front seat wherever they have been in the world. But in the Indian sub-continent, Muslims were the minority- this was at that time a strange feelings for the Muslims. At the same time the Ottoman empire was ruling a vast part of the world and instead of having strict Shariah law placed , they prospered and became a powerful society in the world map. On the other hand, at the end of the Mogul empire, the Muslims started feeling increasing insecure about their identity in India- they were asking themselves whether they would be able to retain their identity as Muslims or is Islam going to be just another caste of Hindu religion ? Thanks to Akbar and other Muslim leaders ( motly philosophers and sufis and never interested in Sunni Islam) who never inspired Islamic values or Islamic identity as a whole. The result of the growing insecurity is the birth of Pakistan and India. The two nation theory, although hated by the 'secular' people, proved to be the dead end solution for Muslims in India- they found their own land where they can live with their own identity intact. Now, at this point take a pause and switch your brain to the mindset of BJP and Jamaat.

BJP hates Muslims beacuse it was because of the Muslims they lost a great part of their Hindu kingdom. They are nostalgic in every way and want to go back to those days when Hindus were the only power ruling this part of the world ( renaming the cities of India to their original names is an indication) . The same reason why BJP hates the partition and Gandhi as well. On the other hand, Jamaat hates Hindus because it was the Hindu religion which 'corrupted' Islam. As I mentioned before , the Muslims in India never enjoyed the true form of Islam, the Shariah law, the prosperity and the ultimate domination of an Islamic power unlike the Muslims in other parts of the world. So Jamaat longs for a Muslim state- a real one where shariah law will prevail and Muslims will live under the guidance of true Quranic ideals. There's nothing wrong with what they want but the way they want to achieve it is wrong.

It's time Bangladeshis discuss themselves what they really want. Are we going to call Bangaldesh a Muslim nation ? If that's the case , shouldn't we have Shariah laws controlling our lives as Muslims ? Can we put up with Shariah laws as a nation which has no history of a Islam based government ? Do we think Islamic lifestyle doesn't comply with the modern world and therefore we cannot have it ? Should we go for a Bangladeshi version of Islam and give it a name ? why not have a election on what we want - Yes or No to Shariah laws. Why not debate on the issues publicly ? Leaders should come out clean and discuss these issues. So should the media and people in general. There's no point living in the dark and be hypocriate.

It's time Bangladeshis face the 'music' and decide what they really want. It's time we reflect on us- what we are and where we are heading towards. We have reached the crossroad now - Turkey or Iran ? Tito or a Khomeni ? Choose one.