Joy Bangla
An open letter to the chief adviser
Dear Sir, With due respect, I state that throughout my life I have tried to live quietly as a law-abiding citizen. At the beginning of life, I was not much attracted to studies, nor was the environment favourable. My grandfather, Alauddin Siddiqui, held the flag of the Congress with Mahatma Gandhi, and in the 1940s with Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah under the Muslim League, in the Pakistan Movement. Sadly, my grandfather Alauddin Siddiqui did not live to see the independence of Pakistan. He passed away before Pakistan was created. Just before its birth, on 14 June 1947, I was born. At one time I took pride that my birth coincided with the birth of Pakistan. As a child, I celebrated Pakistan Day with joy, lighting clay lamps at our village and town houses. Sometimes I lit small candles in a failed attempt to ignite the light of freedom within my heart.
The malpractice of secret politics
It seems a new stage has emerged in the politics of Bengal. Once upon a time, politics meant open struggle – who could chant slogans the loudest, who could bring the largest procession, who could stir up the crowd by crying out “Joy Bangla” or “Bangladesh Zindabad” in the highest voice. Back then politicians did not hide their identity, rather they were proud to say: “I am a worker of such-and-such party, I am a follower of such-and-such ideology.” But times have changed. Such simple declarations now appear old-fashioned. On the political stage there is now a new wave – not what is open, but what happens behind the scenes is the real thing; its name is secret politics.