The Bangladesh Dichotomy and Politicisation of Culture

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The emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign nation in 1971 is an important landmark in South Asia. Known as the largest delta in the world and endowed with natural resources and lush alluvial plains the country has faced many challenges and passed through several trials and tribulations in nation building.

Scholars like Andrain and Apter have observed a phenomenon called Cultural Politics with a memory, historical dreams, several nightmares and grievances at its back. This activation of Culture in various manifestations of nation building is a historical experience.

Bangladesh is a bridge between South Asia and South East Asia. The post-1971 Bangladesh is basically a search for an identity through mobilization. With a 'particular cultural marker' it also signifies an assertion of an ethnonationalism.

In this book The Bangladesh Dichotomy and Politicisation of Culture an attempt has been made to capture such happenings, efforts, moods, agonies and joys, high points and low points in the case of Bangladesh experiment.

Dr. Pradipta Bandyopadhyay has a wide experience in mass media and sociological studies. A Ph.D. in Social Anthropology he specializes in the study of the North East India and has made significant contribution to books like The Tribes of North East India, Electoral Politics in North East India, Land Relations in North East India and Linguistic Situation in North East India.

Independently he wrote Leadership Structure among the Mizos-An Emerging Dimension; and Natha Cult and Mahanad A Study in Syncretism.

Dr. Bandyopadhyay brings a multi-disciplinary approach and a humane touch to his sociological analyses.

Grandson of the noted physician and litterateur of West Bengal, late Dr. Pravash Chandra Bandyopadhyay, Pradipta Bandyopadhyay has also penned several literary pieces and poems.

Dr. Bandyopadhyay is associated with the North East India Council for Social Science Research as a life member.

The impact of globalization is felt worldwide by hundreds of indigenous communities. People from a faraway land come into a territory with skills to mine the field, equipment to cut down the forest or to prepare grasslands for a tourist park. Indigenous life everywhere is under threat, from the Yanomami of the rain forest to the Inuit of the freezing Arctic. One common factor for most indigenous people is their dependence on the land they live. Their whole social structure, livelihood and cultural identity are entwined with their environment in varied ways. As their land and resources are taken away, more and more of their culture is lost as well.

Riangs are one of the most celebrated tribes of Tripura. They are a patrilineal society in which clan memberships are inherited from the father. A change brought about by education, plentifulness of consumer goods, varied agriculture and the sedentary way of living can be noticed in the present day Riang society. In the past, Riangs would help their age-mates or kin when times got tough by giving away their surplus, knowing that they would be helped in return. However, these relationships are experiencing a high level of stress and the contributing factor for such situation is the sense of independence in families, in comparison to the sense of community in earlier times. The demand for consumer and luxury goods are on the increase leading to the sale of livestock. Furthermore, now that Riangs are involved in other economic opportunities, some are not only less capable to give away their surplus, but are also less willing. As a result, less surplus goes to the needy and thus, the gap between the rich and poor is visible and increasing.

Scholars like Almond and Verva, Apter and Easton have discussed concepts like politicization and applied the same in analyzing socio-cultural and political structures and processes. Kothari (1970) speaks of modernization as the prime trend of the present times and politicization as its driving force. In a succinct way he has applied the concept in the caste configuration of the Indian society: 'It is not politics that gets caste-ridden: it is caste that gets politicized'. Similarly the politicization of culture deals with the process and the result where politics is activated in culture' (Goswami : 1979).

The Bangladesh scenario-the post-1971 phase in particular presents a veritable example of the concept of politicization of culture. The aim of the present attempt is to analyze the different facets of change and their dynamics obtaining in Bangladesh in terms of the above model. After the emergence of the sovereign state there have been various experiments in nation building, the choice of the system of governance and the appropriate matrix for poverty alleviation.

The transition from East Bengal to Bangladesh via East Pakistan is not just a change in nomenclature. It indicates a major shift in the socio-cultural and political ambience of the land and the people. The book has dealt with the series of epoch-making events, which have left an imprint on the people. The relationship between the infrastructure, structure and the super-structure as a contributory factor in shaping the social fabric has been focussed to explore the quintessential thread.

On 14 October, 1995 I landed at Zia International Airport in Dhaka and that was my first encounter with Bangladesh. I came on an assignment and the pressure of settling down to an accommodation already fixed by the Indian Mission was uppermost in my mind against the backdrop of a four day non-stop hartal called by the Opposition parties from next day onwards. I got a taste of what was in store for me while coming to the city from the airport. The metre-gauge train towards Chittagong was so full that a large number of passengers were ensconced on the roofs, all on a hurried journey to their village homes with the announcement of such a long stoppage of work and violence in the air. The streets were full of processions with partisan slogans and gesticulation in a politically surcharged atmosphere.

I had no hereditary memory of the country and, therefore no sensational and nostalgic feeling which is normally the prerogative of the expatriates. However, my mind was not totally blank. I had read that my grandfather spent a few years of his hapless infancy at Dighapotia, now in Natore district way back in the seventies of the nineteenth century. A large number of the literati of the area who had regular interaction with my grandfather had migrated and there was practically no trace of them and their descendants except faint memories and stories of their deeds.

Or the temple of Lakshmi Ma at Ramrama near Taherpur. Now it is a remote village, which is not even connected by a fair weather road. Though called Lakshmi Ma temple the main deity was that of Tara. Bandyopadhyay (1931) has given an account of his chance association with this hallowed place thus:

In 1296 BS I reached the spot from Taherpur market at dusk. I was having fever and the priest was kind enough to allow me to stay for the night at the temple premises.

**Contents and Sample Pages**