Shahriar Kabir : Prisoner of Conscience
by
Prof. Kabir Chowdhury

Prof. Kabir Chowdhury, octogenarian scholar, champion of civil society movement for secularism, democracy and human rights. President of South Asian People's Union against fundamentalism and Communalism, auther of more than 100 books, won several national and international award, chaired numerous national and international conference and currently National Professor of Bangladesh. Just after the liberation of Bangladesh he was the Eduction Secretary of Govt.of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s 1971 Independence War is the greatest achievement of the Bengalees in a thousand years, which did not come about in a day, but in stages.
The commencement of the liberation struggle was the language movement that started in 1948. The preparation for the liberation war started in 1961 when Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman formed a secret nucleus in Awami League that was followed by six points demand for autonomy announced in 1966. Those six points eventually culminated into a one-point demand for independence when Pakistani army junta made a crackdown on the people of Bangladesh.
The war was not only for achieving independence, but had other objectives, including having a secular democratic state. War-time Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed repeatedly said that an independent Bangladesh would be secular and the country’s first constitution written by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s government spoke of (Bengali) ‘Nationalism’ and ‘Secularism’ along with ‘Democracy’ and ‘Socialism’ as the important pillars of the new country. “Joi Bangla” was the main war slogan.
It was most unfortunate that after the assassination of Sheikh Mujib and his four staunch comrades in 1975, General Ziaur Rahman dropped ‘Secularism’, (Bengali) ‘Nationalism’ and ‘Socialism’ from the constitution after taking over the country’s reign. He withdrew the constitutional ban on religion-based politics.

General Zia also scrapped the law against those who collaborated with the Pakistani army during the 1971 war and the process of their trail, allowing freedom to all those held in prison on such charges. Those war criminals who had fled abroad also gradually returned to Bangladesh.
Many of these people joined General Zia’s BNP as they gradually became active in the country’s politics. Others formed religion-based parties like the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami. Thus Zia initiated the process of “Pakistanisation” of Bangladesh by erasing the achievements of the independence war.
After General H.M. Ershad Zia’s widow, Khaleda Zia, followed his footsteps. Bangladesh’s civil society never accepted such activities of Zia-Ershad-Khaleda regimes that were against the spirit of the liberation war. When the opposition parties failed to stand up against such moves, the civil society --- writers, artists, teachers and human rights activists took to the streets.

Shahriar Kabir, renowned journalist and film-maker, is one those people of the Bangladesh civil society who took a leading role in such moves as well as in organising action programmes for the last 30 years to put the 1971 war criminals on trial and to take a stand against fundamentalist and communal evil forces. His activities crossed the borders of Bangladesh, which eventually culminated in the holding of the South Asian Conference against Fundamentalism and Communalism in 2001.
Shahriar Kabir was praised for his stand and his efforts to create awareness against fundamentalist and communal forces by the civil society across the world, but at the same time he had to face the wrath of the evil reactionary circle.

The ruling BNP along with its partner fundamentalist Jammat-e-Islami is the main patron of communal and fundamentalist forces. It jointly took action against him by threatening his life and livelihood.
Shahriar Kabir was a driving force behind the “People’s Court” that was set up for the trial of war criminal Golam Azam by late Jahanara Imam in 1992 and had to face the consequences by being charged with treason along with some others, besides being sacked from the position of the executive editor of the then government-owned news weekly “Bichitra.”

He moved forward with courage and determination when he had to take the helm of the campaign after the death of Jahanara Imam. At the same time he continued with his passion to create awareness among the people about the spirit of liberation war and the role of collaborators, including making documentary films. These earned him warm praise from different quarters both at home and abroad.
His activities were not confined within the movement for the trial of war criminals or in resisting fundamentalism & communalism. Alongside these he wrote several books on fundamentalism, communalism and human rights. He also organized a library movement, a unique example for alternate education to create awareness about secular democracy among the people living in rural areas.
The reign of terror that was let loose after the October 1, 2001 general elections continued. Under the leadership of BNP the fundamentalist and reactionary groups launched inhuman attacks on the minority Hindu population just because of the idea that they always voted for the Awami League during elections. The blue-print to defeat Awami League in the 2001 elections included these attacks to keep the Hindu voters away.

Shahriar Kabir moved across the country whenever there was a report of such brutality against religious minorities, which were also reported in newspapers, though the Home Minister denied the reports as being either “false” or “fabricated.” Obviously, such statements by the Home Minister further encouraged the communal forces and the incidents of oppression sharply increased.

Despite threats to his life, Shahriar Kabir stood by the victims, travelling to remote areas and then he traveled to India to find out the fate of those who had fled to India because of such torture. He not only wrote locally about what he saw during and after the elections, but also alerted the international media to help stop such atrocities.

Shahriar Kabir told me that he was going to India on November 6, 2001 for a meeting to organise the second conference of the ‘South Asian People Union against Fundamentalism and Communalism’, a follow-up after the first one held in Dhaka in June, 2001. Participants, including the chair of the first conference, India’s Mr. P.A. Sangma, highly praised Shahriar Kabir’s leadership and his qualities as an organiser.

Shahriar Kabir was arrested on return from India on November 22, 2001 and newspapers reported that if the press was not present at the airport that day he might have been killed by the secret agency people. Later the government jailed him on sedition charges.

The whole country broke into an uproar and there were many demonstrations for his release. International organisations joined in condemning his arrest and demanding his release from jail. The Amnesty International announced him as a “Prisoner of Conscience.” Other organisations that stood up in his defence included the Reporters’ Sans Frontiers, Committee to Protect Journalists, International Humanist and Ethical Union, World Association of Newspapers and World Editors Forum etc.. They wrote to Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury urging them to release Shahriar Kabir unconditionally, and termed his detention unlawful. They also sent letters to the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson and UNESCO Director General Kauchiro Matshuroko. Many others followed them.
Nobel Laurate Gunter Grass was among those who protested Shahriar’s arrest. Hundreds of eminent Lawyers appeared before the court to plead for Shahriar Kabir. Thousands of people including teachers, journalists, writers, lawyers, students and social activists took to the streets demanding the release of Shahriar Kabir.

The number of protests and writings in newspapers both at home and abroad in his 50 days of detention, I think, surpassed such actions for anyone else in Bangladesh.
Despite his efforts to establish Bangladesh as a democratic and non-communal state based on the ideals of the liberation war Shahriar Kabir is now suffering in jail. He is kept there like a common criminal. His pen and paper also snatched away and he told the court, “to kill a writer and taking away his paper and pen was the same thing.”

Shahriar Kabir made me his fellow-warrior since the time he started his campaign for the trial of the war criminals and for a ban on communal and fundamentalist politics in Bangladesh. He always consulted me about plans for different activities to further those causes. My age or health was not like Shahriar Kabir’s and at times I paused and slowed down but he never did.
I have often seen him crossing big hurdles like a lonely Sherpa. Today he is lonely behind the bars, but I think this too cannot stop him from his committed mission. There is no prison where Shahriar Kabir can be detained.

I would like to end this write up with one of my poems that I wrote on Shahriar when he was in prison. The original poem was in Bangali, I have a minor alteration in the English version.

I scintillate all the time like a sharpened knife,
The resurgence of killer razakars makes me restless beyond measure,
I hear my blood singing in my veins,
I cant contain myself any longer.

How long more will it take to liquidate them?
When will those beasts be put on trial?
Will God always remain deaf and dumb?

Oh, Shahriar, when will you be vindicated?

* This article was originally written in Bengali by Professor Kabir Chowdhury, President, ‘South Asian People’s Union against Fundamentalism and Communalism’ on 15 January 2001, during Shahriar Kabir’s first imprisonment.

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