By Enayet Kabir
Preparations are underway for the burial of the “rotting corpse” of the independent state of Bangladesh. This may happen sooner rather than later. The burden of carrying the “corpse of the nation-state” has become too heavy for the independent Bengali nation.
It has taken many years for this nation to sense the “death of the nation-state.” Fifty-four years ago, through a national liberation struggle, the “independent” Bengali nation established a nation-state with the declared intent of establishing the right to self-determination. Notably, a military-civilian “mafia” group murdered the state on August 15, 1975, by assassinating the icon of independence, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The path for the development of the independent Bengali nation was thus blocked.
In an interview broadcast by Al Jazeera on February 4, 2026, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Secretary General of the BNP, a ‘King’s Party’ founded by Major Gen Ziaur Rahman, the father of the extra-constitutional culture of occupation, cited that “95 percent of Bangladesh’s population is Muslim” and stated: “The word secularism is not at all suitable for the politics of Bangladesh. If we can ensure the rights of other religious believers, then there is no problem.”
If your memory hasn’t failed you, you will surely recall that two military rulers, Maj Gen Ziaur Rahman and Lt Gen Hussain Muhammad Ershad, seized power extra-constitutionally and performed a “circumcision” on Bangladesh’s Constitution, playing a role contrary to the “spirit of the national liberation struggle.”
It goes without saying that direct and indirect “military” authoritarianism has been in place in Bangladesh for 50 years. The military has directly seized “state power” at least four times. Political governments have failed to prosecute the crimes of repeated extra-constitutional state seizures by the military.
Without taking a judicial decision on the extra-constitutional state occupation, it is impossible to form a secular democratic society in Bangladesh. Due to their detachment from the people, political parties continue to violate the principles of equal rights regardless of caste, religion, gender, or class as described in Bangladesh’s Constitution.
Bangladesh emerged as a separate state from Pakistan with the intent of establishing the Bengali nation’s right to self-determination. However, from 1975 to 1990, two military rulers betrayed the nation by abolishing Article 12 (explanation of secularism) and Article 38 (prohibition of religion-based meetings, associations, and organisations) of the 1972 Constitution via military decrees.
By forming ‘King’s Parties’ and establishing national parliaments through “controlled elections,” these two military rulers turned military decrees into constitutional laws via the 5th and 8th Amendments.
Responding to a question on secularism on Al Jazeera’s February 4 interview, Mirza Fakhrul Islam said, “Our goal is that people of all religions and beliefs will have rights, they can practice their religion, and they will have all rights.” Mirza Fakhrul should know that according to Article 12 of the 1972 Constitution, secularism does not mean banning religion, nor does it mean hindering personal religious practice, nor does it mean the state will distance itself completely from religion.
Rather, according to Article 12 and the fundamental rights, the true meaning of secularism is that the state will maintain equal respect for all religions, and citizens will have full freedom to practice religion. Religion will remain free from the practices of statecraft or politics. Not religion, but revolutionary Bengali nationalism, was the principle of state governance.
The BNP Secretary General sought to reassure followers of other faiths as “second class” through the dominance of the Muslim majority of his King’s Party. Yet the convoluted explanation Mirza Fakhrul gave while dismissing secularism is, in fact, the very definition of secularism.
What is the Bengali “spirit of the national liberation struggle”? It is the formation of a non-communal and democratic society and nation. The attempt to turn the ‘July Charter’ into constitutional law through the February 12 referendum is an attempt to perform the last rites of that “spirit.”
The framework and explanation for implementing “secularism” were clearly defined in Articles 12 and 38 of the original 1972 Constitution through four important points:
• The political status of religion is eliminated – meaning no religion can be made the basis of state or political identity. Religion-based political parties, or seeking state benefits/power through religion, are prohibited.
• Elimination of religion-based communalism – meaning Bengalis and other ethnicities cannot be divided based on a specific religion, group, or communal identity. In the eyes of the state, all citizens shall have “fundamental equal rights.”
• The state shall not discriminate on the basis of religion, class, race, or gender.
• The use of religion for political purposes is prohibited.
The current razakar-army-NGO “ruling class” is governing the state under indirect and surreptitious military rule. Allegations have surfaced that the “Bangladesh Army” is working under the control and direction of Pakistan’s ISI and defence forces. The ruling class, after neutralising the police and civil administration, announced the formation of mobs and militia forces composed of “radical” students and war criminals.
The core “exchange” conditions behind the “dramatic and tragic” change of government in July-August 2024, through the killing of students and police, are now becoming clear. By replacing the Constitution with the ‘July Charter’ through an extra-constitutional “referendum,” the ruling elite is desperate to impose a razakar-military-NGO-mafia Upper House (Deep State) over the people’s representatives.
This “Upper House” will actually serve foreign interests, particularly of the United States. Meanwhile, by removing the BGB from the Myanmar border in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and turning it into a “buffer zone,” Bangladesh has been pushed into geopolitical risk. Ports are being leased to take control of import-export and trade data. The process of establishing US military and intelligence surveillance by handing over or leasing St. Martin’s and Kutubdia Island to seize maritime resources has also begun.
India, which actively fought against Pakistan in the Bangladesh Liberation War, is a close neighbour. At a time when Bangladesh is being dispossessed, India’s concerns, if any, are natural. But they have little power to do anything for a “sovereign and independent” Bangladesh beyond silently observing the disaster and providing shelter to exiled politicians.
The foreign “state” occupiers have set out to eliminate the nation, but will the independent Bengali nation ultimately accept this? The big question that hangs over Bangladesh is whether the election will be held on February 12, and in the event it is held, will the outcome give sufficient political confidence to the people?
(The writer is a political and economic analyst)
