Dhaka, Jan 24 (IANS) Leading Bangladeshi poet, writer and political philosopher Farhad Mazhar has voiced concerns over the relationship between the country’s radical Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami and the United States, calling it a “dangerous and ominous” development, local media reported on Saturday.
Mazhar made the remarks in response to a question during a discussion titled ‘Nationwide crisis of gas, electricity and safe water: what society should do’, held at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Friday afternoon.
Commenting on a report published by a leading US daily on Thursday, which claimed that the United States was seeking “friendship” with Jamaat, Mazhar said, “I believe that every political party in our country is connected to the United States in one way or another, some directly, some indirectly.”
He stressed that following the mass demonstration in August 2024, the “constitutional counter-revolution has been described internationally as a regime change in favour of the United States,” Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo reported.
Mazhar added that although he had been making this argument from the outset, it had not received sufficient attention from journalists.
He said that removing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from Bangladesh following the demonstration was not an issue at all, because “the United States would remove her anyway. Our task was to think about how we would build a new Bangladeshi state. This is because the United States is a geopolitical power, and there is no such thing as international law in the world.”
“You have seen Donald Trump’s behaviour. In this harsh reality, in this dangerous situation, my concern is simple: how do I survive with 170 million people? My question is very simple. I want to live with 170 million people with three square meals. I do not want to be dragged into any war,” Prothom Alo quoted Mazhar as saying.
Reacting further, he questioned why no one talks about “American imperialism”.
“Jamaat has not said that it objects to the so-called stabilisation force (ISF) going to Gaza (Palestine). This makes it clear that Jamaat certainly has a policy alignment and a relationship with the United States. That is why the United States is already making such statements. I see this as a very dangerous warning sign,” he expressed.
During the event, Mazhar also highlighted that the safe drinking water crisis in Bangladesh was the outcome of state mismanagement, river encroachment and commercial plunder.
“Real politics is about establishing people’s control over the basic conditions of life — food, water, energy and land. Elections have now turned into a politics of sharing the spoils of plunder. Pro-people politics means ensuring the right to survive,” he stated.
–IANS
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