By Zoglul Husain
London 25 May 2008. As contemporary history shows, the nations of the
third world countries have been striving for the further advancement
of national liberation and economic emancipation. Despite this, much
of the third world are still suffering heavily from death and
destruction under the yokes of subjugation, domination and plunder by
imperialistic and regionally hegemonic powers. It is on this general
scenario relating to South Asia that MBI Munshi has focused.
Munshi has correctly identified India as a hegemonic and expansionist
regional power, and has competently and authoritatively revealed and
narrated in depth and in detail, its dark game plans as well as the
overt and covert operations in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka
and other countries in South Asia. He indicates the urgent need for
the neighbours of India to resist the big bad bully, whose distorted
ethos has been to subjugate and try to annex these neighbours in order
to establish what has been termed 'Akhand Bharat' or 'undivided
India', under the suzerainty of a hegemonic regime ruling from Delhi
as an emergent sub-superpower. The author makes a special mention that
the doctrine has got a boost by the recent US-India nuclear
cooperation treaty, followed by US's recognition of India as a
strategic partner. This in a nutshell is the story of 'The India
Doctrine'.
The author has implied, but has not specified, the reason for
rejecting the doctrine. It could be said that, if it were based on
equality, social justice and emancipation of the people, then there
would not be many who would oppose a united South Asia or a united
Asia or even finally a united World. However, with the present state
of affairs as they are, India's conspiracy to obliterate the
independence and sovereignty of the neighbouring countries in order to
devour them, is evil and retrogressive and it needs to be countered
both externally, by the mighty resistance of the people concerned, and
internally, by India's rational politicians and the people, who should
loudly defend their own 'panchsheel' or five principles of peaceful
co-existence. These five principles are: mutual respect for each
other's territorial integrity and sovereignty; mutual non-aggression;
mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs; equality and
mutual benefit; and peaceful co-existence.
The bold appearance of MBI Munshi in the arena of political writers in
Bangladesh with his first book is nothing short of a great surprise.
Munshi was born in 1972 at Kaliganj, Greater Jessore in Bangladesh,
but was brought up in the UK from the age of one till twenty-four. He
obtained his Masters in Law from the London School of Economics,
qualified as a Barrister from the Lincoln's Inn in 1996 and was called
to the Bar in 1997. Together with this background, and with his father
being an FRCS degree qualified doctor at a UK hospital, it is quite
unusual that MBI Munshi settled back in Bangladesh in 1996, to pursue
a carrier as a practicing lawyer and a lecturer in Law, which he could
have done in the UK. A voracious reader, not belonging to any
particular organization, he has made a thorough and painstaking
research in his study of the subject of his book and he has cited
references from a great mass of books and articles. As pointed out by
Isha Khan in his book review, a bibliography would enormously help the
serious readers, especially the researchers. In this work, MBI Munshi
has shown an extraordinary power of assimilation of information
gathered from huge masses of reading materials, and also of drawing
justified conclusions built on irrefutable arguments. 'The India
Doctrine' is a great contribution to the political writings about
South Asia, particularly about Indian hegemonism in Bangladesh. The
book is a very valuable reference material for politicians,
sociologists, historians, researchers, military strategists,
intelligence operators and the like.
'The India Doctrine', edited by MBI Munshi and published by the
Bangladesh Research Forum in 2006 and reprinted in 2007, consists of
288 pages. The print by Probe Printers Ltd is impressive. The text
however, is not free from typographical errors. The smart book jacket
displays a map of South Asia, which combined with the title,
immediately focuses one's mind on issues of territorial, geo-political
and geo-strategic considerations. The book contains a preface by
eminent scholar Dr M Ataur Rahman, a Professor at the University of
Dhaka and President of Bangladesh Political Science Association. The
contents of the book are as follows: a 144-page essay titled 'The
India Doctrine' by MBI Munshi; a short 6-page essay titled 'Indian
move to establish United India through United Bengal' by Khodeza
Begum; two articles titled 'China-India-US strategic tangle –
challenge for Bangladesh' and 'Himalayan revolution – testing time for
Nepal' spanning 33-pages by Bangladesh military strategist Brigadier
General M. Sakhawat Hussain (retd); five articles on Nepal by eminent
writers Nishchal M S Basnyat, Madan Prasad Khanal, Sanjay Upadhya and
Dr Shastra Dutta Pant (two articles); and one article on Sri Lanka
jointly written by Rohan Gunaratna and Arabinda Acharya. The book has
been priced at Taka 350/- in Bangladesh.
The concept of 'Akhand Bharat' or 'Undivided India' as a doctrine
refers to India before its partition and independence in 1947, which
ended the colonial rule of the British raj in India. According to
experts the concept may extend to territories in ancient Hindu and
Buddhist empires or even to reminiscence of mythical anecdotes. The
doctrine was enunciated by its ideologue Jawaharlal Nehru in his book:
'Discovery of India' (1946). Nehru did not believe in the partition of
India, but accepted it as a temporary phase, after which, he believed,
India would be reunited. Although the doctrine is not a declared
policy of any Indian government so far, Nehru and subsequent
governments nevertheless pursued it with utmost vigour. His daughter
Indira Gandhi said in a public meeting on November 30, 1970: "India
has never reconciled with the existence of Pakistan. Indian leaders
always believed that Pakistan should not have been created and that
Pakistan nation has no right to exist". Such a blatant statement makes
it clear to all. The Hindu fundamentalist BJP, RSS and the like, who
were in power for about seven years, are more brazen and they go much
further to assert the doctrine.
Munshi narrated in detail how Indian intelligence were involved in the
process of independence of Bangladesh right from 1947, cited
references on the close interactions of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and many
of his followers with Indian intelligence, and highlighted India's
offer of support to the struggle for independence. The author, a
supporter of the independence of Bangladesh, could have stressed that
it is the unhappiness of East Pakistan that led to the independence,
while India wanted to break-up Pakistan with objectives compatible
with the 'India doctrine'. The history of independence was finally
decided by the barbaric military crack down of the Pakistan army and
the people's united resistance against it, and India's role was of
course inevitable. The author's reference to Indian involvement in the
movement of Baluchistan has similar backgrounds. At present there are
reported outside conspiracies to destroy Pakistan's nuclear capability
and divide Pakistan into three countries. The internal cohesion of
Pakistan has been disturbed right from 1947 by the policies of the
successive governments. It is because of these that outside
conspirators can fish in troubled water. A chapter on these could have
enhanced the purview of the book.
Munshi has given a detailed account of Indian conspiracies and
operations, both during the independence war and after the war to the
present. He cited many references, one of them being the book: 'RAW
and Bangladesh' written by Mohammed Zainul Abedin. India organized and
controlled the independence war, though fought by the Bangladesh
'Mukti Bahini' with the support of the people, and in the end the
Indian army, it can be said without demeaning their valour and ability
that they virtually walked over on a totally prepared ground. But,
when the Pakistan army surrendered, it was to the Indian army only,
and the 'Mukti Bahini' was made a spectator. After independence India
continued their operations to try to reduce Bangladesh to a vassal
state and finally annex it. But they have not yet succeeded, although
they have greatly influenced Bangladesh and they control a section of
Bangladeshis. The author has given details of their operations,
especially creation of 'Mujib Bahini', 'Rakkhi Bahini', etc. to
eliminate any opposition to Indian hegemony, and accordingly a great
number (thirty thousand according to some) of Bangladeshi patriots
were massacred.
A section of the book has been dedicated to deal with India's
involvement in organising the armed activities of the minority
nationalities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), which have been
lulled after the peace treaty. Here again, the Bangladesh government's
policies in CHT could have been brought to question. However, a brief
history of CHT has been provided from 1666 to the present.
Khodeza Begum's article on 'United Bengal' exposes, and aptly
highlights, the same conspiracies and operations of India as MBI
Munshi has dealt with in great detail. Bangladesh military strategist
Brigadier General Sakhawat Hussain (retd)'s two articles and the other
writer's articles on Nepal and Sri Lanka have given the book a South
India dimension. In one article, Hussain has detailed the
geo-strategic considerations of South Asia including the Indian Ocean
and the involvement and positions of the internal and external powers.
He has finally made some recommendations for Bangladesh; they include
a strategic relationship with China, both economic and defence, a
dynamic relation with USA and a pro-active engagement with India. In
the other article he makes observations and analyses Nepal's movements
and the Maoist armed struggle for democracy and against the monarchy
and the Indian involvement. The other five articles on Nepal are
written from divergent points of view but none from the Maoist angle.
The articles, however, give a detailed picture of the political
mechanism at work within Nepal. All the articles underline the
conspiracies of India, which reduced Nepal to the status of a
semi-protectorate. Dr Shastra Dutta Pant, while commenting on the
hegemony of India over Nepal, mentioned that 'Goa, Daman, Dyuk,
Hyderabad, Jammu, Kashmir and Sikkim were annexed' by India, and
Bhutan reduced to a protectorate. At present, after the publication of
'The India Doctrine', the Maoists have won the election and they are
trying to form a coalition government and this would loosen India's
grip on Nepal.
The article on Sri Lanka shows India's involvement in fomenting and
organising sectarian violence between the Tamils and the Singhalese
and this has resulted in long ongoing armed fighting. At one point, on
the pretence of peace making, India managed to station its army in Sri
Lanka. This was an act, which India lived to regret, as it became a
boomerang when the Tamils attacked the Indian army causing heavy
casualty on them and India was compelled to withdraw, and in the
process Rajib Gandhi, the Indian prime minister, got assassinated. But
India has continued its hegemonic ways.
It is known that the next edition of the book, which will be published
in August, will contain a chapter on Indian conspiracies in Pakistan.
It will make the book more interesting with additional valuable
information.
The enormity of the work that has gone into the essays of all writers
of the book, especially of MBI Munshi, is awe inspiring. It is a great
contribution for all readers on the subject. I certainly wish the book
a very wide circulation.
Writer: Zoglul Husain
e-mail: zoglul@hotmail.co.uk
(End)
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