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GEOPOLITICS OF ISLAM: BANGLADESH AND THE MUSLIM WORLD

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 CHAPTER 8

GEOPOLITICS OF ISLAM: BANGLADESH AND THE MUSLIM WORLD

Dr. Kent Bob Huzen (1993)

Geopolitics of Islam acts as an influencing factor on the foreign policy and

diplomacy of most of the Muslim countries. The degree of its role on nation-building,

foreign policy and defence strategy may vary from country to country depending on the state

ideology. This chapter will be a modest step to analyze the role of Islam on geopolitics from

the early period to the present century, with special focus on Bangladesh.

8.1 Geopolitics of Islam: Early Era

From the time it first appeared, the religion of Islam was a problem for Christian

Europe. Those who believed in it were the enemy on the frontier. In the seventh and eighth

centuries armies fighting in the name of the first Muslim empire, the Caliphate, expanded

into the heart of the Christian world. They occupied provinces of the Byzantine empire in

Syria, the Holy land and Egypt, and spread westwards into North Africa, Spain and Sicily;

and the conquest was not only a military one, it was followed in course of time by

conversions to Islam on a large scale. Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries there

was a Christian counter attack, successful for a time in the Holy Land, where a Latin

kingdom of Jerusalem was created, and more permanently in Spain. The last Muslim

kingdom in Spain was brought to an end in 1492, but by that time there was a further Muslim

expansion elsewhere, by dynasties drawn from the Tarkish peoples: the Saljuqs advanced

into Anatolia, and later the Ottomans extinguished what was left of Byzantine empire and
 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

occupied its capital, Constantinople, and expanded into eastern and central Europe. As late as

the seventeenth century they were able to occupy the island of Crete and to threaten Vienna.

The relationship between Muslim and European Christians, however, was not simply

one of holy war, of crusade and jihad. "The history of every civilization shows that both

religious and political institutions operating in society are contenders, and very often

competitiors, for people's loyalties and hance for power."1 There was trade across the

Mediterranean, and the balance of it changed in course of time; from the eleventh and twelfth

centuries onwards the Italian ports expanded their trade, and, in the fifteenth and sixteenth

centuries, ships from the ports of northern Europe began to appear in the Mediterranean and

the Indian Ocean. There was also an exchange of ideas, and here the traffic moved mainly

from the lands of Islam to those of Christendom: Arabic works of philosophy, science and

medicine were translated into Latin, and until the sixteenth century the writings of the great

medical scientist Ibn Sina were used in European medical schools.

What ever European Christians thought of Islam, they could not deny that it was an

important factor in human history, and one which needed to be explained. Awareness of the

world of Islam increased in early modern times, between the sixteenth and eighteenth

centuries, and in some ways its nature changed. The military challenge from the Ottoman

empire had ceased to exist by the eighteenth century, as the balance of military strength

shifted. Improvements in navigation made possible the exploration of the world by European

ships and an expansion of European trade in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, and there

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

were the beginnings of European settlement. In addition to the Italian trading communities,

which had long existed in the ports of the eastern Mediterranean, there were other factors:

Aleppo, one of the main centres of Near Eastern trade, had several communities, including a

number of English merchants. Portuguese, Dutch, French and English merchants also settled

in some of the Indian ports. A new kind of political relationship began to appear: European

states had ambassadors and consuls in the Ottoman domains, although the Ottoman sultan

did not have his own permanent embassies in Europe until the time of the Napoleonic war.

Napoleon recognized the value-and ease-of using Islamic symbolism of at the

time of his invasion of Egypt in 1798. His proclamation to the people of
Egypt began with the standard Muslim invocation of 'God, the Merciful, the
Compassionate' (bismallah), and went on to say: I worship God (may He be
exalted) far more than the Mamlukes do, and respect His Prophet and
Glorious Quran ... [T] he French also are sincere Muslims.2

Treaties and alliances were discussed: the French and Ottomans made an agreement against

the Habsburg, and the British and others tried to establish relations with the Safavid Shahs of

Iran.

As relations grew closer, intellectual awareness also expanded. The direct importance

of Islam to scholars and thinkers diminished: the religious controversies of Europe in the

time of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation revolved around a new set of problems

and, the development of European science and medicine made what had been written in

Arabic less important. In some ways, however, Islam was still relevant to the religious

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

concerns of the age. Although comparative philology did not yet exist as a scientific

discipline, it was generally recognized that Arabic had a close relationship with the

languages of the Bible, Hebrew and Aramaic, and study of it might throw light on them;

knowledge too of the Near Eastern environment in which the events recorded in the Bible

had taken place might help to explain them. Among educated people, travel, commerce and

literature brought some awareness of the phenomenon, majestic and puzzling, of Islamic

civilization, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with Arabic as its lingua franca, the

most universal language which had ever existed. This awareness was expressed by Dr.

Johnson,-- "there are two objects of curiosity -- the Christian world, and the Mahomedan

world. All the rest may be considered as barbarous."3 How far did such changes have an

effect upon attitudes towards Islam? The spectrum of possible attitudes still existed. Such an

idea could be formulated in many ways, ranging from genuine rational conviction to almost

complete skepticism or agnosticism. Edmund Gibbon lay near to the point of skepticism, but

to him "Muhammad appeared in as favourable a light as any religious leader could. Chapter

50 of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is devoted to Muhammad and the rise of

Islam."4

By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Europeans who thought about Islam

could take up two kinds of attitude towards it. They could see Islam as the enemy and rival

of Christianity, using some Christian truths for its own purposes, or else as one of the forms

which human reason and feeling have taken in their attempt to know and define the nature of

God and the universe. Common to both these attitudes was acceptance of the fact that

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

Muhammad and his followers had played an important part in the history of the world. By

this time, moreover, it was more difficult not to take up an attitude of some kind towards

Islam, as towards the other religions of the world, because of the changing relations between

Europe and the peoples of Asia and Africa among whom religions other than Christianity

were predominant. Trade was expanding as new methods of manufacture were invented and

adopted, and new means of communication were developed: the steamship, railway and

telegraph. The expansion of Europe brought back new knowledge of the world outside, and

also created new responsibilities: British, French and Dutch rule was extended over ports and

their hinterlands in the countries around the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, the

Russian rule expanded southwards towards the Black Sea and eastwards into Asia.

The most ambitious attempt to combine explanations in terms of Islam with other

kinds of historical explanation, and to place the world of Islam also in the context of

universal history, is that made by Marshal Hodgson in The Venture of Islam.5 He sees the

history of Islam also within a broader temporal framework, as a continuation of an older

cultural tradition, that of the Fertile Crescent, Iran and Egypt, stretching back to Babylonia

and ancient Egypt, but now expressing itself in a new language, Arabic, and in intellectual

and artistic response to a new Holy Book, The Quran.

Within this broad context of space and time, a certain view of the historical process,

in terms of the interaction of three forces: the gradual development of cultural resources and

traditions within the limits of a certain physical environment; the growth and persistence of a

collective solidarity, and the subtle working of individual thought and conscience which, in

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

some circumstances, can give a new direction to cultural traditions and collective solidarity.

The climax of Islamic civilization as coming much later in date and further east in space: in

the early modern period, and in the region of Persian high culture, stretching from central

Asia through Iran into northern India.

Until the eighteenth century, it is the Muslim civilization which dominated the world

of cities and settled agriculture, with its language of high culture, its law providing a

framework of shared expectations within which commercial and other kinds of intercourse

could take place, its literature and art giving symbolic expression to a vision of this world

and the next. It was only in the nineteenth century, that the geopolitics of power and cultural

independence of the Muslim world began to be seriously challenged, as a result of a mutation

of human society which first appeared on the far western fringes of the civilized world.

8.2 Geopolitics and Islam in Nation-Building: The Application of a Convoluted

Ideology

Those who yoked Islam to ideology understood neither Islam nor ideology. An

ideology is a scheme of life intended for organising worldly affairs and is based upon or

derived from human experience. Islam contains God's commands whose primary purpose is

the establishment of an ethical society.

The Pakistan of 1947 was the realisation of a dream and a vision. It had secured a

free and independent polity for Muslim India after almost two centuries, during which

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

Muslims had been losing power to non-Muslim Hindu and British forces. It was the

harbinger of great things to come, perhaps the revival of the glory that Islam had been at one

time. But within 24 years its eastern wing, containing the majority of its population, had

violently, and through a bloody war of liberation, wrenched itself away from the bosom of

this Muslim nation.

Just as the demand for Pakistan was novel, so were the conceptual and philosophical

bases on which it was going to be anchored. As the supreme leader of the Pakistan

Movement, Jinnah articulated the two-nation theory, providing the basis for separating

Muslims from other Indians, mainly Hindus, on the grounds that they were separate and

distinct by virtue of having their own complete code of life and a distinct value system.

While the two-nation theory was lacking in the evidence that if offered, it amply made up

that deficiency by opening up vistas of a very attractive Pakistan. The theory responded to

Muslim fears of the Hindus, with regard to both their superior numbers and also their

superior skills. The theory implied that, once achieved, Pakistan would be the nation of

Muslims

and the Muslims would not need to compete against the better qualified Hindus in a Muslim

Pakistan. The Islamic ideology was articulated to argue that Islam was a complete code of

life; that it provided answers for every problem and endeavour in life; that somehow it

contained a complete blueprint not only for matters devotional but also for social, economic

and political matters. The Islamic ideology also implied links with the Muslim hartlands and

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

inspirational origins, as well as the glory that the world of Islam had been at one time.

The picture of a future Pakistan that these conceptualisations projected was very

attractive and appealing to most Muslims. In order to keep the reins of Muslim solidarity in

his own hands Jinnah coined his famous slogan of Unity, Faith and Discipline. Obviously,

what unity, faith and discipline called upon the Muslims to do was to speak with one voice --

the voice of Jinnah himself. Whenever, Jinnah was asked what kind of government the future

Pakistan would have, whether democratic or theocratic, Jinnah's answer was, "we learnt

democracy thirteen centuries ago."6 Jinnah was a thoroughly secular and this-worldly man, a

completely eclectic individual for whom there were no dietary taboos. It is ironic that a state

which sought its legitimacy from, and endeavoured to build its identity on, assumptions

derived from Islam, should have as its founder a leader whose life, personality and character

were so secular. As the Islamic fervour and demands for Islamic Constitution, state and

economics increased, so did the insecurity of the Governments of Pakistan. Consequently,

successive governments, whether implicitly or explicitly, prevented a critical examination of

Jinnah's personality and politics.7

Unfortunately for Pakistanis, there were hardly any intellectual giants among their

founding fathers. As an exception, the great poet Iqbal was an Islamic visionary and a very

appealing articulator, through his poetry, of the inner yearnings of the Muslims of India.

Also, it was unrealistic to attribute philosophical and political completeness to the idea of

Pakistan as presented only in Jinnah's speeches8 which were essentially political, mobilising

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

the Muslim masses and articulating the Muslim interests as Jinnah understood them.

... Jinnah was a lawyer, a Debater, a politician and a political leader, and a
practical man, totally honest and dedicated to his cause and totally free of any
personal scandal. He was a political leader and as a political articulator he
belonged to the category of the very great. He dealt with the present as he
perceived it, but he could not provide for a future that he was unable to
visualise. He knew little or nothing about either Islam as a religion or Islam
as a civilisation. Not knowing about either of them was neither a sin nor a
particular obstacle to his leadership. He reacted to political challenges as well
as he could, and in the end he achieved for the Muslims the state of Pakistan.9

This provided them with a foundation on which they could build a new state which would

reflect their self-esteem. By shutting of critical debate about the conceptual foundations of

Pakistan and the capacity of Islam as a religion to provide political underpinnings for a state,

the Government of Pakistan committed a grievous mistake and delivered a blow to the

process of nation-building.

Pakistan had been achieved; whether Jinnah was a pious religious saint or a holy

Islamic warrior or simply twentieth-century politician, and whether the two-nation theory

and Islamic ideology were appropriate to anchor the infant Pakistan or were only an illusion,

these issues were no longer relevant. Pakistan was a political reality, recognised by the

world, including India, and was a member of the United Nations; it did not need to weave

these conceptual, religious and historical ambiguities in the fabric of its body politic. A

critical examination of what could provide a practical and meaningful basis for nation-

building in Pakistan is needed.

Pakistan is not unique in having problems of nation-building. Most new states in Asia

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

and Africa are beset with these problems. Pakistan is not unique in being one where

secession has succeeded. The nationalist fervour in East Pakistan became so consuming that

its votaries faced an army and made sacrifices that perhaps exceeded even those made in

1947. "In the new Pakistan sub-nationalism has been denigrated as 'regionalism', a

nationalism that is conceptually shared only by the people of one region and is anathema to

others."10 Yet, the leadership of Pakistan, while familiar with modern nationalism, opted to

reject it in favour of a paradigm which might have existed in antiquity. Thus they ensured

that Pakistan would take a long and painful path to sort out the issue of modern nationalism.

However, the founder of Pakistan, Jinnah, did make an effort to apply the imperatives of

modern nationalism in his foundation speech to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11

August 1947.11

The major problem for Pakistan, as a result, arose from the attempt to utilise an

insufficient conceptual plan to provide the philosophical underpinning for a state that had no

historical precedent. Since Islam was declared to be the mainspring for all conceptualisations

to regulate Pakistan, the transformation of the heterogeneous population of Pakistan into a

nation had to be undertaken within the context of Islam. Islam, if it was to be the raison

d'etre of Pakistan, needed rethinking and Islamic thought needed reformulation on the lines

indicated by Iqbal in the 1920s,12 or Fazlur Rahman in the 1980s.13 Islam was allowed to fall

into the hands of the most retrograde elements among Muslims, who had historically lived

off Islam and had exploited Islam to tolerate the injustice and oppression of the feudal

establishment and the professional class of religious functionaries. Theirs was the Islam of

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

the past, not a historical past, but a past especially created by the votaries of their classes,

which emphasised tradition and the status quo. In the name of Islamic purity, they attempted

to impose an intellectual straitjacket on the creativity of the Muslim mind.

The West Pakistani Islamists and their supporters in the Central Government and

bureaucracy vowed not to permit the alleged Hinduised Muslims of East Pakistan ever to

acquire control over the laves of power in Pakistan. The result of this policy appeared in the

form of Bangladesh movement, which could not be suppressed even by the violent use of

Pakistani Army. The emergence of Bangladesh was thus assured when Muslim soldiers

killed fellow Muslims and Pakistanis.

Just as the partition of India had become inevitable in 1947, so too did the separation

of East Pakistan in 1971. Thus both Pakistan and Bangladesh are tributes to the geopolitics

of Islam, and doctrinaire and dogmatic espousals of insensitive internal imperialism, though

couched they may have been in the rhetoric of nationalism.

8.3 Islam and Foreign Policy of Bangladesh

Although no bigger in area than the state of Wisconsin, "Bangladesh is in population

the second largest Muslim-majority nation-state in the world today."14 Islamic factor acts

independently as a determinant on the foreign policy and diplomacy of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has developed close relationship with the Islamic countries, the process of which

has been started during the Mujib period. In very general and theoretical terms, the basis of

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

Islam in Bangladesh foreign policy was laid down in proclamations (5th Amendment) order

no. 1 of 1977 and act XXX of 1988 of the Constitution of Bangladesh. The articles are

reproduced below:

[Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ar-Rahim.(1) In the name of Allah, the beneficent,

the Merciful]. We, the people of Bangladesh, having proclaimed our
Independence on 26th day of March, 1971 and through (2)[a historic war for
national independence], established the independent, sovereign People's
Republic of Bangladesh;(3) [pledging that the high ideals of absolute trust
and faith in the Almighty Allah, nationalism, democracy and socialism
meaning economic and social justice, which inspired our heroic people to
dedicate themselves to and our brave martyrs to sacrifice their lives in, the
war for national independence, shall be the fundamental principles of the
Constitutions;]

Article 6 [(1) The citizen ship of Bangladesh shall be determined and

regulated by law. (2) The citizens of Bangladesh shall be known as
Bangladeshis.]

Notes:
(1) These words and brackets were inserted by the proclamations (Amendment)
order, 1977 (Proclamations Order No. 1 of 1977).
(2) These words were substituted for the words "a historic struggle for national
Liberation", ibid.
(3) This paragraph was substituted for the second paragraph, ibid.
(6) Article 6 was substituted for atticle 6(1) & (2), ibid.

Article 2A [The state religion of the Republic is Islam but other religions
may be practised in peace and harmony in the Republic].
Article 3. The state Language of the Republic is [Bangla].

Notes:

2A Article was inserted by Act XXX of 1988, S.2.

Article 3 substituted by Act XXX of 1988, S.3, for "Bengali".

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

There are push and pull factors influencing Bangladesh's relations with these countries. The

first push factor is the religiosity of the masses who want closer relations with the Islamic

countries and identification with the Islamic issues.15 The second push factor is a clause

which was added in Article 25 of the Constitution of Bangladesh by Zia, which read as "the

state shall endeavour to consolidate, preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among

Muslim countries based on Islamic solidarity."16 The rightist and the centrist parties want to

have and act as a pressure group to forge a close relation with the Islamic countries. Another

push factor is the absence of any Islamic country as a close neighbour unlike other Islamic

countries. "The consciousness of this isolation has made its unique contribution to

Bangladesh's desire for Islamic solidarity" [Map 11).17

The pull factor include political and economic reasons. Politically the Islamic

countries are important for Bangladesh individually and collectively. Islamic countries

collectively supported Bangladesh on the water dispute with India when it was raised in the

UN General Assembly in 1976 and its candidature to the Security Council in 1978.

Economically the oil rich Arab countries are very helpful in different ways. They provide

economic aid most of which is in the form of grant to Bangladesh. The West Asian countries

have become the largest market for Bangladeshi labour force both skilled and unskilled. The

remittance, of money is a vital source of foreign exchange. Trade between Bangladesh and

these countries have great prospect, which is increasing in volume and value. "The terms of

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

trade is favourable to Bangladesh because a major share of the import bill is paid through

loans and grants."18

The push and pull factors guide Bangladesh foreign policy towards the Islamic

countries. Dhaka adapts Islamic posture on most occasions.

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

Map 11

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

The Islamic countries particularly Saudi Arabia influence the decision-making process of the

government. "The Islamic countries indirectly influence the Islamisation process in

Bangladesh as an external factor."19 In international forums and the UN, Bangladesh

highlights and takes definite stand on problems of Islamic countries. it has cautiously

supported the peace treaty signed by the PLO Chief and the Israeli Prime Minister terming it

as a welcome development because there is no unanimity of reaction among the Muslims

states. On Bosnia or earlier on Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, the issues on which there

were unanimous view of Muslim Governments and the masses, Dhaka took more clear,

vocal and representative stands. Bangladesh Foreign Minister attended the July 1993 special

ministerial meeting of the OIC in Islamabad on Bosnia issue and was one of the seven

countries which pledged to contribute troops under the United Nations Protection Force to

save the Bosnian Muslims.20 The internal Islamisation and the overtly pro-Islamic external

policies has heightened its position in the Islamic world.

a) Bangladesh and the Muslim World: First Phase

During the Bangladesh liberation war diplomatic support was given to Pakistan by

Iran and Arab states of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and the Sheikhdoms of the Persian

Gulf, while other Arab states -- Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Algeria -- remained rather silent.21

Indonesia was concerned for the secession of East Pakistan, so it was interested in the

peaceful settlement of the crisis. It offered its good offices to try to keep West and East

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

Pakistan together. The Indonesian Foreign Minister made effort, to help in the political

settlement of the crisis. After the emergence of Bangladesh Indonesia and Malaysia were the

first Muslim countries to recognise Bangladesh on 25 February 1972.

Among the Arab states Iraq, Egypt, Algeria and Syria displayed an early willingness

to recognise Bangladesh. Bangladesh Foreign Minister visited Iraq, Syria and Egypt in

August-September 1972. Even after the Arab states negative attitude towards Bangladesh, it

consistently avoided any link with Israel. Mujib spurned Israeli overtures for its friendship.

A senior career diplomat was appointed as special envoy of Bangladesh to the region shortly

after independence.22

Bangladesh did not loose any opportunity to express its solidarity with the Arab

countries vis-a-vis Israel and upheld Palestinian cause. In the October 1973 Arab-Israel war

Bangladesh strongly supported Arabs. In a symbolic gesture Bangladesh sent tea and a

military medical team to Cairo. Mujib personally visited the war Zone within weeks of the

ceasefire. These efforts paid fruitfully. Most Arab and Islamic countries excluding Saudi

Arabia and Sudan recognised Bangladesh during Mujib's time.

The main problems between Bangladesh and Pakistan essential to be settled for

normalisation of relations were: i) repatriation of Pakistani Prisoners of War (POWs) held in

India; ii) repatriation of Bengali military and civilian personnel held in Pakistan; iii)

repatriation of Pakistani personnel and Urdu speaking pro-Pakistani people residing in

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

Bangladesh; and iv) division of assets and liabilities between them. After normalisation of

Indo-Pak relations in July 1972, New Delhi persuaded Bangladesh to deal with the

repatriation problem softly. After a series of negotiations and agreements between India and

Bangladesh in April 1973, India and Pakistan in July 1973, a final agreement about

repatriation was signed between India and Pakistan on 28 August 1973.23

The Arab Islamic countries played hectic diplomacy for participation of Bangladesh

in the second Islamic Conference held on 22-23 February 1974. With the good offices of the

member countries Mujib attended the Lahore OIC summit and acquiesced the trial of the

accused Pakistani military personnel for war crimes. Bhutto recognised Bangladesh

respecting the 'Unanimous opinion' of the Muslim leaders.24 Iran, Turkey and Libya

recognised Bangladesh after Pakistan. Mujib met King Faisal of Saudi Arabia at the Non-

Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit of 1973 and the Islamic Summit of 1974. Saudi regime

was slowly coming towards formal recognition during Mujib time. The Saudi recognition

after Mujib's removal was not sudden, but hasty culmination of a process started by Mujib

regime.

b) Politico-Security Relations: The Second Phase

In post-Mujib Bangladesh, Pakistan has gradually emerged as the most important

neighbouring Islamic country. Pakistan was the first country to recognise and support the

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

new government after the violent change of regime in August 1975. Prime Minister Bhutto

expressed his desire to make greater contribution for the well-being of Bangladesh, with

whom they have shared common nationhood and destiny.25 Zia took further diplomatic

initiatives to develop good relations with Pakistan. During his regime the two countries

signed Trade Agreement, joint Economic Commission Agreement and Cultural Cooperation

Agreement. In the late eighties, during Ershad regime a new aspect of cooperation in defence

and security field has been added. There has been exchange of visits by high-level military

delegations since 1989. Pakistan has given 40 discarded F-6 Chinese fighter to Bangladesh.26

Nothing remarkable has occurred in the Bangladesh-Pak relations during the Khaleda Zia

regime. Pakistan has agreed at the time of Begum Zia's visit to repatriate the stranded

Pakistanis, in phases which did not materialise due to violent reaction by the Sindhis in

Karachi. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan during his Dhaka visit assured the Bangladesh

leadership to respect the commitments given by the previous government. During 1993 some

industries in Bangladesh were returned to its Pakistani owners.27

The objective of Bangladesh politico-security diplomacy towards Pakistan was to

amplify its sense of security and increase its manoeuvrability against India. Pakistan

responded positively towards Dhaka's overtures of normalisation of relations because it

wanted to minimise Indian influence over Bangladesh. It seems that the post-Mujib

Bangladesh has more or less similar outlook and common sentiments about the sub-

continent. After normalisation they have developed a striking similarity in their foreign

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

policy directions and linkage pattern.28 Both have close and friendly relations with the West,

the Muslim world and China.

The other important neighbouring Islamic countries are Malaysia and Indonesia.

Bangladesh has excellent relations with Malaysia.

... Malaysia and Indonesia, the two Muslim states of the South-East Asian
region, recognised her by March of that year. Even before formal recognition,
Malaysia decided to help Bangladesh purchage a Fokker Friendship plane by
extending the necessary amount as grant. And, Indonesia, just after her
recognition, decided to support Bangladesh's membership in the United
Nations. Malaysia on September 23, and Indonesia on October 2, 1972 made
powerful pleas on the UN platform to admit Bangladesh in the United
Nations.29

A joint Economic Commission is working between them. Bangladesh's initiatives to develop

close relations with Indonesia is not reciprocated equally. The relationship though not upto

the expectations of Bangladesh is good. There was an exchange of naval mission and an

informal joint exercise of Indonesian and Bangladeshi navies in 1978. The primary motive of

Indonesia in its relationship with Bangladesh is cultural and religious rather than economic

or strategic.

c) Bangladesh and Persian Gulf Islamic Countries

The Persian Gulf is a very important region for all the nations of the world because of

its oil wealth. Its significance is more high to the poor developing countries. Bangladesh

being one of them persues active diplomacy in this region. It has resident missions in all the

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Iraq and Iran. In every mission in this region it has

posted diplomatic staff to look after the economic and commercial interests of Bangladesh.

Saudi Arabia was the last Muslim country to recognise Bangladesh after the Mujib era was

over.

Since August 1975, the successive regimes in Bangladesh differed

substantially from the Awami League regime in both domestic and foreign
policy. These regimes along with political and economic reforms gave
increasing attention to Islam.30

This shows its perception about the ideology of the regime of Bangladesh with which it

wants to do business. Both the people and government of Dhaka have friendly feelings for

the kingdom due to its religious, economic importance and political clout. The relation has

progressively improved since Zia regime.

King Khalid appreciated the efforts of the Bangladesh Government in preserving

independence and sovereignty of the country. He has assured to do all Riyadh can to help

Bangladesh preserve its independence and sovereignty from external threats and improve

conditions of life of its people.31 Saudi-Bangladesh joint Economic and Technical

cooperation is working to promote bilateral economic and technical cooperation. In May

1983 an agreement to create Saudi-Bangladesh Joint Investment Company (Sabinco) was

signed which became operative in April 1986.32 Saudi Arabia is most responsive among the

West Asian Islamic nations towards the economic, political and security problems of

Bangladesh.

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

After the Gulf War Bangladesh-Iran relations have achieved a new momentum. Iran

is taking active interests in Bangladesh as a competitor of Saudi Arabia as the leader of the

Islamic world. The Foreign Minister of Iran came to Dhaka in May 1992 in connection with

the Rohingya refugee problems.33 A meeting of the Bangladesh-Iran Joint Economic

Commission was held in November 1993. Iran agreed to construct a cement factory and a

food grains storage facility. It also assured Dhaka to give priority in employment to

Bangladeshi labours, skilled workers and professionals.

Turkey, Egypt, Libya and Morocco are the other Islamic countries which responded

to Bangladesh's initiatives to have good relations. Egypt is the country among the Arab

Islamic states which was most sympathetic to Bangladesh in its initial years after emergence

and helped it diplomatically in getting membership in different international bodies and

recognition by countries.34

d) Economic Relations: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

Bangladesh follows active economic diplomacy with the Islamic countries. It gives

high importance to its economic diplomacy with oil exporting Islamic countries for their aid

and manpower imports. The table shows the value of foreign aid which Dhaka has got from

Islamic countries mainly OPEC countries and two non-OPEC countries upto June 1989.

Foreign Aid Received from Different OPEC and Non-OPEC

Islamic Countries from 16 December 1971 to 30 June 1989

(in million US$)

----------------------------------------------------------------

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

OPEC Islamic countries Grant Loans Total

----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Saudi Arabia 478.2 158.9 637.1
2. Kuwait 0.3 139.5 139.8
3. UAE 17.2 101.6 118.8
4. Iraq 8.3 67.1 75.4
5. Iran -- 12.5 12.5
6. Libya 1.0 -- 1.0

non-OPEC Islamic Countries

7. Pakistan 34.1 -- 34.1

8. Turkey 0.8 4.1 4.9
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Source: Table 5.2 to 5.6, Bangladesh Economic Survey 1989-90, Economic

Adviser Wing, Finance Division, Ministry of Finance, Government of
the People's Republic of Bangladesh (Dhaka, June 1990), p. 154-55.

The direction and trend of Bangladesh trade like other countries of the South is

mainly with the western countries. For the petroleum and petroleum products import Dhaka

mainly depends upon the OPEC Islamic countries. Non-petroleum trade with these countries

is marginal Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, Malaysia, are the Islamic countries with which Bangladesh

has notable non-oil trade relations. The most important part of the economic relations of

Bangladesh with the rich Islamic countries is the employment of the unskilled, skilled and

professional Bangladeshis. The overseas remittance by the Bangladeshi migrant workers

have emerged as the most important source of foreign exchange to the country which

amounted to Taka 178 billion during 1977-90. In 1977 the total remittances were Taka 866

million which grew to Taka 16 billion in 1983, 27 billion in 1990 and 35.13 billion in 1992.35

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

Bangladesh has regular negative balance of payment. The remittances have provided

a relief and ameliorated the balance of payment position.36 To promote bilateral economic

interaction with the spirit of South-South cooperation Bangladesh has signed bilateral joint

committee or commission agreements with almost all important Islamic countries.

(e) Bangladesh and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC)

Bangladesh is an active member of the OIC. Viewing the importance of OIC for its

national interest, Bangladesh participates in the activities of OIC very sincerely. The

objectives which Bangladesh wants to achieve through its diplomacy in OIC are:

i) To get economic and financial assistance and other benefit for its

development from concerned institutions of the OIC.

ii) To use its OIC diplomacy as a leverage, for its relations with affluent Arab-

Islamic countries, upon which it depend for oil and foreign exchange

remittances by its nationals working in these countries.

iii) To get political and diplomatic support of the Islamic solidarity for the

achievement of its foreign policy objectives in the international organisations.

iv) To enhance its sense of security in countering any threat to its national

security and also as a deterrent to any the possible threat.37

Bangladesh's economic diplomacy in OIC is comparatively more successful.

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

Bangladesh is a founding member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) which started its

operation in Bangladesh since March 1977. A senior official of Bangladesh Government is a

member of the Board of Executive Directors representing Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia

and Maldives. The Bank provides loan for projects, trade, technical assistance and other

productive purposes. Dhaka is getting all types of aid given by the Bank.38

Bangladesh as the second largest Muslim state has a legitimate important position in

the OIC. The present level of cooperation and coordination among them is in its initial stage

in most of the aspired fields. Bangladesh wants to strengthen the unity of the organisation

through political and economic consolidation of the member states so that OIC can play a

role in the political and economic development and security of the member countries.

Bangladesh is patiently endeavouring in this direction because OIC serves its national

interests.

The religiosity of the masses in Bangladesh internally and the expectations and some

time instructions of the important Muslim countries externally have made Islam a significant

determinant in the foreign policy decision making of Bangladesh. Islam acts both as a cause

and an effect in the process of foreign policy decision making of the country. The common

element of religion provides a basis to the Muslim governments to aspire and strive for

bilateral and collective interactions. Bangladesh is conscious of the role and utility of Islam

in the persuance of its national interest. The level of its relations is determined by responses

of these countries because Bangladesh is at the receiving end with the important Islamic

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

countries.

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 Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

Endnotes

1. James P. Piscatori, Islam in a World of Nation-State, Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1988, p. 13.

2. Ibid., pp. 32-33.

3. G. Birkbeck Hill, ed., Boswell's Life of Johnson, revised edn., L.F. Powell, vol. IV,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1934, p. 199; also cited in Albert Hourani, Islam in
European Thought, Cambridge: Cambridge university Press, 1991, p. 11.

4. Albert Hourani, Ibid., p. 15.

5. Ibid., p. 54.

6. Rafique Afzal, Selected Speeches and Statements of the Quaid-i-Azam Md. Ali
Jinnah 1911-34 and 1947-48), Lahore: Research Society of Pakistan, University of
Panjab, 1966, p. 423.

7. See the author's chapter "Iqbal and Jinnah: Personalities, Perceptions and Politics", in
Saleem M.M. Qureshi, The Politics of Jinnah, Karachi: Royal Book Academy, 1988.

8. Jamiluddin Ahmad, Speeches and Writings of Mr. Jinnah, 7th ed., Lahore: Ashraf,
1968.

9. Saleem M.M. Qureshi, "Regionalism, Ethnic Conflict and Islam in Pakistan: Impact
on Foreign Policy" in Hafeez Malik (ed.), Dilemmas of National Security and
Cooeration in India and Pakistan, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993, p. 235.

10. Ibid., p. 236.

11. Quaid-i-Azam Mahomed Ali Jinnah, Speeches as Governor General of Pakistan

1947-48, Karachi: Pakistan Publications, n.d., pp. 8-9.

12. Allama Muhammad Iqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thoughts in Islam, about
Iqbal and his lectures, H.A.R. Gibb wrote in Modern Trends in Islam, Beirut:
Librairie Du Liban, reprinted, 1975, pp. 59-81.

13. Fazlur Rahman, Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition,

Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1982.

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14. Peter J. Bertocci, "Bangladesh: Composite Cultural Identity and Modernization in a

Muslim-Majority State", in Philip H. Stoddard, David C. Cuthell and Margaret W.
Sullivan (eds.), Change and the Muslim World, New York: Syracuse University
Press, 1981, p. 75.

15. Emajuddin Ahmed, "Current Trends of Islam in Bangladesh", in Economic and

Political Weekly, vol. xviii, no. 25, June 18, 1983, pp. 114-118; Ahmed Shafiqul
Huque and Muhammed Yeahia Akhter, "The Ubiquity of Islam: Religion and
Society in Bangladesh", in Pacific Affairs, vol. 60, no. 2, Summer 1987, pp. 200-225;
Denis Wright, "Islam and Bangladesh Polity", in South Asia, vol. X, no. 2, December
1987, pp. 16-27.

16. The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Ministry of Law, the
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, (Ministry of Law, The
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh), Dhaka: 1979, pp. 9-10.

17. Tabarak Husain, "Domestic Inputs in Foreign Policy" in S.R. Chakravarty and
Virendra Narain (eds.), Bangladesh: Global Politics, vol. 3, New Delhi: South Asian
Publishers, 1988, p. 26.

18. Md. Golam Mustafa, "Bangladesh Foreign Policy: The Middle East Factor", BIISS
Journal, vol. 7, no. 1, January 1986, p. 5.

19. Rounaq Jahan, Bangladesh Politics: Problem and Issues, Dhaka: UPL, 1980, p. 113.

20. Bangladesh News, Issued by Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner, (New Delhi),
vol. 2, no. 3, August 1993.

21. Asghar Ali, "Bangladesh and the Muslim World", in United Asia, (Bombay), vol. 23,
no. 3, 1971, p. 193.

22. Mizanur Rahman Shelly, "Bangladesh: Quest for International Recognition" in Asian
Affairs, (Dhaka), vol. 5, no. 4, October-December 1983, p. 414.

23. Moudud Ahmed, Bangladesh: Era of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Dhaka: UPL, 1991, p.
239.

24. Denis Wright, Bangladesh: Origins and Indian Ocean Relations (1971-1975),
Dhaka: Academic Publishers, 1988, pp. 236-40.

25. Harvey Stockwin, "Bangladesh: The Past Lives On", Far Eastern Economic Review,
5 September 1975, p. 5.

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Geopolitics of Islam: Bangladesh and the Muslim World

26. Srikant Mohapatra, "National Security and Armed Forces in Bangladesh", Strategic
Analysis, (New Delhi), vol. 14, no. 5, August 1991, p. 594.

27. Syed Anwar Hussain, "Year of Active, Economic Diplomacy" in Bichitra Varsha
Patra, '94, p. 41.

28. M. Abdul Hafiz, "Bangladesh-Pakistan Relations: Still Developing", in BIISS

Journal, vol. 6, no. 3, July 1985, p. 386.

29. Akmal Hussain, "Bangladesh and the Muslim World" in Emajuddin Ahamed (ed.)
Foreign Policy of Bangladesh: a small state's imperative, Dhaka: UPL, 1984, p. 85.

30. Ibid., p. 88.

31. Bangladesh Observer (Dhaka), 22 October 1976.

32. For details see, Holiday, 24 April 1986.

33. Keesings Contemporary Archives 1992, vol. 38, no. 5, May 1992, p. 38913.

34. Danis Wright, op. cit., p. 246.

35. R.A. Mahmood, "International Migration, Remittances and Development", paper

presented at the national seminar on Bangladesh in the Nineties: Security, Polity and
Economy, Organised by the BIISS, on 17-18 September 1991, pp. 4-12.

36. For details see, "The Effect of Remittances of Bangladesh Economy", a paper
prepared by the Planning Commission, Government of the People's Republic of
Bangladesh, Dhaka, 1990, pp. 16-31.

37. Abdur Rab Khan and Ghulam Mostafa, "Middle East Situation since Camp David:
Implications for Bangladesh", BIISS Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, January 1982, p. 60.

38. Mizanur Rahman Khan, "The Islamic Development Bank, A New Approach to
Multilateral Financing", BIISS Journal, vol. 4, no. 4, October 1983, pp. 117-18.

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