Anarchism in Bangladesh
Anarchism in Bangladesh has its roots in the ideas of the Bengali Renaissance and began to take influence as part of the revolutionary movement for Indian independence in Bengal.
Bengal subsequently was ruled by a succession of Hindu and Buddhist empires before the conquests of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji eventually introduced Islam to the region.
The group promoted free thinking and fought for social reforms such as the abolition of the sati, polygamy, child marriage and the caste system,[3] setting the groundwork for the early feminist movement.
[4] In 1828, Ram Mohan Roy and Debendranath Tagore founded the Brahmo Samaj religious movement, which initially aimed at reforming Hinduism, but later broke from Hindu orthodoxy entirely.
[9] In the wake of an assassination attempt on the Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford, the Alipore Bomb Case was opened, in which a number of members of the Anushilan Samiti were accused of conspiracy to "wage war against the Government".
This experience led one of the accused, Sri Aurobindo, to withdraw from political activity in Bengal and moved to Pondicherry, where he dedicated himself to practicing a form of spirituality and philosophy which has been described as "radical anarchism".
[10] Bagha Jatin subsequently rose to the Jugantar leadership and developed a decentralised federated body of loose autonomous regional cells, which began to organize a series of actions throughout Bengal "to revive the confidence of the people in the movement",[11] Jatin undertook the armed robbery of banks using automobiles, 3 years before the similar crime spree committed by the Bonnot Gang.
[12] After a number of assassinations attempts against colonial officials, the Governor-General of India Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound declared that: "a spirit hitherto unknown to India has come into existence (...), a spirit of anarchy and lawlessness which seeks to subvert not only British rule but the Governments of Indian chiefs..."[13][14] Jatin was eventually arrested in connection with the Howrah-Sibpur Conspiracy case and immediately suspended armed activity following his acquittal.
Despite the repression, the British colonial authorities were unable to stop the revolutionary activity, so they conceded to revert the partition in 1911,[15] reuniting the region under the Bengal Presidency.
[16] But many Bengali revolutionaries had already been forced to flee from persecution by the British authorities, one of which was Tarak Nath Das, who joined Har Dayal in attempting organize Indian emigrants and educate them on anarchist ideas, going on to establish the Ghadar Movement.
During the revolt, Bagha Jatin was killed in a firefight with police, while Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar were caught up in the ensuing repression, which led to the widespread arrest, internment, deportation and execution of Bengali revolutionaries.
In April 1930, Surya Sen led a group of revolutionaries in a raid on the police armory in Chittagong,[21] while in December 1930, the Bengal Volunteers launched an attack on the Writers' Building.
[29] In 1975, Rahman enacted the Second Revolution, which transformed Bangladesh into a one-party state, merging the Awami League and the Communist Party into the ruling BaKSAL front.
