A Brief Study of Heritage Issues in Bangladesh, with Special Reference to Dhaka City
Introduction
Rabindra Nath Tagore, the noble laureate poet strongly believed and wrote, "if the diamond ring is learning, the light reflected from it is culture" (SHESHER KABITA, R.N. Tagore, published by Biswa Bharati, Page 3, translated), by which he meant that civilization was the reflection of a country's culture. It is unfortunate that within the following few decades, the civilizations as reflected in built-forms in most of the south Asian countries would cease to show any reflections of their cultures. Such a situation is acceptable in case countries having no culture of their own. But in case countries rich in culture the same is comparable to moral death. In any democratic country the Parliamentary building or "the people's house" may be considered as the most important building of the country. Sangsad Bhaban, the parliament building of Bangladesh has been highly praised and awarded international prize for its architectural excellence. The building, however, does shows no reflection of the architectural or cultural heritage of Bangladesh. Such a reality may indicate (01) the country does not have any significant architectural or cultural heritage, (02) the country lacks in the expertise to design such an important building and (03) the people of the country are incapable of doing a job of such magnitude.
The reality that Bangladesh has got rich cultural and architectural heritage may be seen in the current paper. Due to her scenic beauty, geographical location, abundance of provisions etc. numerous races and types of people visited this land since time immemorial. The climate and topography of the land is not quite friendly and one needs a lot of courage and perseverance to survive here. The people whose taste, temperament and ability suited to such a situation turned permanent settlers. These people, with one common language, Bengali are now identified by the name of their unique culture, which is known as the BANGALEE culture.
The people of this land need to work hard during unfavorable seasons and inclement weather. At other times, however, they get time to exchange ideas, visit friends, practice and perform performing arts etc. A close relation of the land with the neighboring southern India has enriched the land with many performing arts. The ruins of the brick built Buddhist monasteries of 213 BC and earlier are indicative of her rich architectural heritage. Numerous Hindu temples along with stone deities again indicate their heritage and excellence in Art, Sculpture and painting. Mosques and mausoleums constructed in various techniques are indicative of their superior type of technical performances.
'Independence' is the key word of the people of this land. For independence, the people played significant and daring role against the British. But after the independence of India in 1947, the Bengali speaking people found them bifurcated and living in two independent countries, India and Pakistan, none of which they realized, were compatible with their culture. In case of Pakistan, the cultures in various regions varied widely and the rulers from West Pakistan endeavored to bridge the gap by using religion as a tool.
For a pretty long time, Dhaka the centrally located city acted as the capital of this land. The city was inhibited by people from many cultures, religions and races. While it is true that Culture generally acts as a melting pot, the pot however, does not retain all of them. Only those endorsed by the majority and complementary to overall situations of the locality do exist. The same was the case in Dhaka of Bangladesh also. The natural process of formation of culture was highly interfered after 1947, when the central government of Pakistan alleged Bangalee culture as a Hindu culture and decided to annihilate the same in the name of religion. The situation became worse when the Pakistan government became increasingly dependent up on foreign aid and loan. The loan and aid giving agencies made it a strong point to appoint their experts as consultants in the relevant projects. This paved the path of infiltration for alien concepts and ideas in various discipline including planning, architecture and decoration etc. with little regard for the aspiration of the common men, their culture, life-style and even climate. The first school for academic teaching of Architecture was opened in this land in 1962 with US citizens and local architects, trained in USA. Naturally, things that could have been considered as rich heritage in these fields were abandoned and the city started growing up with alien looks. Since the conducive physical facilities for cultural activities and developments started disappearing, there happened changes in the practice of previous cultural lives also. In addition the eastern wing witnessed disparity between the two wings. In such a situation the people revolted to safeguard, among others their own culture and to find its reflection on civilization. In 1971, under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Father of the nation) they fought and finally won independent state, Bangladesh, which means the country for the Bangalees. But by this time the irreparable damages in the sector of culture and urban civilization were already done. The cultural and architectural heritage of the land was neglected and there appeared a group of planners, architects and designers who were taught to think with foreign bias.
After the liberation in 1971, there was turmoil in the country. Before it could be disciplined the father of the nation was killed and the political power went to the military. It is a common experience that the military governments usually prefer civil construction as a good means of kick-backs. In the meantime, USA, the country that acted against the war for independence came with generous offer of loans and aids. The Gulf countries, acting under the influence of Pakistan opened their job-market for the Bangladeshi people and the western acted on some sort of blueprint that enhanced 'brain-drain' from the country. Even though the country reverted to parliamentary democracy in 1991, the country now lacks in brains, funds and confidence to revive the situation. In brief, this is the context in which the people of Bangladesh in general and of Dhaka city in particular are losing their cultural and architectural heritage.
References
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