Atisha and Forgotten Histories
Atish Dipankar Srijnan (980–1054) was a Buddhist teacher/master from Bikrampur, Bangladesh. He is still held as an archetypal figure in many Buddhist schools of thought. Bikrampur Vihara which was rediscovered in Bikrampur in 2013; established the historicity of Atisha to Bangladesh. While being such an important religious figure who has established link to Ancient Bengal; regrettably Bangladeshi history books in the schools fail to mention him.
All in while we learn poems and stories that make no sense to the current mindset and people often forget right after the exams are done. We as a culture, revere chauvinist chest thumpers rather than our magnificent history which is over 2000 years old. These nationalist education policies have ruined generations of citizens into ethnocentric populous who can’t think beyond what they see in the dominant media outlets and their social circles. This is a prime example of how nationalism has been ruining and silencing ancient history of their people for the sake of the longevity of the ideology. Even the history we learn goes through recycles over the which party is in power, which causes further harm than educating a citizen who can determine their history through their discovery in the pages of history.
We find ourselves as a nation of citizens who are apathetic towards ancient history and current politics. The necessity of jumping social classes which has grown in the recent decades have bought the country to find itself chasing the ‘magic rabbit’ of wealth and we have forgotten to practice the culture. This not being the once a year celebration of the hegemonic cultural events, but the histories of this land that it had experienced before the creation of a nation-state. Our ancient histories which are often if not always linked to our neighbouring state of India; this has put a veil of ignorance towards these periods of history. When Bangladeshi media outlets find itself in rehashing old news stories in a loop of 3-hour blocs, we ought to fund and telecast informative documentaries of such periods akin to what BBC does. Figures such as Atish Dipankar or the vibrant history of the Armenian community in Dhaka; a section of history is willingly forgotten for the sake of ideology but this does not have to be.
It was because of the reverence of Atisha overseas that made possible to fund the birthplace marker in Bikrampur that was erected with the help of the Embassy of China in 2000. Similarly, the Chinese archaeological team that led the excavation of Bikrampur Vihara in 2013 with local archaeologists with the funding from the Cultural Ministry of Bangladesh. At face value; Bangladeshis are seen to be apathetic towards non-canonical history that they are not linked to the hegemony unless important foreign nations tell them about it. The in-depth look shows how the education policies which has been limited to contemporary historical periods that beat the drums of ethnocentric patriotism from early on which cause the lifelong apathy non-dominant discourses. As we practice the culture of history today, the youth are more disillusioned from the propagandistic nationalist histories than ever. This isolation from history will only distance the future generations to root away from this land among many other reasons.
As we find ourselves at this state as a culture; we have to return to history and rediscover the expanse of rich history in this land. We cannot continue to ignore over 2000 years of history just because we belong to one faith over the other, this needless idiocy has gone on for too long and we as a nation have grown enough to see beyond the veil of propaganda that has plagued our perception of history. This dam of ignorance has to be broken to let the populous to determine their histories and where they root in this land over the mounds of apathy.
Dated: July 18, 2015
