Today, Bangladesh is observing the very tragic event of 15 August, 1975 when the founding father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was slain by most heartless killers in the small hours of the night along with nearly all members of his family.
It formed possibly the greatest tragic epic event in the modern times of a man so great and honorable being put down by a hail of bullets by some inhuman ones among his own people. The killers were but humans in appearance only. They were so devoid of any human sense of decency or conscience that no reasonable, knowledgeable and humanistic person will ever be able to regard them as having any positive human qualities. They will always deserve the utmost condemnation of all mankind who are pulsated by true human feelings and values.
Bangabandhu, if he continued to live and remained blessed with good health would beover a hundred years old today . But he died prematurely at the hands of heinous killers. He lived only 55 years to serve the country for the creation of which he made unique and matchless personal sacrifices. The flowers of his youth withered away in jail. A big part of his life was spent in jail and suffering various tortures of his oppressors.
But he did not give up an inch from his goal : freedom and well-being of his people. This was the legacy that Bangabandhu left behind . A grateful people have never forsaken a bit of this proud legacy left by Bangabandhu. They ensured that the developmental march of the country would sustain with their untiring endeavor in all fields. A deceased Bangabandhu inspires them to this end just like when he was alive.
The killers probably calculated that his killing would forever bury his legacy. But they were proved resoundingly to be very wrong for the party which he led triumphantly came back to power in 2009 and in the next year tried his available killers and hanged five of them. Some others are absconding abroad from justice. If the governments of the countries where they remain fugitive from justice decide to arrest and send them to Bangladesh for carrying out the judgement on them in this historic month of August, then such a gesture would surely win the hearts of the people of Bangladesh.
Why the name and fame of Bangabandhu endures so popularly is because he was not merely an individual. Through his unflinching dedication to his cause, matchless patriotism and self sacrifice, he has lived through the decades in people’s memory as an iconic personality. Contemporary history has recognized him as the greatest Bengali of the millennium.
Journalist Cyril Dunn once said of him, “In the thousands of years of history of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujib is the only leader who has, in terms of blood, race, language, culture and birth, been a full-blooded Bengali. His voice was redolent of thunder. His charisma worked magic on people. The courage and charm that flowed from him made him a unique superman in these times.”
Embracing Bangabandhu at the Algiers Non Aligned Summit in 1973, Cuba’s Fidel Castro noted, “I have not seen the Himalayas. But I have seen Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In personality and in courage, this man is the Himalayas. I have thus had the experience of witnessing the Himalayas.” Upon hearing the news of Bangabandhu’s assassination, former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson wrote to a Bengali journalist, “This is surely a supreme national tragedy for you. For me it is a personal tragedy of immense dimensions.”
He was absolutely committed to work for the public interest and the national interest with everything he possessed in his body and soul. He distinguished himself soon in his political career as the strongest advocate of Bengali nationalism as distinct from the dogmatic ideology of Islamism of Pakistan. It was this particular passion that led to the rise of his ideology based on Bengali nationalism and for democracy leading to his brilliantly steering the course for the achievement of independent Bangladesh.
At the United Nations, he was the first man to speak of his dreams, his people’s aspiration, in Bangla. The language was, in that swift stroke , recognized by the global community. For the first time after Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel achievement in 1913, Bangla was put on a position of dignity.
The multifaceted life of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman cannot be all put together here in language or colour. The reason is : Mujib was a larger than life titanic figure. It is not possible to hold within the confines of this column the picture or the extent of his greatness. Bangabandhu’s contribution towards the creation of Bangladesh and then leading it very successfully for a brief period was so great that without recalling his role any discussion on the nationhood of Bangladesh remains incomplete. He was the supreme leader in the struggle for our national independence . The greatest treasure of the Bengali nation is preservation of his legacy. He has conquered death. His memory should be an everlasting guide and source of inspiration to his countrymen.
It was because of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that his countrymen today live completely free in the air of freedom and enjoy unfettered all the opportunities for theirself development and progress and their collective advancement as a people and nation. Bangabandhu’s activities of a lifetime bestowed these great gifts on his people and the country. The vey able surviving daughter of the Bangabandhu, Sheikh Hasina, is today at the steering wheel in Bangladesh successfully guiding it in all respects.
Today, Bangladesh is recognized as a rising power in the family of nations. Various projections by world renowned analysts have confidently projected that Bangladesh is destined to be a great economic power house only decades from now and also a force for the good and welfare of entire mankind at the world stage. When this happens, Bangladeshis will realize how much they owe to Bangabandhu for setting them on this glorious path.
