Nayeem Islam Nibir
The great man of history, the greatest Bengali of all time, on the 46th martyrdom anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – including the family members of the Father of the Nation who lost their lives in the brutal bullet I remember all of them with humble respect. This day of mourning is celebrated every year as a day of national mourning in the country and abroad with due dignity and solemn atmosphere; But this time, as part of the precautionary measures to protect public health due to the Corona epidemic, the ‘Father of the Nation’s birth centenary’ or ‘Mujib year’, Adopted on the occasion of ‘Genocide Day’, ‘Independence Day’, ‘Bengali New Year’, ‘Mujibnagar Day’, ‘Sheikh Hasina’s Homecoming Day’, ‘6 Point Day’, ‘Awami League’s Founding Anniversary’ and ‘Sheikh Kamal and Bangamata’s Birthday’ State and party events have been restricted or suspended. Hopefully, through proper coordination, the directives of the Prime Minister will be implemented letter by letter by the concerned people of the government and it will be possible to overcome this terrible disaster through responsible behavior of the people at all levels of the country.
On the 15th of August, the month of mourning, we have lost the father of the nation, the best friend of the oppressed people of the world – without whose birth this country would not have been independent and we would still be in bondage to Pakistan. Year after year, this day of mourning has returned to our national life in a different way. As a result of the steps taken on the occasion of Bangabandhu’s birth centenary or ‘Mujib’s year’, many aspects of the life and work of the Father of the Nation were revealed, he is revealed in his glory today. From August 15, 1975 to before ’96, dictators enforced a culture of fear in the country and blocked the trial of Bangabandhu. Those injustices have been washed away by the current of truth. In the history of the establishment of independent Bangladesh, it is clear to everyone today that ‘Awami League’, ‘Bangabandhu’ and ‘Bangladesh’ are deeply related and synonymous. Two books written by Bangabandhu, ‘The Unfinished Autobiography’ and ‘ The Prison Diaries’ are one of the important documents of national history. We are grateful to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangabandhu, for publishing these two invaluable books. We have learned many unknown things about history from these two books.
Bangabandhu used to say, ‘After the establishment of Pakistan, I realized with my heart that this Pakistan was not for the Bengalis. One day Bengalis will have to decide the fate of Bengal.’ With that goal in mind, he established Chhatra League on January 4, 1948 and Awami League on June 23, 1949. He led the great language movement of ’47 and ’52. He led the United Front in ’54, the Constitution of ’56, the Education of ’62 and the movement against communalism in ’74. In 1967, he established a nationwide movement on the basis of the 6-point demand for the liberation of Bengalis to establish autonomy and independence; Later, on the basis of the 11-point demand, a massive mass movement-mass uprising was created in ’69, freed the struggling students and people from the gallows and soaked in the love of millions of people, he was awarded the title of ‘Bangabandhu’. In this way, by uniting the entire nation through the great nationalist movement and participating in the historic elections of ’70, he proved to the world that he was the only legitimate political leader of the Bengalis. After the election, when the military ruling party started procrastinating on the issue of handing over power, the majority Awami League party representatives started preparing for the upcoming struggle. As part of this, the swearing-in ceremony of the people’s representatives in front of more than one million people at the Racecourse Ground on January 3, 1971; He instructed the people to form a parliamentary party with the Awami League party elected representatives in the provincial and national assemblies on 18 February and to stand at the holy altar of the Shaheed Minar at midnight on 21 February to confront the conspiracy and prepare for the impending struggle. When the Awami League Parliamentary Party was meeting on March 1 at Hotel Purbani to participate in the National Assembly session convened on March 3, Bangabandhu unilaterally adjourned the National Assembly session in a surprise radio address by President Yahya Khan. Comes the historic March 7th. The day he gave a world-famous historical speech. That speech is sitting in the seat of dignity in the world assembly today. From then on, the country was run under the leadership of Bangabandhu and the unarmed Bengalis were turned into an armed nation and made to stand on the brink of national liberation.
When the Pakistan Army started the genocide on March 25 as per the blueprint of ‘Operation Searchlight’, Bangabandhu declared independence in the early hours of March 26, saying, ‘This may be my last message. Bangladesh is independent from today.’ At the end of 9 months of bloody war by taking up arms under the direction of Bangabandhu, we achieved a great victory on 16 December 1971 in exchange for a sea of blood.
And on January 10, 1972, Bangabandhu was released from prison in Pakistan and returned to his homeland in the guise of a victorious hero and devoted himself to rebuilding the war-torn country. “Your country has been reduced to rubble,” he was quoted as saying by foreign journalists at a news conference on his way home from London.
In reply, Bangabandhu said, “If the people of my country exist, if there is soil, then one day Sujla, Sufla, grain-rich golden Bengal will be formed from this ruin.” He has done politics with two goals. One, Independence of Bangladesh. Two, To transform Bangladesh into a golden Bengal. He used to say proudly, “My Bengali will be Ruposhi Bangla, my Bangladesh will be Sonar Bangla, my Bangladesh will be Switzerland of the East.” Today he is buried in Tungipara. He will never come again. Don’t call the Bengali nation ‘my brothers’ in that tender voice.
As a leader, there is no end to his merits and there is no end to writing about him. This time I will discuss some important things about Bangabandhu. Wherever Bangabandhu visited, he used to exalt the adjectives of the leaders and workers there. He would easily adopt others. Those who were in opposition were drawn to the world-deceiving behavior. When he said, ‘I don’t want to be prime minister’, people believed so. He did not do politics for power, to stay in power, to be the Prime Minister. Protecting the beloved motherland from exploitation and deprivation, he has done politics to sacrifice his life so that Bengalis can be the fortune tellers of Bangladesh. He has endured lifelong imprisonment, oppression and torture. He spent 12 years of his life in prison. Never bowed his head.
Bloodshed of March 1971 was Bangabandhu’s 52nd birthday. After a discussion with Yahya Khan, a journalist asked Bangabandhu during a private discussion with journalists at his residence in Dhanmondi at noon. ‘What is your biggest and most sacred wish on your 52nd birthday?’ The undisputed leader of the deprived Bengalis in the North said in a natural voice, ‘The overall liberation of the people.’ Afterwards, when he was greeted by reporters on his birthday, he said in a sad voice, “I don’t celebrate my birthday – I don’t light a candle or cut a cake on my birthday.” There is no security for the people in this country. You know the condition of our people. They can die at any moment at the whim of others. I am one of the people, what is my birthday, and what is the day of death? My life and death for my people. ‘After independence, world-renowned journalist David Frost asked Bangabandhu,’ And when you see them digging a grave and you think of everything you will have to leave behind you, do you think of your country or, for instance, of your wife and children first?’ Bangabandhu said, ‘I feel for my country and my people and then my family. I love my people more. I suffered for my people and you have seen how my people love me.’ The depth of the sea-ocean can be measured; But Bangabandhu’s love for the people of the country is immeasurable.
After the independence of the country, he started his journey empty handed. There is no rice in the warehouse, no money in the bank, no foreign currency. There are no roads, ghats, pools, culverts, trains, planes, steamers. Communication system destroyed. But he soon restored communication. He rebuilt the Bhairab Bridge and the Hardinge Bridge. At the sole initiative of Bangabandhu, the Indian Army left Bangladesh on 12 March 1972. Bangabandhu was re-elected president and Zillur Rahman general secretary of the colorful council of the Awami League held at Suhrawardy Udyan on April 6-7, 1972. On November 4, 1972, he drafted one of the best constitutions in the world in just six months. He successfully elected the National Assembly and formed the government with huge public support. The foundation stone of the Bangabandhu-1 satellite that has been launched into space today has also been laid by setting up the Betbunia Earth Satellite Center in ’75. Bangabandhu has only three and a half years to build a war-torn Bangladesh. The government led by Bangabandhu has conducted economic activities in two parts. Rehabilitation and reconstruction in the first part and socio-economic development in the second part.
During the rule of Bangabandhu, Bangladesh was recognized by most of the countries of the world. Bangabandhu was honored in the World Assembly. Among the international organizations that Bangladesh became a member of at that time were the Commonwealth of Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the United Nations. Bangabandhu was the center of attraction in the conferences and sessions of international organizations. February 8, 1972 was Bangabandhu’s first foreign tour. He spoke at the Brigade Maidan in the Kolkata metropolis of India, a close ally of the Liberation War, in a sea of more than 20 lakh people. The people of Calcutta left their homes that day and rushed to the public meeting. At the end of the meeting, when bilateral talks were held at the Raj Bhavan, Bangabandhu invited Mrs. Indira Gandhi to visit Bangladesh and said, “My birthday is March 17. You will visit Bangladesh that day. But Hon’ble Prime Minister, before your visit, I want your army to withdraw from Bangladesh. Mrs. Indira Gandhi agreed. On March 1 of the same year, he visited the Soviet Union, another ally of the Liberation War. In the days of the Great Liberation War, the Soviet Union provided us with our full support. The UN Security Council used its veto power for independent Bangladesh. On that day, the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union Alexei Kosygin received Bangabandhu at the airport and at the Kremlin he received the President of the Soviet Union Nikolai Padgorni, the Secretary General of the Soviet Communist Party Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev and the Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko.
This was a rare occurrence. On August 3, 1973, the Commonwealth Summit was held in Ottawa, Canada, with the participation of the Heads of State and Government of 32 countries. The center of attraction among all the leaders is the architect of newly independent Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The conference was chaired by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. In his speech that day, Bangabandhu said to the great powers, “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” His speech impressed everyone present. The conference was attended by the Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Edward Heath, the Prime Minister of Australia, Edward Whitlam, and the President of Tanzania, Julius Nair. Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Sri Lanka’s Srimavo Bandaranaike and other world leaders.
Standing on the stage of Algeria at the Non-Aligned Conference held in Algeria, the capital of Algeria on September 9, 1973, Bangabandhu declared, “Today the world is divided into two parts. Exploited and exploitaion. I am for exploitation.’ He attended the Islamic Conference on February 22, 1974, the day after Pakistan recognized Bangladesh. At the Lahore airport, Pakistani President Chowdhury Fazle Elahi and Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto received Bangabandhu. saw that day – in a country that has killed more than 3 million people in the war of liberation by carrying out genocide on the innocent people of my country – the people of that country stood on both sides of the road and raised the slogan ‘Jiye Mujib Jiye Mujib’, meaning Mujib Zindabad Mujib Zindabad. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib was the main focus of the conference in Lahore. Even until he reached Lahore, the conference did not begin. The conference was postponed for one day for Bangabandhu.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib was also the center of attraction at the Salima Garden when the heads of state and government of different countries were given public receptions. Bangabandhu was such a self-respecting leader that he said in a meeting with the King of Saudi Arabia that day, “Your Majesty, thank you so much for giving the people of my country the opportunity to perform Hajj without recognizing me.”
In the past, Bangladesh, with a population of 70 million, had food shortages, now with a population of 160 million, we are a food surplus and food exporter. At one time the country had no foreign exchange reserves, but now it has surpassed 33 billion. Exports were just 300 million, today it exceeds 37 37 billion. In the beginning the budget was only 787 crore taka, now it is 6 lakh 3 thousand 681 crore taka.
Another international organization, JPMorgan, called Bangladesh an “emerging fast-growing economy.” We have already moved from a least developed country to a developing country and in 2021, on the 50th anniversary of independence, we have been able to make Bangladesh a middle-income country. Bangabandhu had two goals – one, to make the country independent and two, to transform Bangladesh economically into a prosperous and prosperous golden Bengal. Bangabandhu used to say proudly, ‘My Bengali is a beautiful Bengali, my Bengali is a golden Bengal.’ Similarly, on the eve of the 2008 elections, Bangabandhu Kanya also set two goals for the people of Bangladesh – one, to establish a digital Bangladesh and two, to transform Bangladesh into a middle-income country. Digital Bangladesh is no longer a dream, it is real. The people of the country have already started reaping the benefits of mobile and information technology services within their purchasing power. In 1971, the average life expectancy was 39 years; In the same period the average life expectancy of the people of India was 50 years; According to the 2014 census, the average life expectancy of people in India is 66 years, in Pakistan it is 65 years and in Bangladesh it is 72 years. In ’71, the under-five mortality rate in Bangladesh was 225 per thousand; 166 in India. Now that number has come down to 46 in Bangladesh, 65 in India and 72 in Pakistan. We are moving forward in all socio-economic fields. In the words of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, ‘Bangladesh is ahead of Pakistan in all socio-economic fields. In some cases ahead of India.
In the words of renowned economist Kaushik Basu, ‘Bangladesh’s economy is excellent. In particular, the rural economy is a model in the international world. Surprised by Bangladesh’s progress in the Human Development Index, the UN says “other least developed countries should follow Bangladesh.” According to sociologists, we will be a middle-income country before 2021 if economic growth and per capita income continue at the same rate as in previous years. So today we are moving forward in all spheres of social life under the able leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The people of Bangladesh are doing well. Unfortunately, they are trying to create militancy in the country by obstructing the progress of Bangladesh. Those who were defeated in the war of liberation and are undemocratic forces who burn people with fire. But I can firmly say that no conspiracy can hinder the progress of today’s Bangladesh. With the cooperation of all, Bangladesh is moving forward under the leadership of Deshratna Sheikh Hasina, the uncompromising leader of democracy, the worthy daughter of Bangabandhu.
Bangabandhu has hailed the overall liberation of Bengalis at every step of his life. He used to say all the time, even facing death twice, “When I go to the gallows, I will say, I am Bengali, Bengal is my country, Bengali is my language.” The Bengal he dreamed of, the Bengal for which he spent most of his youth in prison, the Bengali’s victory on the gallows, the love of his heart for Bengal and the Bengalis is immense. It is possible to measure the depth of the sea or ocean; But the depth of Bangabandhu’s heartfelt love for Bengal and Bengalis is immeasurable. Regarding the progress of the democratic process, Bangabandhu used to say, ‘Democracy-loving people need to remember that democracy also has a policy. Those who are the direction of democracy have to abide by the principles of democracy. You will only enjoy democracy and you will not follow the principles, it will not happen, it cannot happen.’ Therefore, this statement of Bangabandhu should be followed by all of us irrespective of party affiliation in advancing the democratic process of the country today. Bangabandhu’s main ideology is to love people and work for their welfare. Regarding his thoughts and ideals, Bangabandhu wrote, ‘As a human being, I think of the entire human race. As a Bengali, what is related to some Bengalis makes me think deeply. The source of this constant saturation is love, everlasting love, the love that makes my politics and existence meaningful.’
We see the constant reflection of this compassion and genuine love of Bangabandhu towards the people in the principles and actions of his daughter Sheikh Hasina. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is successfully running the country by turning mourning into strength and keeping the constitution high from being dedicated to the welfare of the people. It is my firm belief that under his able leadership, Bangladesh will one day be transformed into a developed country, and the whole world will once again stand tall with the heroic spirit of the great liberation war.
Author: Nayeem Islam Nibir is a young generation political leader and columnist in Bangladesh. He can be reached: [email protected]
