NAM Summit and Bangabandhu

The 18th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is going to be held on 25-26 October 2019 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to attend the summit.

Drawing on the principles agreed at the Bandung Conference in 1955, the Non-Aligned Movement was established in 1961 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia through an initiative of former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, former Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito (Marshal Tito) and former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

This led to the first 'Conference of Heads of State or Governments of Non-Aligned Countries' in Belgrade, capital of former Yugoslavia in 1961. The term "non-aligned movement" first appeared in the fifth conference in 1976 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where the participating countries were denoted as "members of the movement".

Today there are 120 member countries, 17 observer countries and 10 international organizations in the Non-Aligned Movement. The movement advocated a middle course for states in the developing world between the western and eastern blocs during the Cold War. The phrase itself was first used to represent the doctrine by Indian diplomat V. K. Krishna Menon in 1953 at the United Nations.

The first NAM Summit was held in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia during 1961. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman attended the fourth NAM Summit in Algiers, Algeria in 1973.

It was Bangladesh's first participation in NAM conference. Dr. Kamal Hossain, Barrister Amirul Islam, journalist Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury, bureaucrat Rafiqullah Choudhury (father of Bangladesh Parliament's Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Choudhury), former foreign secretary Faruk Chowdhury and Bangabandhu's political secretary (state minister) Tofail Ahmed attended the summit too.

Immediate past Commerce Minister and veteran Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed recently shared with me some of his memories related to NAM summit and Bangabandhu. Houari Boumediene, who was the Algerian President in 1973, received Bangabandhu at the airport.

Houari Boumediene received only Bangabandhu and Marshal Tito from the airport during that NAM summit. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman brightened Bangladesh's image on the global stage during his visit to Algiers to attend the NAM conference. Gates with the names and portraits of Bangabandhu and Marshal Tito were seen all over Algiers on that occasion.

Bangabandhu upheld the value of democracy and equal rights while addressing the fourth NAM Summit while he condemned injustice and repression. Bangabandhu pronounced the historic statement in that summit, "The world is now divided into two parts-repressors and the repressed. I am on the side of the repressed masses." Bangabandhu championed equity, humanity and justice throughout his life. He never compromised with his ideals as long as he lived.

Marshal Tito convinced Bangabandhu to participate in the NAM Summit in 1973. Bangabandhu agreed to attend the summit considering the fact that Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the founders of NAM and it would be a good international platform to speak on behalf of Bangladesh to the global leaders.

Tofail Ahmed visited Belgrade a few days ago to participate in the 141st assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). He recalled his trip to Belgrade with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman back in 1973. Yugoslavian President of that time Marshal Tito and his wife Jovanka Broz accorded a grand reception to Bangabandhu and his entourage.

Tofail Ahmed met Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic during his recent trip to Belgrade. Ivica Dacic is also the President of Socialist Party of Serbia (former Serbian Communist Party) which was founded by Marshal Tito. Ivica Dacic was overwhelmed with joyous emotion when Tofail Ahmed told him about the friendly alliance between Marshal Tito and Bangabandhu. 

Tofail Ahmed further said that the taxi drivers and people from different walks of life in Belgrade spoke very high of their past glory. In the same way, Tofail Ahmed also remembered the golden time that Bangladesh had under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Tofail Ahmed gave the title 'Bangabandhu' to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 23rd February 1969. Tofail Ahmed has been elected from his constituency a number of times and he is one of the most reputed political figures in Bangladesh. Marshal Tito took Bangabandhu and Tofail Ahmed on a river cruise. The cordial and intimate conversation between Marshal Tito and Bangabandhu amazed Tofail Ahmed.

Bangladesh wanted to host the 13th NAM Summit in Dhaka but the BNP government that came to power through the controversial polls of 2001 did not show any interest in this matter. As a result the 13th NAM Summit was held in Malaysia in 2003. Flats and hotels for the accommodation of guests were constructed in Dhaka though the NAM summit did not take place in Bangladesh.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a glorified political leader in the whole world. In the same way in the present time his capable daughter Sheikh Hasina is one of the most applauded leaders globally. Bangabandhu is an imperishable leader of the third world. His towering qualities are still adulated by historians and political analysts.

The greatest ever tragedy in Bangladesh's history hit the country when Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated with most of his family members on 15th August 1975.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ended longstanding clashes and bloodshed in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) by signing the CHT Peace Accord in December 1997. Simultaneously, her massive contributions for successfully resolving maritime and land border issues with India, women empowerment, technological excellence, fighting militancy and most importantly her bold steps for eradicating poverty in Bangladesh deserve recognition and special honor.

Sheikh Hasina had to stand tough tests for obtaining all these mammoth goals. Her entire family was murdered by assassins. She herself survived several assassination attempts. Still she is going ahead courageously with patriotism and humanitarian principles in her heart.

Diplomat, an influential English magazine of Netherlands, ran its cover story on Sheikh Hasina in September 2019 with the title "The Mother of Humanity".

Sheikh Hasina has also been successful to tackle religious extremism. The law and order forces of Bangladesh have raided the hideouts of radical terrorists in different parts of Bangladesh under the directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Besides, Sheikh Hasina has played dynamic roles in eliminating the separatist groups in northeastern India. Thus Sheikh Hasina has worked a lot for making regional peace prevail.

Sheikh Hasina's life was under threat after Bangabandhu was assassinated in 1975. Sheikh Hasina came back to Bangladesh in 1981. She vehemently fought against autocracy. Awami League got split up after Bangabandhu's death. Sheikh Hasina reunited the party after returning to Bangladesh. Her party Awami League won the election of 1996 and a lot of progress with the country was made in the following years.

On the other hand, militancy and radical political fronts gripped Bangladesh when Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won the election of 2001. However, Awami League came back to power once again in the election held in December 2008 under the caretaker government of that time. Awami League gained a landslide victory in the eleventh parliamentary election too which was held on 30 December 2018.

Bangladesh's first ever satellite Bangabandhu 1 was launched into space on 11 May 2018 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States of America which is another achievement by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. This is destined to further boost her dream for a digital Bangladesh. Moreover, Bangladesh has successfully achieved all the preconditions to graduate from a least developed country (LDC) to a developing country in 2018.

Different international organizations have awarded prestigious prizes to Sheikh Hasina for her unflinching endeavors to obliterate poverty from Bangladesh and for speeding up the country's economic wheels. Bangladesh has become a development role model under the firm leadership of Sheikh Hasina. Socio-economic advancement, electrification, expansion of digital technologies and many more achievements have decorated Sheikh Hasina's profile.

Recently I visited India as part of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's eminent personalities' entourage. Sheikh Hasina was awarded Tagore Peace Prize on this tour. While receiving the award Sheikh Hasina said quoting Rabindranath Tagore, "Ei monihar amar nahi saje" (This jewel-studded chain is not match for me).

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman brought us independence in 1971 by virtue of his unmatched leadership. His competent daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is now working hard to materialize the dreams of Bangabandhu to transform Bangladesh into a prosperous country by implementing Vision 2021 and Vision 2041.

We offer our best wishes to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the eve of her participation in the 18th NAM Summit. We firmly believe she will illuminate the image of Bangladesh in the conference like her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was larger than life.

The writer is a diplomat, entrepreneur, author and Chairman of Editorial Board of The Asian Age.