Mujib in the Centenary

Human beings are naturally freedom-loving. Along with the progress of human civilization, people built a free homeland by breaking the shackles of subjugation. The 1971 War of Liberation was to liberate the people of Bangladesh from the clutches of the enemy and it was just not any other war, bit a fiery one, unique in world history.

The fiery war was led by the architect of the Bengali nation, the fore-runner of the freedom struggle, the greatest Bengali of the millennium, the architect of independent sovereign Bangladesh, the dreamer of exploitation free Golden Bengal, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.He was born in Tungipara of Gopalganj district on 17 March 1920. His father was Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and mother, Sheikh Sayera Khatun.

The shepherd king of Bengal, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the archangel of Bengal. He waged a relentless struggle against the West Pakistani hyenas with a thunderous oath to establish an impeccable and orderly independent sovereign state with lots of hope. In the real proposal, such a human being was created for the Bengalis whose name is Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the same can be said of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the father of Pakistan, Mahatma Gandhi, the father of India, Suharto, the father of Indonesia, Mao Zedong, the father of People's Republic of China, and Lenin, the father of Russia.

After the birth of the state of Pakistan, the Western ruling class deprived the then East Pakistani (now Bangladeshi) people of their political, cultural and economic rights. Awami League leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became vocal against such practices. In fact, the great war of liberation began with the discriminatory behavior of the ruling class starting from the great language movement of 1952.

Gopalganj, the abode of Gopchandra, the first independent historian of ancient Bengal, is a short-lived man. After nearly one and a half thousand years, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib in a huge public meeting at the historic Racecourse Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan) on March 7, 1971 due to the continuous economic, social, political and cultural inequalities of the Western ruling class. Bangabandhu uttered inflammatory words from his thunderbolt for the motherland to the millions of people gathered:

'The struggle this time is a struggle for emancipation, the struggle this time is a struggle for independence.'

He said that the people of Bengal have shed blood and are ready to give more blood if needed to achieve freedom. Bangabandhu called for a war, saying, "Build forts in every house, we have to deal with the enemy with whatever we have." In this fiery speech, Bangabandhu seems to have found the desired liberation certificate of his entire life. Behind this extraordinary proclamation lies the history of many sacrifices and struggles of the Bengalis and the bravery and glorious heroism of the proclaimer.

To a great extent , the Cabinet took a landmark step by deciding to observe the day of March 7 speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a 'historic day'. UNESCO has included Bangabandhu's speech on 30 October 2017 in the Memory of the World International Register with the status of World Documentary Heritage.

Sheikh Mujib was with his people all his life, being the representative of the hopes and aspirations of the people. Courage was his invincible armor. Because it was not personal, it was the collective courage provided by the people. Immediately after the partition of Pakistan, in March 1948, the communal nature of Pakistan was exposed. Sheikh Mujib was the strongest voice in which 'No' was uttered. The Awami Muslim League was born in 1949, with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as its joint secretary general.

Since 1958, the dark era of military rule and the imprisonment of Awami leftist leaders began. In 1962, General Ayub Khan declared himself the civilian president in the name of reversing military rule and transitioning to democracy. Sheikh Mujib's anti-Ayub movement organization was released from jail on June 18 this year.

Acceleration of this movement from 1972 to 1966. Meanwhile, the Pak-India war of 1965 over the Kashmir issue gave birth to a far-reaching event - Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and Bangabandhu's historic six-point birth. In order to realize these six-point demands, a fierce mass movement was launched in the then East Pakistan.

Bangabandhu had only 5-6 weeks to explain to the public the far-reaching consequence and significance of the historic six points. Again, cases were filed against Mujib in every district of East Bengal on the instructions of Governor Monem Khan.

He was imprisoned on May 8 and was detained for 20 consecutive months and 10 days. Mujib was released from jail at 3 pm on January 17, 1968 and taken to an unknown location by the Pak army. Sheikh Mujib was made the No. 1 accused in the 'Agartala conspiracy case' on charges of treason. In the face of public outrage, the judge fled, leaving the case unfinished.

According to East Pakistan Rifles, the mass uprising of 1971, the resignation of Ayub, the imposition of Yahya's military rule and the acquisition of an absolute majority of the Awami League under Mujib's leadership in the 1970 elections held on the basis of a one-man referendum. The genocide of the forces, Mujib's declaration of independence, the successful liberation war, the final victory of independent Bangladesh - all are tied in one Mujib formula.

Bangabandhu's dream was a prosperous Bangladesh free from poverty and hunger, free from corruption and exploitation. Based on the philosophy of 'liberation of the people of Bengal', Bangabandhu outlined the modern state, which was reflected in the country's first five-year plan (1973-1978). Following the path shown by him, under the strong and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has risen to the status of a low middle income country by achieving most of the MDG targets in 2015. In 2018, for the first time, Bangladesh has fulfilled all the conditions to pass from a least developed country to a developing country.

Today, Bangladesh is the fastest growing country in Asia. The per capita income of the people of the country has increased rapidly and stood at 2,227 US dollars. Foreign exchange reserves are now above $41 billion. The number of students going to primary school is about one hundred percent. The literacy rate has increased to 74.7 percent. Infant and maternal mortality rates have now dropped dramatically. During the tenure of the present government, 560 model mosques have been built across the country.

The Padma Bridge of dreams has added a new dimension to the place of Bangladesh in the court of the world.. On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the government adopted an integrated action plan with 298 nationally and internationally important programs to realize Bangabandhu's dream in 'Mujib Year'.

Bangladesh ranks first in South Asia and 20th in the world in the 'Covid Resilience Ranking' published by US media Bloomberg. Deep tributes on the 46th martyrdom anniversary of Bangabandhu on the National Mourning Day. Bangabandhu is not just a name; he is a history, a flag, a country for centuries. This is the success of a 'Poet of Politics' in the centenary of his birth.


Afroza Nice Rima is a Senior Information Officer, PID, Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka