Is Tarique forgetting himself?

Tarique Rahman is widely known now for being the son of an ex-president and prime minister, besides being a senior leader of the opposition BNP. He has, in the meantime, picked up some negative points, which I don’t want to discuss.

I decided to write this piece after his repeated comments disrespecting our great leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. My father, a martyred army officer, was quite senior to late Ziaur Rahman, and we first met in Chittagong in 1970. We were staying at Panchlaish, and President Zia in Nasirabad.

My father, Lt Col Mohammad Abdul Qadir, joined the 1971 War of Independence on the call of Bangabandhu, and followed his orders thoroughly leading up to the war. One was his supply of explosives which helped blow up a bridge at the very start of the war. He met Bangabandhu secretly soon after he was released from jail in the Agartala conspiracy case.

Tarique Rahman is also younger than me, and had always showed that respect whenever we met. In fact, his friend Giasuddin Al-Mamun lived opposite to our house in Dhaka Cantonment. I joined my mother when she went to pay her condolences to Khaleda Zia as a member of the army family the day President Zia was killed.

I wrote in my first book the menu of the breakfast my mother and I had with President Zia at his residence. I thought a president would have pudding and roast for breakfast, but, to my great surprise, I found it was chapati, egg, potato bhaji, and tea.

Begum Khaleda Zia, whom I address as “aunty” in private, was also present. Whenever I meet her, I show her all my respect, and she acknowledges that. The last time I met her was at her post-January 5 election press conference. The answer to my question that day became the next day’s headline.

As a journalist, I go to major events and press conferences, and that includes Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s, whom I very fondly and respectfully call “apa.”

The commonality between me and Tarique is that we are both children of army officers who were both brilliant soldiers in their own way.

The difference is, his parents became national leaders and mine only heroes in their own ways. The other is that I am a smalltime journalist, and he is a hotshot politician.

Tarique, at one point, sitting in the luxury of London, claimed his father was the first president of Bangladesh. I thought he read all the wrong books and was also wrongly briefed. But this time, he shocked me.

Bangabandhu, the greatest Bengali of all time, never failed, and gave 70 million people and a country an identity. His leadership was such that it united all the Bengalis, including my martyred father and many more. President Ziaur Rahman too joined the war on the same grounds, because we had no other leader giving us directions and orders for a Bengali nation.

All the other army officers my father was meeting were following Bangabandhu’s orders. Bangabandhu transferred his dream of an independent Bangladesh into people like my father.

At one point of my career, I worked with a blind supporter of BNP. Whenever I referenced Bangabandhu as “Bangladesh’s founder,” my colleague would change it to “Bangladesh’s founding president.” Was he wrong? That was when I found out about partisan journalism.

Tarique has been lucky like his father to have enjoyed the fruits of an independent Bangladesh. Just think, my father used to say that once Bangladesh was born, the Pakistanis would not be around to slow down his promotion.

My father became a colonel in 1965 and still waited for his next promotion in 1971.

Did I or my mother enjoy the fruits of an independent Bangladesh? No, we did not. We struggled, and she won the battle by giving me and my brother a place in the society. She not only gave us the best education possible, but also taught us to respect our elders, be they relatives or national leaders.

She imbued us with lessons of our great leaders. That included Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Why? It’s not that she had received anything from Bangabandhu other than his love. That love remains in our hearts, along with the teachings of great leaders. She never taught us to disrespect anybody, even if were angry with anybody.

Tarique should not forget the basic upbringing of an army family just because he is in politics. Respecting great people makes you great, and when you disrespect Bangabandhu, you disrespect my father and his like, my mother the Shaheed Janani and most freedom fighters, as well as the majority of the people of Bangladesh. Please don’t do that.

Many people are now calling you mad, insane, a fool, and a scoundrel. Is your late father enjoying this?

The red and green national flag that flies in times of joy, the flag that gives us a proud national identity, is a gift from Bangabandhu to us. Will you change the flag if you ever come to power?

As a new-generation politician, you should set examples of tolerance, good behaviour, and healthy politics. Your opponent in politics is Sajeeb Wajed Joy, an educated and amicable man. Every time I spoke with him, I understood his words were measured. That is a leader-like character.

Joy talks about digital Bangladesh, IT, and many other things, but he has not insulted President Ziaur Rahman or any great leader. We the people praise that, but not cheap statements that insult our great leaders.

Why all this after so many years? Have you lost all other options to fight back? I hope not.

I am sure, Tarique, as a younger brother, or his followers in the BNP will not take this personally, but take this as advice from a brother. I am sure no history or man can belittle Bangabandhu with any word or action. He is above all, and he will live as long as Bangladesh lives. Long live Bangladesh.