by F R Chowdhury
I fully agree with the statement of the daughter of Late Tajudiin Ahmed, the first prime minister of Bangladesh. If you ask a school going child of about 14 or 15 in the United States about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson, it is likely the child will know about all of them. If you ask the same question to a child in Bangladesh, he will tell you about only one person – Bangabandhu. This is because the BAL government has distorted history. To them there was no Tajuddin, no Osmani and no Ziaur Rahman. The sacrifices made by thousands of people meant nothing. It was only one-man show – the man who incited the whole nation and then quietly left millions of un-armed people on the face of the killing spree of most well-equipped army of Pakistan.
My remarks in the opening paragraph are not meant to down-size the sacrifices and achievements of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was a man who always voiced our demands for rights and justice. He was jailed several times but never compromised the rights of his people. He was the symbol of our struggle for democracy. I will always support his name to be retained in our history as father of the nation. We must not also forget the contributions made by others.
The creation of Pakistan was a historic necessity. I am sure, readers will agree, we would not have been where we are today unless there was Pakistan in 1947. It was in Dhaka that Pakistan Muslim League was established by Nawab Salimullah. It was again our Sher-e-Bangla Fazlul Haq who moved the historic Pakistan resolution in Lahore in 1940. The brave soldiers of East Bengal Regiment fought with their lives to protect Pakistan from the Indian aggression in 1965. We are a brave and proud race. We made great sacrifices for Pakistan. We wanted to remain as equal Pakistanis with democratic rights, freedom and dignity.
We had no reason to conspire with our enemies to destroy what we built with our sacrifices. We always thought Agartala Conspiracy case was a creation of Pakistani regime to divert the attention from the movement for democratic rights. That is the reason we engaged ourselves in a movement to get Sheikh Mujib released. However, after his return from Pakistan in 1972, Sheikh Mujib stunned the nation by admitting his role in Agartala case.
1971 was a different chapter in history. Firstly General Yahiya was reluctant to hand over power to the elected representatives of the people. Secondly he unleashed his military power over the innocent unarmed people of East Pakistan to silence them once for all. It was at that crucial time Major Zia declared independence and asked the people to join the struggle as peaceful coexistence in one Pakistan was no more possible.
Even though Sheikh Mujib gave a fiery speech on 7th March, he mysteriously became silent thereafter. When it was apparent that Pakistani military regime is about to unleash a reign of terror, Tajuddin requested Sheikh Mujib to declare independence. Sheikh Mujib refused. He voluntarily surrendered to Pakistan army. The exact reason is still not understood. However, many think that Yahiya managed to convince Mujib that he would be temporarily taken into safe custody and then to be sworn in as the prime minister of Pakistan after teaching a lesson to extremist/ separatist elements.
With the start of Pakistan army crack-down and declaration by Major Zia, the liberation struggle kept on gaining momentum every day. On 17th April, 1971 a provisional government of independent Bangladesh was established with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (in captivity in Pakistan) as the President. Syed Nazrul Islam became the Vice-President and Acting President. Mr Tajuddin Ahmed took the office of prime minister and appointed General Osmany as the defence minister and commander of armed forces. The war continued in the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman until December16, 1971 when Pakistani forces in Bangladseh surrendered. The declaration of independence which was like interim constitution should have continued until the meeting of the parliament and adoption of any new constitution or amendment to the declaration.
First: On his return to Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujib wanted to become the prime minister. A presidential order was issued and he (Mujib) was made the prime minister in 1972. The process was neither fair nor legal.
Second: He (Mujib) was not happy and satisfied with it. He wanted to be the head of the state as well as of the government. In 1975, he formed BAKSAL and made Bangladesh one-party state and declared himself the president. The fundamental concept of democracy was defeated as the world witnessed the first executive president elected by a parliament (and not by open election). This was another totally unfair and unlawful act.
Third: Sheikh Hasina is determined to achieve all that her father failed to achieve. She changed the constitution so that elections can be held under her government. Knowing her character, people boycotted the election. More than 50% seats were already won by her party-men unopposed even before a single vote was cast. It was mockery of an election. The illegal government has virtually established the one party state.
Since the time she came to power, she withdrew all cases against her party-men on the plea that those cases were politically motivated. Presidential pardon was utilised for all convicted party-men. All criminals and political thugs of BAL are roaming around freely and dictating all business. Law and order situation has already reached the lowest ebb. The judiciary, civil administration, police and all other government machineries have been made corrupt; and are directly used for political suppression and other subversive activities. Extra-judicial killings, in the name of cross-fire, have been a regular feature. People are also disappearing without any trace. Law enforcing agencies are engaged in kidnapping and killing. Sheikh Hasina has tightened her grip in such a way that she can win all future elections. The establishment of a family dynasty is in the process as everything in the country is being named after one person and one family.
Time has come for mass uprising because there is no other way that democracy can be restored. The patriotic people of Bangladesh will rise up to destroy all conspiracy and establish democracy where human rights, equality, justice, freedom of expression and democratic values will flourish. May Allah help the freedom loving people of Bangladesh. Amen!
London, 03-June-2014 <fazlu.chowdhury@btinternet.com>