The rise of Bangabandhu

7th March 1971
7th March 1971

A chronological narrative to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman reveals how he was shaped as a leader and how, in turn, he shaped a nation. 

1920: Birth of a leader
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation, was born on 17 March 1920 in the village Tungipara of Gopalganj district. He was born to Sheikh Lutfur Rahman and Saira Begum. He was the third child of his parents.

1938: Mujibur Rahman-A family man

Bangabandhu with his family members. Photo: Collected
Bangabandhu with his family members. Photo: Collected

Mujibur Rahman married Sheikh Fazilatunnesa at the age of 18 in 1938. The couple had two daughters and three sons together. The two daughters are Sheikh Hasina, who is now the prime minister of Bangladesh, and Sheikh Rehana. The three sons are Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal, and Sheikh Russell who were assassinated on 15 August 1975 by a group of violent army officers.

1942: Education
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman received his primary education from the local Gimadanga School. He completed his matriculation from the Missionary School in Gopalganj in 1942 and Intermediate in the Arts group from Islamia College in Kolkata in 1944 before getting admitted into the same college in 1947 for his Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. Sheikh Mujibur also studied law at Dacca University (now University of Dhaka).

1940: Political journey begins
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman began his political, joining the All India Muslim Students Federation in 1940. He was activist of the student federation. He was also a member of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League. In 1946, he was elected general secretary of Islamia College Students Union.

1948: Formation of Pakistan Muslim Students League
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was one of the key organisers of the East Pakistan Muslim Students League in 1948 during his studies at Dhaka University.

1949: Leader of East Pakistan Awami Muslim League
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was elected one of the three joint secretaries of the newly founded East Pakistan Awami Muslim League (EPAML) in 1949.
Sheikh Mujib was elected general secretary of the EPAMLin 1953.

1952: Language Movement
Sheikh Mujibur was one of the leaders of the movement that demanded Bengali language as state language in 1948. Sheikh Mujib was detained on 11 March 1948 due to his involvement in the Language Movement.
He played a strong role to organise the movement which culminated in the historic language martyr’s day of 21 February 1952.

1954: Member of East Pakistan Legislative Assembly
Mujibur Rahman was elected member of the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly in the elections of 1954.

1956: Minister
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was made the minister of industries, commerce, labour, anti-corruption and rural assistance.

1957: Resignation from cabinet
In May 1957, Sheikh Mujib stepped down as a cabinet minister. He then visited China between 24 June and 13 July.

1958: Arrest
On 11 October 1958, the then Pakistani regime arrested Mujibur Rahman and implicated him in several false cases. The Pakistani rulers arrest him from the jail gate.

1960: Release from jail
On 7 December, Mujibur Rahman was released from prison after filing a writ with the High Court, having serving several years in jail.

1962: Fresh Arrest
Bangabandhu was again arrested on 6 February. He was released from the court on 2 June when the four-year military rule came to an end.

1964: All Parties Action Committee
The All Parties Action Committee was formed under the leadership of Bangabandhu on 11 March 1964.

1965: Sedition case
Sheikh Mujib was sued in a sedition case and jailed for one year. Later, he was released following an order from the High Court.

1966: Six-Point Demand
As a new president of the party, Sheikh Mujib strongly opposed to Ayub Khan’s ‘basic democracy’. On 5 February, he issued a 6-point demand seeking autonomy of East Pakistan at a national conference in Lahore in 1966. The six-point programme was called the ‘Charter of Survival' of Bengalis.

1966: President of Awami Muslim League
On 1 March, Sheikh Mujib was named the president of Awami Muslim League three years after the death of his political guru Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy on 5 December in 1963.

1968: Agartala Conspiracy Case
Following his 6-point demand, the Ayub Khan regime implicated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman among 35 Bengali army and CSP officers in a conspiracy case. The regime then arrested Sheikh Mujib in the Agartala conspiracy case on 17 January 1968. The proceeding of the case began on 19 June.
But, the rulers failed to keep Mujibur Rahman in jail. The Ayub regime was forced to release him on 9 May 1966 in face of huge public protest.

1969: Withdrawal of Agartala Conspiracy Case
The Pakistani regime withdrew the Agartala Conspiracy Case against Bangabandhu and other officers, following huge public unrest.

1970: Massive majority win in elections
Shiekh Mujibur Rahman was re-elected president of Awami League on 6 January.
On 17 October, Bangabandhu chose the ‘boat’ as symbol of his party for the polls.
In the general elections of Pakistan in 1970, Awami League under the leadership of Mujib attained a landslide victory. Awami League won 167 seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan out of 169 in the parliament and 288 in the provincial council out of 300.

1971: Call for independence
Following the Pakistani president Yahya Khan’s barring Awami League from forming the provincial government, Mujib called for the independence of Bangladesh at the Racecourse grounds (now Suhrawardy Udyan) in Dhaka on 7 March 1971.
He said, “This struggle for our freedom! This struggle is for our independence!”

1971: Arrest of Sheikh Mujib and Operation Searchlight
On the night of 25 March 1971, the Pakistani army launched Operation Searchlight and committed genocide across the country.
Sheikh Mujib was arrested that night and was flown to Pakistan.

Declaration of Independence
Before the arrest of Bangabandhu, he sent a wireless message to Chittagong over the ex-EPR transmitter for the declaration of Bangladesh’s independence to be broadcast. To quote his declaration, “This may be my last message, from today Bangladesh is independent. I call upon the people of Bangladesh wherever you might be and with whatever you have, to resist the army of occupation to the last. Your fight must go on until the last soldier of the Pakistan occupation army is expelled from the soil of Bangladesh and final victory is achieved.” (Banglapedia)

1971: Mujibnagar Government 
The first government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was formed in exile in Mujibnagar on 17 March 1971.Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was named the president of the government in absentia, while Tajuddin Ahmad became the prime minister and organised the war of liberation.

1971: Liberation War
Following the call of mass resistance from Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the freedom fighters’ force, Mukti Bahini, was formed and it fought back against the Pakistani military.

1971: Victory
After nine months of war, Bangladesh emerged as a new nation in South Asia on 16 December 1971.
The Pakistani forces surrendered to the allied forces of Mukti Bahini and the Indian army at the racecourse grounds.

1972: Return of a hero
On 8 January, the then Pakistani government freed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from jail under international pressure. He was first sent to the United Kingdom where he met the British prime minister Edward Heath on 9 January.
On 10 January 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to Bangladesh. On his way to Dhaka, he took a break at Delhi where he received a warm welcome from Indian president VV Giri and prime minister Indira Gandhi on 9 January.
On 10 October, he was conferred the Julio Curie Peace Prize by the World Peace Council.

1972: Prime minister of Bangladesh
On 12 January 1972, Sheikh Mujib became the prime minister of Bangladesh after Tajuddin Ahmad.

New Constitution: ‘Friendship to all and malice to none’
A new constitution was enacted within ten months of the liberation war under the leadership of Sheikh Mujib. The dictum of the newly formed foreign policy was dubbed as ‘friendship to all and malice to none.’

1973: First General Election of Bangladesh
The first general election of Bangladesh was held on 7 March inside fifteen months of the liberation. The Awami League won 293 seats out of 300.
On 6 September, he went to Algeria to attend a conference of Non-Aligned Movement.
On 17 October, he visited Japan.

1974: OIC Conference
On 23 February, Sheikh Mujib went to Pakistan to attend OIC Conference as prime minister of newly born Bangladesh after Pakistan recognised the country as an nation.

1975: Formation of BAKSAL
Sheikh Mujibur began reconstruction of the war-torn Bangladesh immediate after taking charge of the country. He introduced one-party rule on 24 February 1975. All political parties came under the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL). On 25 January, he set up a prudential state system and become president of Bangladesh. BAKSAL was dissolved on 15 August 1975 with the assassination of the father of the nation.

1975: The Assassination
On the night of 15 August 1975, a group of violent army officers assassinated Mujib and all of his family members except the two daughters, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, who were out of the country at the time.

2012: His diaries
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s memoirs, which were written between 1967 and 1969, were published for the first time as a book in June 2012.

2017: UNESCO recognises Bangabandhu’s 7th March Speech
UNESCO recognised the historic 7 March Speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a Memory of the World International Register.
The International Advisory Committee during its meeting between 24 and 27 October in 2017 recommended the 7th March speech for inscription on the Memory of the World International Register.
The Memory of the World Register now includes a total of 427 documents and collection from all continents.

Sources: The Unfinished Memoirs, Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, UNESCO and Banglapedia