The inspiration for freedom
Who would have ever imagined that the founder of a nation would be killed in such a manner? His unwavering trust in his people proved fatal. But wasn’t that confidence, that trust and that love for his people, a special quality?
When we look at his glorious life, we are amazed at his personal qualities, characteristics and political aims and strategies.
The prime quality we see in Bangabandhu is his indomitable courage. At a young age, he was indicted in a criminal case for involvement in a fight. His seniors suggested he go into hiding for some time, but he refused. He refused to let them say that he had run away. So he was arrested and thrown into jail.
After quite some time, police raided Bangabandhu’s house, searching for him after the Pakistan central government dissolved the East Pakistan elected cabinet. After coming back home, he came to know about the raid and immediately called the Dhaka district magistrate. He said, “You sent a force to arrest me. You can send them now as I am at home now.”
He had veneration for the underground left politicians but he didn’t choose the same underground politics for himself. So it was not a surprise that he opted to stay at his Dhanmondi home on the fateful night of 25 March 1971 and let the Pakistani army arrest him.
The historic speech on 7 March also bears testimony of his unflinching courage. It entails a great deal of courage to declare ‘This struggle is for our emancipation, this struggle is for independence’ in the face of Pakistani army’s war preparation. He had that courage. Most of that courage emanated from the spontaneous and glorified protest of the people during the non-cooperation movement.
Fortitude was another great quality in him. When he was involved in Muslim League politics, he was steadfast in his cause for establishing Pakistan. But, when he shifted his focus to establish self-rule for the Bangalis, he didn’t hesitate to leave Muslim League politics. He was incarcerated in March 1948 for the first time and innumerable occasions later. He did not flinch in the face of any kind of oppression.
Shaheed Suhrawardy was Bangabandhu’s leader during the very first days of his career. Though he differed with his leader in many occasions, he didn’t leave him till the very last days. Maulana Bhasani had a lack of tolerance but did not leave him until Bhasani formed a different political party.
He was proud to be a Bangali. Rabindranath Tagore and Nazrul’s lyrics reverberated within him and he was fond of Abbasuddin’s songs.
His prime goal was to establish the rights of Bangalis. He floated ‘the 6 point demand-our demand for existence’ in 1966 during rough times.
When he was incarcerated in the Agartala conspiracy case, he touched the soil of the country to her forehead and said; ‘Now I’m ready to embrace the death’. He coined the name ‘Bangladesh’ in 1969 and vowed that he would never betray the blood of his people.
In his 7 March speech Bangabandhu took oath to free the country. He kept his word. He never compromised. He was neither overwhelmed by power nor was he scared of death.
In 1971, when he was imprisoned in Pakistani jail, he was sentenced to death and his grave was being dug in front of his cell. He had only one wish at the time- to be buried in his homeland.
It is natural for a person, who is a pure Bengali by heart like him, to be non-communal.
He was overwhelmed by the sacrifice of swadeshi leader Purna Chandra. Despite being a Muslim League activist, he was a big admirer of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose.
During the communal riots in 1946, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with his friend helped Bhabotosh Dutt, a professor of Islamia College, flee from the Muslim area and escorted him to the Hindu locality.
After the creation of Pakistan, most people embraced religious identity as the criteria for self determination. He even raised consciousness among people about the necessity of a non-communal state.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman wanted to remove the word ‘Muslim’ from Awami Muslim League in the wake of the language movement in 1952. Maulana Bhasani, however, advised him to wait until the general election in fear of adverse reaction from masses.
Awami Muslim League was changed to Awami League right after the election.
Sheikh Mujib strongly protested against calling Pakistan ‘Islamic Republic’ during the formation of first constitution. He even tried to recommend a joint election in Pakistan. He resisted the communal riots in 1964 and surrounded Dhaka city standing in front of a truck. Eventually, he made secularism the principle for running the country.
As a Muslim League worker, Mujib was of the Suhrawardy-Abul Hashim group. Perhaps Abul Hashim's ideology inspired him towards building an equitable society.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became interested in socialism after his visit to China in 1956. The more his political experience was enriched, the more he leant towards socialism.
He wanted to remove all kinds of exploitation from the country but never got the chance to do so.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman loved the people of Bangladesh a lot. The people even loved him deeply as the founder of Bangladesh.
There are several other reasons as well. He had a great quality of remembering people’s names. Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque and Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani had the quality as well. The people eill never forget Sheikh Mujub, the people’s person.
Traitors wanted to kill Sheikh Mujib and remove his political ideology from history. Their efforts failed. And Bangabandhu has retrned ot th epeople as an eternal light.
* Anisuzzaman is national professor of Bangladesh. This piece has been translated by Farjana Liakat and Galib Ashraf