For over seven decades, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the name most talked about and highlighted in the history of Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was bestowed with the title Bangabandhu as well as Father of the Nation by the people of this land. Through much struggle and movement he gave shape to the people’s aspirations for independence. It was under his leadership that in 1971 Bangladesh emerged as an independent and sovereign state.
Since the forties, Bangabandhu’s politics had been focused on one objective – emancipation of the people of this country. He and his associates at the time had felt that if the Muslims had a separate state, then political and economic rights would be ensured. But in the Pakistan that was established under the leadership of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the Bengalis remained subjugated.
It was the determination to establish the independence of the people of this county that the young leader Sheikh Mujib formed the Inner Circle in Kolkata, set up East Pakistan Muslim League in place of All Pakistan Muslim League upon his return to Dhaka, and went to jail in 1948 while taking part in the language movement. This is very evident in the speech he delivered in the Pakistan National Assembly.
After Ayub Khan imposed martial law in 1958, Sheikh Mujib realised that it could not be possible to achieve the political rights of the people through democratic means alone. It was for the independence of this country that he travelled to Agartala in the sixties, that he joined the efforts of the rebel Bengali civil and military officials to take over power. The youth in the sixties risked their lives in overt and covert initiatives for independence, centered on Sheikh Mujib and looking to him for support.
We may recall here the series of meetings in 1961 between Bangabandhu and leaders of the banned Communist Party, Moni Singh and Khoka Roy. It was determined at those meetings how Chhatra Union and Chhatra League would build up the movement together. At one point of the talks, Bangabandhu said that his final aim was independence. The communist leaders were not opposed to independence either. They said that the people must first be prepared for independence. Bangabandhu said, “I agree with you, but I feel we can no longer remain with the west.” He said the same to those accused along with him in the Agartala conspiracy case.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been the leader of Awami League, but his political activities were not limited within Awami League alone. In 1966 when the six-point programme was placed at the opposition leaders’ conference in Lahore, no one had known about it other than Tajuddin Ahmed and a couple of others. Upon return from Lahore, the programme was just approved by the Awami League central committee. He did not consult the party about the six-point programme, but took advice from the Bengali CSP officers and progressive academics and economists. It was even before the six-point programme that the Bengali economists had shaken the Pakistani rulers with their ‘one country, two economies’ theory.
Many had raised the issue of Bangladesh’s independence even before Bangabandhu. In 1957 Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani had said ‘assalam alaikum’ (bid farewell) to the West Pakistanis. Many had raised their voices to establish an independent East Bengal. But they did not remain steadfast to their objectives.
One group of leftist wanted to resolve the ethnic problems by establishing socialism. That is why before the 1970 elections they had declared we want food before elections. It was because he showed the people the main bone of contention between the people of this country and the Pakistanis, that he won the support of all, regardless of class or creed. While other Bengali leaders may not have grasped the significance of the six-point movement, the Pakistani rulers did. That is why Ayub Khan replied with arms and ammunition.
Before and after the 1970 election, Bangabandhu had asked Dr Nurul Islam and Rehman Sobhan along with other economists, to draw up an economic framework based on the six points. Dr Nurul Islam said, if an economic framework is drawn up on the basis of the six points, Pakistan will no longer remain intact. In reply, Bangabandhu said, “That is not your concern.” In those words lay the message of his final target.
In the pre-1975 politics, the main contention against Bangabandhu and Awami League was that they were not progressive or people-oriented enough. The Qudrat-e-Khuda education policy can be cited as an example. This was opposed at the time by the JSD student wing Chhatra League as well as Chhatra Union. They contended that a socialist society would not be possible with such an education policy. Every government after that came up with education policies, but the Qudrat-e-Khuda education till date remains relatively the most progressive and realistic. Meanwhile, politics gradually regressed after 1975. The revolutionaries had no qualms in turning to Islamic nationalism.
There may be criticism about Bangabandhu’s socialist economic programme, land and industrial policies. There may be criticism about various policies and programme taken up during his rule that last just under four years. But it cannot be said that any other government till now has adopted more progressive policies and programmes that that.
Critics question why, being the main leader of independence, did not Bangabandhu flee instead of being arrested on 25 March. Bangabandhu was not a communist leader that we would initiative a guerrilla war within the country. It was not possible on his part to stay in one house in Kolkata like his associates and run a government in exile. The Pakistanis would then have dubbed him as an Indian agent and a separationist. Instead, he held his own life hostage for the sake of Bangladesh’s independence.
After his death, there was no tangible protest from the leaders and workers of his party. Most of his cabinet members left his body at Road 32 and joined the Mushtaque Ahmad cabinet.
Bangabandhu’ long political career is filled with incomparable achievements and success, but one issue must be raised. The question will always remain as to whether he was able to inspire the leaders and workers of his party with his ideology. After his death, there was no tangible protest from the leaders and workers of his party. Most of his cabinet members left his body at Road 32 and joined the Mushtaque Ahmad cabinet. Later some of them became ministers in the government’s o Ziaur Rahman and Ershad. But his genuine associates like Tajuddin Ahmed, Syed Nazrul Islam, M Mansur Ali and HM Quamaruzzaman, accompanied him even in death.
Bangabandhu was a nationalist leader who established independent Bangladesh. Some criticise him as an agent of Russia and India. Some see him as pro-Washington. But a person who gives a population the taste of independence, cannot be of any camp. He proved this in the sacrifice of his life.
* Sohrab Hassan is joint editor of Prothom Alo and a poet. He can be reached at [email protected]
* This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir