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In My View

People like Mujib, Gandhi and MLK Jr. never die

Published : Friday, 19 August, 2022 at 12:00 AM  Count : 755
Syed Badiuzzaman
Bangladesh just observed the National Mourning Day of 2022. As usually, the day came and went in a somber way once again reminding the nation of the terrible tragedy of August 15. And it will keep coming every year and let the generation after generation of Bangladeshi people know what exactly happened that day in the country back in 1975.

In modern world history, there is barely any incident similar to the August 15 carnage in Bangladesh. On this day 47 years ago -- only four years after the independence of the country -- there wasn't just a political assassination of the Father of the Nation, there were also a series of cold-blooded and calculated murders of innocent family members including women and children who had nothing to do with politics.

The world has witnessed a host of high-profile political killings including the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. but none is comparable with the savage murder of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was killed in a premeditated way along with most of his family members including little Russell, who was then just a 10-year-old boy. His two daughters, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, survived as they were out of the country.
The political assassination of the founding father of Bangladesh and the brutal murders of his family members and relatives was part of a broader conspiracy of the assassins. And it became crystal clear in just 79 days when four other top leaders of Awami League -- former Vice-President Syed Nazrul Islam, former Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed, former Home Minister AHM Quamruzzaman and retired Captain Mansur Ali -- were also savagely assassinated inside Dhaka Central Jail.  

By assassinating Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his family members and close relatives on August 15 in 1975 and four central leaders of Awami League on November 3 the same year, the assassins wanted not just to prevent his political party from coming to power again but also to destroy it permanently. However, their plot backfired on them. They miscalculated the organizational strength of Awami League and forgot the role it played in the independence of Bangladesh and establishing the rights of Bangladeshi people.

The assassins thought that the August 15 carnage and the November 3 jail killings would scare away both his family and his party and they would never again join the political process of Bangladesh. But they were wrong. How Bangabandhu's Awami League, a party that was in the forefront of all political movements from the historic Language Movement of 1952 to the Mass Upsurge of 1969 would be scared away by their conspiracy?  How this party that spearheaded the struggle of Bengalis for their freedom from oppression of Pakistani military rulers and led the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh would give up politics forever?

Bangladesh and Awami League are like the two sides of the same coin. They are inseparable from each other. But the assassins of August 15 failed to grasp the historical truth. They underestimated the strength of Awami League, a party that was built by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman brick-by-brick. The assassins thought that Awami League would collapse after the killing of Bangabandhu on August 15 and four top leaders of the party on November 3. But again they were completely wrong. Even though the party had suffered a temporary setback after the incidents, it quickly reorganized itself and regained its full strength after the return of Sheikh Hasina from abroad.  

The August 15 assassination was based on a grossly miscalculated scheme executed by a group of disgruntled mid-ranking army officers. It was a crime beyond comprehension. While the whole world praised Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for his rapid rise as a regional political figure and his bold  leadership in the emergence of a new nation in South Asia, these over jealous military officers could not accept all these as well as his unlimited power, massive popularity and astonishing fame at home and abroad.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a larger-than-life figure. His death couldn't diminish his stature as an unparalleled and visionary political leader of not only Bangladesh but also the entire region of South Asia. It rather redoubled his reputation as one of the greatest idealistic politicians South Asia has ever produced. He never compromised the interest of Bengali nation and nothing could stop him from fighting for the freedom of Bangladeshi people. His popularity never plummeted after his brutal assassination; it rather surged to a record high. And as always in the past, he will forever remain the darling of the people of Bangladesh.

Bangabandhu's love for the people was real; there was never any pretension in his feelings for his countrymen. He truly cared for them and that was precisely the reason the people loved him so much. And as a result of this reciprocal love, a bonding developed between the people of Bangladesh and Bangabandhu. He was a man with a rare human quality. His heart was always connected with the heart of the people. He used to feel their pain and sufferings and that was exactly what earned him so much popularity which no other politicians of Bangladesh could even ever think of. The nation has produced so many politicians but no one was ever able to connect so intimately with the people of Bangladesh as did Mujib.

He was genuinely the "Man of the Masses" as described by renowned journalist AZM Haider after his historic speech at Ramna Race Course to an ecstatic crowd of two million people on March 7, 1971. Bangabandhu is the symbol of an ideal, values, patriotism and inspirations. Even though his killers succeeded in physically eliminating him through the brutal assassination on August 15, they miserably failed to erase his ideology. With the assassination of Bangabandhu and other top leaders of Awami League, the new administration although it was not perfect in a war-ravaged country suffered a severe blow. The incidents brought military into the political process of Bangladesh and they governed the country for as long as 12 years. Ironically, the 1969 Mass Upsurge in what was then East Pakistan and the 1971 War of Independence happened against none other than the military rulers of Pakistan.

Just a few years into the independence, the military men again became ambitious and positioned themselves at the helm of the new nation. They never believed in the values we fought for nor did they ever care about the cause of our struggle. The 1971 War of Independence was against the military rule in our country. But the assassins of August 15 deliberately ignored it. How shameful and shocking it was for a nation just liberated from Pakistani military rule to come under another military rule by homegrown soldiers.  

People like Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. never really die. Even though assassins' bullets abruptly took their lives physically separating them from us, their ideals, values and legacies are still very much alive and they will continue to remain so forever inspiring humanity.
The writer is a Toronto-based
journalist who also writes for the Toronto Sun as a guest columnist







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