Mahbubar Rahman :
Having lost all the graces and comforts of Paradise, parents of human race had landed on the earth of dust by the divine order long and long time ago when the planet Earth, after cooling and condensing from the State of being a fire ball out of cosmic cataclysm, was ready to house both animal and plant kingdom in its still mellow surface. The environment and physical feature of the Earth being absolutely Greek to them, the first couple of human race wandered breathlessly from North to South and East to West of the different strange terrain of the Earth with no definite direction where to settle in, at the end of the day. They watched pensively how the sun rises in the East and sets in the Western horizon. They wondered how Moon was growing slowly from its crescents shape and made a full Moon with nature’s eye-blinding tricks and jugglery. They were equally bemused and overwhelmed with the splendor of cosmic wonder of how stars twinkle and the galaxies swirl in the immensity of distant skies. Waltzing waves of the roaring seas and rippling sound of the Running Rivers immensely stirred their thoughts and imaginations to reckon as to how sorcery of nature triggered an unknown force to keep the Earth moving with its all burgeoning fauna and flora profusely sprawling around.
Having endowed with all the gifts of nature no matter how friendly or hostile they were in the terrain, of sprawling vegetation, snow-clad ground or blistering sands of deserts; where the parents of the human race were gradually attuning and adapting themselves into, through enduring evolutionary process. Among lot more innumerable gifts of nature brimming abound, what the parents of human race were missing was the warmth of fire that they were denied for being fire was stored in the vault of heavens by the order of gods. That caused persistent misery and plight for the parents of the human race in their living process in the new world of planet Earth.
With Sardonic smiles, gods in the Pantheon of Olympus Mountain mocked over the agony of human race with missing flambeau of fire in their hands for survival thus pushing them into the brink of being extinct ultimately in the gradual process of struggle for existence.
Prometheus— son of the Titan Iapetus had observed perpetual human misery, caused from being without the flames of fire, from the distant heavens. He was deeply shocked and perturbed at wanton human misery and out of his deep love for humans, passed fire to humans by stealing fire from the encrypted vault of heaven when gods were fallen asleep with loud snoring. Prometheus’s such daring act of defiance enraged gods when they woke up from deep slumber. Gods decided to punish Prometheus for helping human race by giving fire and chained him in the mountain rock in the Caucasus where a giant eagle fed upon his liver, which was renewed during the night. Prometheus had embraced misery and pains for himself for giving fire to humans for their daily chores and future prosperity thus leading them to become the crown of the creation.
Drawing an analogy with the above episode from the Greek mythology, this is to mention, at this point, that having lost freedom at the battle field of Plassey in 1757 due to conspiracy, intrigues and vile treachery, Bengalis were consigned and relegated to the subject-hood of the British Raj for long 190 years. After the British packed their baggage in 1947 with truncating the sub continent of India into two States—India and Pakistan, Bengalis thought that their miseries under the British Raj were over. Alas! With the creation of Pakistan based on flawed Two Nation Theory, Bengalis were only thrown from fry pan to burning fire under the jackboot of Pakistani ruling class who demeaned and subjugated Bengalis as second class citizens of the State of Pakistan.
Like the legendary Prometheus, agony of the Bengali Nation caused from wide disparity, deprivation and ill treatment including a grisly attempt to snatch the mother tongue from the Bengali’s mouth with spilling costly bloods of the martyrs on the street in 1952, deeply disturbed Bengali’s undisputed leader of towering height — Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was later fondly decorated with the title of Bangabandhu for his great love for the Bengali Nation. During his long struggle after the State of Pakistan came into existence in 1947, Bangabandhu felt by his heart that what the Bengali Nation was missing, in the true sense of the term, was nothing but complete freedom and independence from Pakistan.
As the legendary Prometheus thought that the extinction of human race from the planet Earth could be stopped by gifting fire to humans, similarly Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman also thought that it was nothing less than complete freedom or independence which could only save the Bengali Nation from being obliterated and become non-entity as proud nation in their own soil. Bangabadhu fell prey to the wrath of the Pakistani rulers when he stood firmly like solid rocks in realising the rights of Bengalis that were otherwise denied in all spheres of life in the State of Pakistan. With his long struggle and charismatic leadership and through the Liberation War that was fought long nine months in his name; which is part of the nation’s glorious history needing no further mention, at this point; Bangabandhu eventually succeeded in shaping and gifting an independent Bangladesh to the Bengali Nation in 1971 to stand with heads hold high in the global scenario.
As the mythological gods of the Olympus mountain did not like the noble act of Prometheus gifting fire to the human race and consequently, with fury and rage, punished and chained Prometheus in the manner as has been briefly narrated above, devils in human shape on earth and their accomplices who did not like Bangabandhu giving freedom to the Bengali Nation, fumed and spewed venomous poison silently with their outrages, looked for opportune moment and in one fateful wee hour of the night on August 15, 1975 came out of their holes of darkness with killing machines, in fiendish look, and sprayed bullets of vengeance on Bangabandhu’s chest with murderous orgy of playing not only on Bangabandhu’s costly blood but also with bloods of entire members of his family except two daughters who were then abroad. The devils of the dark did not sphere four National Leaders who led the War of Liberation and the Government of Bangladesh in exile in Bangabandhu’s name in 1971 and murdered them within the safe custody of prison in November 1975 thus adding one blacker chapter in the history book of vile barbarity and brutality.
On Roman Emperor Julius Caesar’s murder by vile hands of Casca, Cassius and Brutus; Marc Antony rose to the occasion and subsequently rounded up all the murderers of Caesar by his iron hands. Sadly, on Bangabandhu’s murder, except Col. Jamil Ahmed who rushed to Bangabandhu’s safety and was murdered on way to Dhanmondi 32; no Marc Antonys were seen around. Everyone was busy on their way to relishing the taste of power set in place in Bangabhaban on that fateful day and its aftermath. It gives no reason to believe that a section of misguided armed bandits in army uniform were only involved in the murder; rather the full establishment of the then army involved either covertly or overtly. When Bangabandhu sought help from Army Chief at that critical hour before he was gunned down, he was advised to scale the boundary wall and flee. A cruel joke in deed at most crucial hour of Bangabandhu’s life! After hearing the news that the President of Bangladesh Bangabandhu was murdered, Deputy Chief of Army made a cruel remark and said: “so what! The vice president is there to take over. A Bangavir who led the liberation forces in 1971, wasted no time to become the defense adviser to murderer Mushtaque government when Bangabandhu’s blood-stained dead body was still lying uncared. A ‘Majloom jana neta’ who loved Sheikh Mujib as his son in his life time joined the bandwagon of those left leaning political orphans who observed ‘Najat Dibash’ on 15th August —- the day of Bangabandhu’s assassination. Fiends of dark wearing certain abhorrent political face celebrated the day of Bangabandhu’s murder in ghastly fashion like cutting cake on someone’s fake birthday for long years in the manner as the barbarians in grotesque face stage macabre dance encircling the carcasses of the beasts of their prey; until such time people believing in the true spirit of Liberation War got back the country and pushed back the evil forces into the dark alley of regression that they in fact belong to.
The cruelty of ghouls and twisted monsters wearing human face who killed Bangabandhu along with the members of his family and political disciples for his giving freedom to the Bengali Nation through his long enduring struggle; virtually surpassed the cruelty of the mythological gods of heavens in handing punishment to Prometheus, who out of his great love, gave fire to humans.
Prometheus had been punished by the gods of Olympus mountain but the spark of fire that he had kindled to pass it to human race remain ablaze with its flames still gliding in towering heights. Physically, Bangabandhu is no more with us, but his ideology and thunderous voice still resonates in the air of his Golden Bengal and reverberates in the hearts of every true Bengalis, who have once again shown and testified in loud voice in the recently held national election that pro-liberation forces will lead the country for all intents and purposes towards road to prosperity; where the forces with double standard often seen frothing in mouths uttering the name of Bangabandhu; with forming unholy political alliance with the evil forces of darkness; have no place.
A small spark of fire can ward-off all gathering darkness and make the world enlightened to live in. Freedom is highly sought-after to live with, without which human life sinks in the morass of stagnation. Prometheus gave fire to the human race and Bangabandhu kindled the light of fire to give freedom to the Bengali Nation.
Names of Bangabandhu and Prometheus are synonymous to each other. Gifted with undying souls, both Prometheus and Bangabandhu suffered equal eventualities for their noble and benevolent acts. So, allegorically, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the undying Prometheus of the Bengali Nation in deed.
Viva Bangabandhu. Viva Prometheus of the Bengali Nation.
On this National Mourning Day I join with the nation and pray for the salvation of Bangabandhu and his other family members’ departed souls. May Allah rest their souls in eternal peace.
(Mahbubar Rahman, a former civil servant)
Having lost all the graces and comforts of Paradise, parents of human race had landed on the earth of dust by the divine order long and long time ago when the planet Earth, after cooling and condensing from the State of being a fire ball out of cosmic cataclysm, was ready to house both animal and plant kingdom in its still mellow surface. The environment and physical feature of the Earth being absolutely Greek to them, the first couple of human race wandered breathlessly from North to South and East to West of the different strange terrain of the Earth with no definite direction where to settle in, at the end of the day. They watched pensively how the sun rises in the East and sets in the Western horizon. They wondered how Moon was growing slowly from its crescents shape and made a full Moon with nature’s eye-blinding tricks and jugglery. They were equally bemused and overwhelmed with the splendor of cosmic wonder of how stars twinkle and the galaxies swirl in the immensity of distant skies. Waltzing waves of the roaring seas and rippling sound of the Running Rivers immensely stirred their thoughts and imaginations to reckon as to how sorcery of nature triggered an unknown force to keep the Earth moving with its all burgeoning fauna and flora profusely sprawling around.
Having endowed with all the gifts of nature no matter how friendly or hostile they were in the terrain, of sprawling vegetation, snow-clad ground or blistering sands of deserts; where the parents of the human race were gradually attuning and adapting themselves into, through enduring evolutionary process. Among lot more innumerable gifts of nature brimming abound, what the parents of human race were missing was the warmth of fire that they were denied for being fire was stored in the vault of heavens by the order of gods. That caused persistent misery and plight for the parents of the human race in their living process in the new world of planet Earth.
With Sardonic smiles, gods in the Pantheon of Olympus Mountain mocked over the agony of human race with missing flambeau of fire in their hands for survival thus pushing them into the brink of being extinct ultimately in the gradual process of struggle for existence.
Prometheus— son of the Titan Iapetus had observed perpetual human misery, caused from being without the flames of fire, from the distant heavens. He was deeply shocked and perturbed at wanton human misery and out of his deep love for humans, passed fire to humans by stealing fire from the encrypted vault of heaven when gods were fallen asleep with loud snoring. Prometheus’s such daring act of defiance enraged gods when they woke up from deep slumber. Gods decided to punish Prometheus for helping human race by giving fire and chained him in the mountain rock in the Caucasus where a giant eagle fed upon his liver, which was renewed during the night. Prometheus had embraced misery and pains for himself for giving fire to humans for their daily chores and future prosperity thus leading them to become the crown of the creation.
Drawing an analogy with the above episode from the Greek mythology, this is to mention, at this point, that having lost freedom at the battle field of Plassey in 1757 due to conspiracy, intrigues and vile treachery, Bengalis were consigned and relegated to the subject-hood of the British Raj for long 190 years. After the British packed their baggage in 1947 with truncating the sub continent of India into two States—India and Pakistan, Bengalis thought that their miseries under the British Raj were over. Alas! With the creation of Pakistan based on flawed Two Nation Theory, Bengalis were only thrown from fry pan to burning fire under the jackboot of Pakistani ruling class who demeaned and subjugated Bengalis as second class citizens of the State of Pakistan.
Like the legendary Prometheus, agony of the Bengali Nation caused from wide disparity, deprivation and ill treatment including a grisly attempt to snatch the mother tongue from the Bengali’s mouth with spilling costly bloods of the martyrs on the street in 1952, deeply disturbed Bengali’s undisputed leader of towering height — Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was later fondly decorated with the title of Bangabandhu for his great love for the Bengali Nation. During his long struggle after the State of Pakistan came into existence in 1947, Bangabandhu felt by his heart that what the Bengali Nation was missing, in the true sense of the term, was nothing but complete freedom and independence from Pakistan.
As the legendary Prometheus thought that the extinction of human race from the planet Earth could be stopped by gifting fire to humans, similarly Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman also thought that it was nothing less than complete freedom or independence which could only save the Bengali Nation from being obliterated and become non-entity as proud nation in their own soil. Bangabadhu fell prey to the wrath of the Pakistani rulers when he stood firmly like solid rocks in realising the rights of Bengalis that were otherwise denied in all spheres of life in the State of Pakistan. With his long struggle and charismatic leadership and through the Liberation War that was fought long nine months in his name; which is part of the nation’s glorious history needing no further mention, at this point; Bangabandhu eventually succeeded in shaping and gifting an independent Bangladesh to the Bengali Nation in 1971 to stand with heads hold high in the global scenario.
As the mythological gods of the Olympus mountain did not like the noble act of Prometheus gifting fire to the human race and consequently, with fury and rage, punished and chained Prometheus in the manner as has been briefly narrated above, devils in human shape on earth and their accomplices who did not like Bangabandhu giving freedom to the Bengali Nation, fumed and spewed venomous poison silently with their outrages, looked for opportune moment and in one fateful wee hour of the night on August 15, 1975 came out of their holes of darkness with killing machines, in fiendish look, and sprayed bullets of vengeance on Bangabandhu’s chest with murderous orgy of playing not only on Bangabandhu’s costly blood but also with bloods of entire members of his family except two daughters who were then abroad. The devils of the dark did not sphere four National Leaders who led the War of Liberation and the Government of Bangladesh in exile in Bangabandhu’s name in 1971 and murdered them within the safe custody of prison in November 1975 thus adding one blacker chapter in the history book of vile barbarity and brutality.
On Roman Emperor Julius Caesar’s murder by vile hands of Casca, Cassius and Brutus; Marc Antony rose to the occasion and subsequently rounded up all the murderers of Caesar by his iron hands. Sadly, on Bangabandhu’s murder, except Col. Jamil Ahmed who rushed to Bangabandhu’s safety and was murdered on way to Dhanmondi 32; no Marc Antonys were seen around. Everyone was busy on their way to relishing the taste of power set in place in Bangabhaban on that fateful day and its aftermath. It gives no reason to believe that a section of misguided armed bandits in army uniform were only involved in the murder; rather the full establishment of the then army involved either covertly or overtly. When Bangabandhu sought help from Army Chief at that critical hour before he was gunned down, he was advised to scale the boundary wall and flee. A cruel joke in deed at most crucial hour of Bangabandhu’s life! After hearing the news that the President of Bangladesh Bangabandhu was murdered, Deputy Chief of Army made a cruel remark and said: “so what! The vice president is there to take over. A Bangavir who led the liberation forces in 1971, wasted no time to become the defense adviser to murderer Mushtaque government when Bangabandhu’s blood-stained dead body was still lying uncared. A ‘Majloom jana neta’ who loved Sheikh Mujib as his son in his life time joined the bandwagon of those left leaning political orphans who observed ‘Najat Dibash’ on 15th August —- the day of Bangabandhu’s assassination. Fiends of dark wearing certain abhorrent political face celebrated the day of Bangabandhu’s murder in ghastly fashion like cutting cake on someone’s fake birthday for long years in the manner as the barbarians in grotesque face stage macabre dance encircling the carcasses of the beasts of their prey; until such time people believing in the true spirit of Liberation War got back the country and pushed back the evil forces into the dark alley of regression that they in fact belong to.
The cruelty of ghouls and twisted monsters wearing human face who killed Bangabandhu along with the members of his family and political disciples for his giving freedom to the Bengali Nation through his long enduring struggle; virtually surpassed the cruelty of the mythological gods of heavens in handing punishment to Prometheus, who out of his great love, gave fire to humans.
Prometheus had been punished by the gods of Olympus mountain but the spark of fire that he had kindled to pass it to human race remain ablaze with its flames still gliding in towering heights. Physically, Bangabandhu is no more with us, but his ideology and thunderous voice still resonates in the air of his Golden Bengal and reverberates in the hearts of every true Bengalis, who have once again shown and testified in loud voice in the recently held national election that pro-liberation forces will lead the country for all intents and purposes towards road to prosperity; where the forces with double standard often seen frothing in mouths uttering the name of Bangabandhu; with forming unholy political alliance with the evil forces of darkness; have no place.
A small spark of fire can ward-off all gathering darkness and make the world enlightened to live in. Freedom is highly sought-after to live with, without which human life sinks in the morass of stagnation. Prometheus gave fire to the human race and Bangabandhu kindled the light of fire to give freedom to the Bengali Nation.
Names of Bangabandhu and Prometheus are synonymous to each other. Gifted with undying souls, both Prometheus and Bangabandhu suffered equal eventualities for their noble and benevolent acts. So, allegorically, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the undying Prometheus of the Bengali Nation in deed.
Viva Bangabandhu. Viva Prometheus of the Bengali Nation.
On this National Mourning Day I join with the nation and pray for the salvation of Bangabandhu and his other family members’ departed souls. May Allah rest their souls in eternal peace.
(Mahbubar Rahman, a former civil servant)
