Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
Bangabandhu throughout his life struggled for the suppressed humanity. He fought against imperialism to establish the rights of the have-nots. He always spoke in favor of the farmers, workers and day laborers. He was the real friend of the poor. World Peace Council awarded him the World Peace Medal for his extra-ordinary contribution for the depressed people of the world on May 23, 1973 and from “Bangabandhu” he became a universal friend. And consequently he belonged to the category of all world famous leaders. All these he could win by virtue of his courage, honesty integrity and power of political will. Bangabandhu could never be cowered into submission. The trappings of power did not allure him and he remained a solid rock in the shifting sands. It is time once again to gratefully remember and pay homage to the great patriarch.
Bangabandhu Shiekh Mujib was a pragmatic politician. In the Pakistan state, he appeared as the undaunted advocate of the Bengali interests from the start. The general elections of December 1070 made Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the sole spokesman of East Pakistan. The people gave the absolute mandate in favor of six-point doctrine. However, the election results were a big surprise for both the rivals, and to some extent, the friends of the Awami League. In the words of General Fazal Muqueem Khan, “The election results have placed the President on the horns of dilemma. The scheme of things he has worked in his mind, with aid and advice of his advisors, has been shattered. He had to make a fresh plan”.
It was his ability to unify that made us come together; quality to inspire that made us dream of independence; capacity to mesmerize with his words and oratory that made us bold; enormous courage that drove us to strive for the impossible; and honesty of purpose that made us trust him so completely. Before and after the Partition, when Hindus and Muslims were engaged in communal violence across the subcontinent, he was inspired by his mentor Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy’s effort to visit numerous ground zeros of atrocities, himself touring many regions of East Bengal in order to spread the message of religious harmony. In many ways, these journeys throughout Bengal took on a larger meaning for Bangabandhu, inspiring his lifelong empathy for the downtrodden. For him, experiencing Bengal’s land and water meant getting invaluable insights into people’s everyday struggles, their suffering within the asymmetric economies of the two wings of Pakistan. Bengalis and the delta, for him, shared the same ethos of struggle and survival.
In 1938 a significant event of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s life occurred. Mr. Fazlul Huq was then the prime minister of Bengal and Mr. Suhrawardy the labor minister. They were scheduled to visit Gopalganj. A huge meeting was to be organized for their visit. It was decided to hold an exhibition on the occasion too. After all, the two eminent leaders of the Muslim community of Bengal would be coming to town and all Muslims of the area were excited at the prospect. Bangabandhu was still in school then. As he noted before, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was older than the boys. He used to hang out with and so was given responsibility of the volunteer brigade. Bangabandhu formed the brigade with everyone who was willing to join it regardless of their religion or beliefs. Later, it became apparent that the Hindu boys were leaving the group one by one. Unable to figure out why this was happening, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman asked a friend what was going on. He told me that the Congress party had directed them not to participate in the event and had even instructed them to make sure the leaders were not given a grand reception. They were also asked to ensure that shops were made to shut down on that day. In those days Hindus owned 80 per cent of the shops in town. The news surprised me since we didn’t treat Hindus and Muslims differently then. Mujib was very friendly with the Hindu boys. We used to play, sing and roam the streets together.
Mr. Huq and Mr. Suhrawardy arrived as scheduled and the meeting was finally held. The exhibition was inaugurated formally. Everything took place peacefully. Mr. Huq went to the Public Hall while Mr. Suhrawardy went to the Mission School. Since Mujib was a student of the Mission School. Mujib welcomed him. He inspected the school and then walked towards the launch and Mujib followed him all the way. He asked me a few questions haltingly in Bengali that Mujib answered as well as he could. He looked at Mujib and asked him his name and wanted to know about Mujib’s family. A government official told him about family’s origins. He took Mujib by the arm and asked him affectionately, ‘Don’t you have the Muslim League in your area?’ Mujib told him that there was no such organization and that not even the Muslim Students’ League was active here. He made no other comment but wrote down Mujib’s name and address in his notebook. A few days later Mujib got a note from him thanking him and asking to meet him if I ever went to Calcutta. Mujib replied to his letter. This is how Mujib started to write to him from time to time.
Bangabandhu was a real epitome of courage, both in the physical and moral sense. The historic Six Point Programme, an explicit embodiment of Bengali nationalism was unfurled at Lahore, the heart of Punjab by Bangabandhu. In Lahore, the bastion of arrogant Punjabi power, Bangabandhu displayed admirable physical and moral courage during the course of a public meeting in 1970 that he was addressing. It so happened that his speech was being purposely interrupted by some Muslim League-Jamaat hirelings. When these elements did not stop even after being cautioned, Bangabandhu shouted at them, asserting that he had not come to Lahore to seek votes as he had plenty of them in his place, and that they either listen to him or disappear from the meeting area. No Bengali had ever publicly ventured to rebuke the power-obsessed high nosed Punjabis in such a raw manner.
Sheik Mujib, the father of the nation, is the torch-bearer of peace, prosperity and piousness. We must follow his teachings, ideals and philosophy of life. He was awarded with “Julio Curie world peace Medal”. It was the recognition of this great man towards humanity, struggle against imperialism and expansionists. To establish peace and tranquility, we must follow the long-cherished desire, leadership and worldwide relationship of the father of the nation. Sheikh Mujib was a great visionary and mission-oriented leader. His greatness and personality as a man must be honored out and out by all Bengalese irrespective of caste, creed and religion. If we carry forward the ideals and dreams of Bangabandhu, we could be able to achieve a real nation with its dignity to another world. So, it is our responsibility to implement every dream of the father of the nation. And only then our country will achieve its millennium development goal within the targeted time.
In the childhood of Bangabandhu, he was named as Khoka in his family and village. This innocent Khoka one day became Bangabandhu and event achieved the height of leadership position as great leader. Today Bangabandhu may not physically appear before us; but all his ideals and concepts are playing a pivotal role in the development of present Bangladesh. So, he is alive in the hearts of all Bengalese. We pay homage and special tribute to this great man and his family members who were killed in this tragic month of August.
(Dr. Forqan is former Deputy Director General,
Bangladesh Ansar and VDP).
