THE 43rd anniversary of the victory of our War of Liberation is being celebrated today. Thus we have been independent for almost half a century. An entire generation has passed by and it is still very easy to remember the sacrifices which our people made for their motherland. In the most helpless situation our people living under occupation of Pakistan army had suffered atrocities and died in thousands.
The aims of the independence movement are being forgotten by those who are holding high positions purely for luck and chance. Particularly the spirit of living with rights and freedoms so that the people would not have to fear the government to be chosen by them and would remain accountable to them. When we observe the Victory Day, we must know what victory is and whose victory it is. We must all learn to respect Victory Day as people’s Victory Day for democracy. We must realise, that it was not an ordinary war and the victory was much more than a military victory.
Bangladesh was supposed to be a country free from fear and exploitation as experienced under occupation of the Pakistan army. But when it came to the hard task of building our nation, our educated ones failed to play their part. Inexperienced leadership has been able to derail the whole spirit of our independence. Now the people have lost their voting right also and the hope of accountability of the government.
We have to get rid of the vicious power struggle between the major political parties, de-politicise the administration so that our system of governance becomes more efficient, and ensure the rule of law. It is important to save the press freedom by insisting that the journalists are not to be party activists. The police must be people’s police and not party workers. Corruption at the top must not be tolerated, which has made the government of corrupt ones to prevail against public wish.
Our educated ones have to show patriotism and love for the country. Where the educated persons fail the people, there has to be problems in building a just society. Our Victory Day promise should be to remind ourselves the responsibilities of making Bangladesh safe for democracy and thereby safe for the people.
