TODAY we celebrate our 49th Victory Day. On this day in December 1971 we achieved final victory in the war against Pakistan when Indian army became directly involved in the war. The history is our leaders did not prepare the country for a military confrontation, much less than a war. The supreme leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was away in prison in West Pakistan. Thus our government in exile was totally dependent on India for organising the war. Anyone can easily understand the hard determination that was necessary and heavy sacrifice the people had to bear for the war of liberation.
On this day, the nation will recall that Bangladesh was freed from the occupation Pakistan army and thereafter Bangabandhu returned to independent Bangladesh as Father of the Nation. The people welcomed him with all hope and confidence that the country would be truly independent for realisation of their dreams.
But things went wrong for democracy and experiment with the politics of one-party government began. Naturally, this politics is not our people’s politics under AK Fazlul Huq, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and all others. As a result, the political crisis for good governance remains a serious question.
The new politics began under the present government is politics of development where the people find mismanagement and corruption everywhere. The government is in the grip of bureaucracy. The lies they dish out are highly controversial. Elections are not essential for the government of development.
On this great day we should rethink, without malice, how to make independence meaningful for the whole people and not a section of the people. The country is badly divided. But the unity must prevail. Let it be our pledge on this Victory Day to our people that their interest will be best served honestly. Disunity among the people will have dangerous consequences.
We must not forget the people who sacrificed most for the liberation war. Historical truth can be denied at one’s peril.
