The 103rd birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will be observed on Friday in a befitting manner both at home and abroad.Bangabandhu, the greatest Bangalee of all times, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was born in the village of Tungipara under the then Gopalganj Subdivision (now District) of the then Faridpur District on March 17, 1920. His parents ,Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and his mother Sheikh Sayera Khatun had four daughters and two sons. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was their third child. His parents used to adoringly call him "Khoka".
The elders fixed Sheikh Mujib’s marriage with his paternal cousin when he was just thirteen years old. Mujib’s academic life faced halt several times because he suffered from several diseases during his childhood.
1932/1933
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman married Sheikh Fazilatunnesa (Renu). Together they had two daughters, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, and three sons, Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Russel. 1942
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman passed Matriculation examination from Gopalganj Missionary School. The same year he got himself admitted into the Islamia College (currently Maulana Azad College), Kolkata. From there he completed his graduation in the year 1947.
Mujib, the third among six brothers and sisters, had his primary education in the local Gimadanga School.His early education suffered for about four years due to eye ailments. He passed his matriculation from Gopalganj Missionary School in 1942, Intermediate of Arts (IA) from CalcuttaIslamia College in 1944 and BA from the same college in 1947. Bangabandhu showed the potential of leadership since his school life.
In the year of 1938. Mujib was a young boy of only eighteen, fully fearless and determined in his attitude and action. In Gopalganj, Hindus and Muslims had been at daggers drawn at that time, now and then engaging in conflicts. It was perhaps the month of March or April of the year. On one evening, Mujib just returned from the playground after playing football. A man called Khondoker Shamsul Haque met Mujib and informed that some Hindu people had forcefully taken one of his classmates Malek away to the house of Shuren Banarji, the president of Hidu Shova, and were torturing the boy. Shamsul Haque asked Mujib to help that boy if he could. Mujib, accompanied by some other students, went to the place at once and asked them to release his friend. On seeing Mujib, a gentleman namely Rampada Datta readily turned to him with a torrent of abusive words. In reaction, Mujib protested his words and told his companions to call the boys of his group. In the meantime, Rampada called the police, and soon three policemen came. Mujib said to them, “He (Malek) must be released; otherwise we will snatch him away by force.” Meanwhile, responding to Mujib’s emergency call, his maternal uncles as well as their groups came rushing to the spot. Meanwhile, a fierce fight began between the two sides. After a sever fighting, Mujib’s people freed Malek by breaking off the door of a room. As Rampada came to hit Mujib with a stick, Mujib struck him, bursting his head.
In the wake of the conflict, a case was filed against a number of people including Mujib. The police inspector was reluctant to arrest Mujib at his home because the former respected Mujib’s father. However, when Mujib was taken to the court prison, a court-police inspector approached the prison and said, “Mujib is a dangerous boy. He stabbed Rampada with a knife; he cannot be permitted bail at all.” Mujib said, “Do not blather on. It will not be good.” Turning to the people who sat before him, surprised and bewildered, the court inspector said, “Look, how daring this little boy is!” Well, Mujib was released from the jail after seven days and the case was dismissed later, but Mujib had to pay fine for that.
The next story is about Mujib’s passion for football. Mujib had some kind of interest in different sports, though his father would not like to allow him to play much because Mujib suffered from heart disease from time to time. However, Mujib’s father was a good footballer and the secretary of the officer’s club while Mujib was the captain of the Mission School. When two teams rivaled each other on the playground, people would enjoy it to a great extent.
In 1940, Mujib’s team defeated his father’s side in almost all the matches. Officer’s club had enough money; they could hire new and famous players for every match. But, all the players of Mujib’s team were students, so eleven of them had to play in every match. In the last tournament of the year, five consecutive matches were drawn. Mujib’s players were very tired and needed some days to rest and get back their fitness. But his father insisted that the final match had to be played on the next morning. He said, “We must play tomorrow morning. We cannot postpone; it is too expensive to keep the hired players longer.” Mujib said, “We have exams tomorrow morning. We cannot play the match tomorrow.” The secretary of Gopalgonj football federation was now in deep water, once pursuing Mujib and then calling on his father. Tired of entreating the two, the secretary threw up his cards saying, “It is an affair between you and your father, you had better resolve it.” Mujib’s father then called Babu Rasranjan Shen Gupta, the headmaster of the Mission School, to whose pressing request finally Mujib had to surrender. Mujib said, “Sir, we have played throughout the year and did not lose in any match. Our legs are aching. If we do not take rest for three or four days, we are sure to lose the match.” However, next morning the match was held and Mujib’s team was defeated by his father’s side by one goal.
Another interesting story of his life is related to Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Then, it was 1938. Sher-e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Huq was the then prime minister of Bangla and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was the labour minister. They came to visit Gopalganj. A huge public meeting took place there. Suhrawardy went to visit Gopalganj Missionary School, of which Sheikh Mujib was a student at that time. A group of students comprising Muslims and some Hindus, under the leadership of Mujib welcomed the minister. After visiting the school, when Suhrawardy was heading for the launch, on the way he was asking some questions in broken Bangla words, to which Mujib was answering. The minister asked about Mujib’s name and identity. As a government officer introduced Mujib and his ancestral identity, Suhrawardy took Mujib to his bosom and asked, “Has not Muslim League (committee) been established here in your place yet?”
“There is no such institution,” Mujib answered, “not even Muslim Chhatro League.” Suhrawardy said nothing but took down his name and address in his notebook. Later they opened correspondence with each other. This incident was in fact the foundation, which gradually led to the development of a good relationship between these two great leaders.
1943
In 1943, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was elected councillor of All India Muslim League from Bengal. He continued to serve admirably in this position till the partition of India in 1947.
From the aforementioned stories, it becomes obvious that Mujib was a very sensible boy even during his boyhood who talked to anybody fearlessly and loved to help unfortunate people. He invested a good deal of his time and energy in the service of others. And another thing that we can easily notice is that Mujib revered his father a lot. Although he was obedient to the elders, practically he never feared them, especially when he was right. Mujib was not shy. And we cannot deny that these signs of virtues that germinated in his boyhood had a great influence on his life.
While a student of Gopalganj Missionary School, AK Fazlul Huq, the then Chief Minister of Bengal, came to visit the school (1938). The young Mujib is said to have organized an agitation in order to impress the chief minister about the dismal situation of the region. He was an activist of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League and a member of the All India Muslim League Council from 1943 onwards. In politics, he had been a fervent follower of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, a legendary leader in the Indian subcontinent and considered as the champion of democracy.
When Mujib was a student in Islamia College, he was elected general secretary of the College Students Union in 1946.Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, was not only the most popular leader of Bengali people but he was equally revered by numberless people around the world. Whenever we come to learn about the struggling political life of this charismatic leader, his courage, great oratory power, integrity of character and his sacrifice for the Bengali people readily impress us and earn our respect. His life was full of struggles. He was the driving force behind the independence of Bangladesh. He delivered a historic speech on March 07, 1971 electrifying millions of Bengali people. The biggest success of his life is perhaps the attainment of Bengali people’s freedom. This is why people still call him ‘Bangabandhu’ or the friend of Bengal. However, when people try to know about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, they are more likely to get a glimpse of all the great things he did during his lifetime. But there are so many incidents of Sheikh Mujib’s life, especially those of his eventful boyhood, which are still unknown to so many people.
Very well-known stories of Bangbandhu’s boyhood, which will make the new generation familiar with the childhood days.
After a break owing to his eye surgery, in 1937 Mujib resumed his school education, not at the school he used to study before but at a new one, Gopalganj Mission School, because his classmates at that old one had been promoted to upper grades by that time.
Meanwhile, Mujib’s father hired a private tutor namely Kazi Abdul Hamid MSC who lived at their home. The teacher set up an organization called ‘Muslim Sheba Shamity’ for helping the poor Muslim students.
Every Sunday, Mujib along with others used to go from door to door to collect rice. By selling the rice, the teacher used to buy books for the boys and provided them with money to pay for their exam fees and other expenses and sometimes hired some private-tutors for them. The young Mujib had to carry out a major portion of the work with teacher Kazi Abdul Hamid.
At one point of time, the teacher died after suffering from tuberculosis when Mujib had to take the chief responsibility of this organization. He carried out his work as its secretary while another teacher was made its president. A funny thing that stubborn Mujib and the boys of this group used to do is that, if any Muslim refused to give them rice, they would go to the house in group and insist the person to donate. If it was needed, sometimes even bricks were thrown at night at those people’s houses. Now and then Mujib’s father punished him for causing such troubles to others, though his father never debarred him from doing charitable works.
After partition (1947), he got himself admitted into the University of Dhaka to study law but was unable to complete it, because he was expelled from the University in early 1949 on the charge of 'inciting the fourth-class employees' in their agitation against the University authority's indifference towards their legitimate demands.Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was one of the principal organisers behind the formation of the East Pakistan Muslim Students League (1948).
In fact, his active political career began with his election to one of the three posts of joint secretaries of the newly established East Pakistan Awami Muslim League (1949) while interned in jail.
In 1953, Sheikh Mujib was elected general secretary of the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League, a post that he held until 1966 when he became president of the party. It was due to Mujib's initiative that in 1955 the word 'Muslim' was dropped from the name of the party to make it sound secular. It is indicative of his secularist attitude to politics that he developed after 1947.
To give full time to the organizational affairs of the Awami League, Sheikh Mujib resigned from the cabinet of Ataur Rahman Khan (1956-58) after serving for only nine months.
During the regime of general Ayub Khan, Mujib had the nerve to revive the Awami League in 1964, though his political mentor (guru), Suhrawardy was in favour of keeping political parties defunct and working under the political amalgam called National Democratic Front for the restoration of constitutional rule in Pakistan.
Mujib, after all, was already quite disillusioned about the concept of Pakistan.The impression that he got as a member of Pakistan's Second Constituent Assembly-cum-Legislature (1955-1956) and later as a member of Pakistan National Assembly (1956-1958) was that the attitude of West Pakistani leaders to East Pakistan was not one of equality and fraternity.Sheikh Mujib was one of the first among the language movement detainees (11 March 1948).
His address on September 21, 1955 in the Pakistan Constituent Assembly on the question of Bangla language is noteworthy. Claiming the right to speak in his mother tongue, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said: 'We want to speak in Bengali here, whether we know any other language or not it matters little for us. If we feel that we can express ourselves in Bengali we will speak always in Bengali even though we can speak in English also. If that is not allowed, we will leave the House, but Bengali should be allowed in this house; that is our stand.'
In another address (25 August 1955) what Sheikh Mujib said in the Constituent Assembly in protest against the change of nomenclature of the province from East Bengal to East Pakistan is equally pertinent. 'Sir, you will see that they want to place the word 'East Pakistan' instead of 'East Bengal'. We have demanded so many times that you should use [East] Bengal instead of [East] Pakistan. The word 'Bengal' has a history, has a tradition of its own....'
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman rose to political eminence in the early 1960s.Through his captivating organizing capability he was able to retrieve the Awami League from intra party politics and exits of a number of factions from the party's mainstream.
A magnetic organiser, Sheikh Mujib had established his full command over the party.In 1966, he announced his famous six-point programme what he called 'Our' [Bangalis'] Charter of Survival'.
The points are: 1) a federal State and introduction of parliamentary form of government based on universal adult franchise; 2) all departments except defense and foreign affairs will be vested in the hands of the federating units or provincial governments; 3) separate currencies for two states or effective measures to stop flight of capital from East Pakistan to West Pakistan; 4) transfer of all rights of taxation to the states; 5) independence of the states in international trades; and finally 6) rights of the states to create' militia or para-military forces for self-defense.
In short, the programme envisioned a new approach to political life. In letters and spirit, the Six-Point Programme meant virtual independence for East Pakistan. Though conservative elements of all political parties looked at it with consternation, it roused the imagination of the younger generation right away, particularly the students, youths and working classes.
Following the presentation of the challenging the Six-Point programme by Mujib, the Ayub regime put him behind the bars.
A sedition case, known as Agartala conspiracy case officially named as State vs. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and others, was brought against him along with 34 others. Majority of them were Bangalee officers and servicemen in Pakistan Air and Naval forces. They also included three senior Bangalee civil servants. As Mujib was already in prison he was shown arrested as number one accused. He was charged with conspiring against the state of Pakistan together with the other co-accused.
According to the allegations, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the other accused were secretly planning to separate East Pakistan by force with the help of India.The counter-offensive move, however, proved to be counter-productive. The trial of the case in a special tribunal in the Dhaka Kurmitola Cantonment stirred up Bangalee emotion and sentiment against Pakistani domineering attitude to East Pakistan.
During the trial in the Agartala Conspiracy Case, Mujib's charisma grew further and almost the whole nation stood up in protest of the trial of their leader.
The mass movement, organized especially by the younger generation, reached such a momentum in early 1969 that the Ayub regime tried to avoid an impending civil war in the country by withdrawing the case. Sheikh Mujib was released on 22 February 1969 unconditionally.
On the following day of his release, the Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad (All Parties Students Action Committee) which proved to be the most effective political and social force in compelling the government to free Sheikh Mujib unconditionally, organized a mass reception to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Ramna Racecourse ground (now Suhrawardy Udyan). On behalf of the Sangram Parishad Tofail Ahmed, the president of the Sangram Parishad, bestowed on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the title of 'Bangabandhu' (Friend of the Bangalis). In him, they saw a kind of sacrificing leader who suffered jail terms for about twelve years during the 23 years of Pakistani rule. Twelve years in jail and ten years under close surveillance, Pakistan to Sheikh Mujib proved to be more a prison than a free homeland.
The first ever general elections of Pakistan in December 1970 made Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the sole spokesman of East Pakistan.And under his leadership, the Awami League won 167 (including 7 women reserved seats) out of 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan in the Pakistan National Assembly.The people gave him the absolute mandate in favour of his Six-point doctrine. Now it was his turn to implement it. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at a solemn ceremony held on 3 January 1971 at Ramna Race Course with all the East Pakistan representatives took an oath never to deviate from the six-point when framing the Constitution for Pakistan.
Under the circumstances, General Yahya's military junta and Z.A Bhutto, the elected leader of West Pakistan, conspired not to allow Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to form the government in the centre.On March 1 in 1971, President Yahya Khan postponed unilaterally the Dhaka National Assembly meet scheduled to be held on March 3.
The announcement triggered off the general agitation in East Pakistan. In response, the Bangabandhu called for an all-out non-cooperation movement in East Pakistan.
The whole province supported him. During the course of non-cooperation (2-25 March 1971), the entire civil administration in East Pakistan came under his control and moved according to his directives. Mujib became the de facto head of government for the province. In the words of Evening Standard (a London Daily):
'Sheikh Mujibur Rahman now appears to be the boss of East Pakistan, with the complete support of the population. Rahman's home in Dhanmondi, already known as Number 10 Downing Street in imitation of the British Prime Minister's residence, has been besieged by bureaucrats, politicians, bankers, industrialists and people from all walks of life' (12 March 1971).
During this time, on March 7, 1971 Mujib made a historic address at a mammoth gathering of a million of people at the Racecourse ground which marked a turning point in the history of the Bangalee nation.
In his address Mujib made specific charges against the martial law authorities which failed to transfer power to the elected representatives. At the end of his speech, he declared: 'Build forts in each homestead. You must resist the Pakistani enemy with whatever you have in hand. ... Remember, we have given a lot of blood, a lot more blood we shall give if need be, but we shall liberate the people of this country, Insha Allah' [if God blessed]. ... The struggle this time is the struggle for our emancipation; the struggle this time is the struggle for independence.'
Meanwhile, President Yahya Khan and other leaders from West Pakistan came to Dhaka on March 15 to start a dialogue with the Bangabandhu and his party.The dialogue began on the following day and continued intermittently down to March 25 morning.During the period, non-cooperation and hartals continued unremittingly in East Pakistan.
Students and leaders of various political parties had been declaring independence from March 2 and the spree continued. Against this backdrop, at mid-night of 25 March 1971, the Pakistan army launched its brutal crackdown in different areas of Dhaka city including the University of Dhaka killing students, teachers and innocent people in the name of operation searchlight.Thus, a nine-month long genocidal killing was unleashed by the Pakistan occupation army.
Sheikh Mujib was arrested on the night of 25 March and was kept confined at Dhaka Cantonment until he was taken to West Pakistan for facing trial for 'sedition' and inciting insurrection.
Before his arrest Bangabandhu sent a wireless message to Chittagong over the ex-EPR transmitter for transmission declaring the Independence of Bangladesh.
To quote his declaration: 'This may be my last message, from today Bangladesh is independent. I call upon the people of Bangladesh wherever you might be and whatever you have, to resist the army of occupation to the last. Your fight must go on until the last soldier of the Pakistan occupation army is expelled from the soil of Bangladesh and final victory is achieved.'
Although during the War of Liberation in the wake of the 25 March army crackdown Bangabandhu had been a prisoner in the hands of Pakistan, he was made, in absentia, the President of the provisional government, called the Mujibnagar government, formed on 10 April 1971 by the people's representatives to head the Liberation War.
He was also made the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Throughout the period of the War of Liberation, Sheikh Mujib's charisma worked as the source of inspiration for freedom fighters and for national unity and strength.The trial of Bangabandhu by the Pakistani junta giving death sentence to him moved the world leaders to save his life.
After the liberation of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971 from
Pakistani occupation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released from Pakistan jail and
via London he made a triumphant homecoming, arriving in Dhaka on 10 January
1972 in the midst of joy and jubilations throughout the country.
With his homecoming, all uncertainties loomed large around
the leadership of the new republic, for that matter, the future of Bangladesh
were removed, as Daily The Guardian (published from London) in an editorial on
10 January 1972 wrote: 'Once Sheikh Mujibur Rahman steps out at Dacca Airport
the new republic becomes a solid fact.'
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman headed the first
government of the post-liberation Bangladesh for a short period of three and a
half years. Starting from scratch his government had to deal with countless
problems of a war- ravaged country.
Under the leadership of Bangabandhu, the state-building and nation-building took off the ground covering all important fields.Restoring law and order, recovering illegal arms, rehabilitating the freedom fighters, rebuilding the communication system, saving lives of the people hostile to the War of Liberation from the public wrath, and, most importantly, feeding the hungry millions and many others were the formidable challenges before his government.
In spite of all these problems, Sheikh Mujib never faltered
to enact a constitution, which he did within ten months.Return of Indian allied
forces was ensured within three months of liberation.Within a period of fifteen
months general elections were held (7 March 1973). As many as 140 countries
recognized Bangladesh.
Bangabandhu set forth the guiding principle of Bangladesh's
foreign policy: 'Friendship to all and malice to none'.
A group of disgruntled army adventurers assassinated him on
August 15 in 1975 along with most of his family members which is the blackest
chapter of the nation's history.In October, 2017, the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognised the
historic 7th March Speech of Bangabandhu as part of the world's documentary
heritage.
