Bangabandhu, a legend who exerts influence over us like no other  

On account of his 44th death anniversary, we commemorate a man who was larger than life and truer than his surroundings, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It is well recognised that he is one of the greatest Bengalis of all time and earned him the title of Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal). His March 7 speech is one of the defining moments in the history of Bangladesh and one of the most magnificent speeches that attributed the towering personality of Bangabandhu. His thundering voice once proclaimed, "Our struggle is for our freedom. Our struggle is for our independence".  After the passage of 48 years, Bangabandhu's uproaring speech has become a part of world heritage. Moreover, he was an intuitive force whose interests and actions inspired us and will be remembered forever in the annals of the history of Bangladesh. He was a leader who clearly understood the needs and suffering of his people and was not afraid to stand up for it. 

He was an indomitable force against all kinds of hostility and oppression. It has been said that his desire for independence radiated as much for the people as it did from his own personal views. He became the "vessel through which the desires and wishes of East Bengal people were to flow".

Gaining control of the Awami League party, Mujib added a new dimension in the then East Pakistan politics. "It was a strident nationalism grounded in Bengali culture", a movement not unlike that of 1905. Before the beginning of the Liberation War, Mujib understood the suffering of the East Pakistani citizens in the hands of their West Pakistani rulers and shared their yearnings for self-governance and autonomy. A remarkable aspect of all these events is that Mujib became the paragon of the East Pakistani people's hopes and aspirations. 

To become great, one must not necessarily have extraordinary qualities or brilliancy. The man who can make the right decision at the right time of history is the greatest man of all. This was the case for Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. His bold and timely decisions and actions along with the sacrifices of countless others resulted in the birth of our nation. He was a man who was always thinking of ways to make the lives of his people better and brighter.

From a rural area of Gopalganj to a grand city of Kolkata he had the chance to meet the great leaders which made him an active and matured politician of his time. He had achieved the character and knowledge by the surroundings he saw around him and was a successful leader to accomplish his people's desires and aspirations up to a particular level.

Bangabandhu was killed nearly 44 years ago. He was assassinated along with most of his family members at the crack of dawn on 15 August in 1975 by a cabal of army personnel under a deep-rooted conspiracy against the country and its independence. His two daughters—Sheikh Hasina, now the incumbent Prime Minister, and Sheikh Rehana—luckily survived the bloodbath as they were abroad at that time. The people of Bangladesh had previously experienced the military coups of Ayub and Yahya Khan. Both were bloodless. But the 15 August coup was the worst brutal military coup in the history of the country.

Shahid Quadri, one of the prominent poets of Bangladesh, referred to one of his main reasons for migrating to Europe and later to the US was the assassination of Mujib. In a poem, he expressed his discontent that the killers of Bangabandhu were Bangladeshis. "I shall never hear anything more horrifying". How can Bangladeshis kill a man who loved his people to an extreme degree? The man who fought all his life to free his people from oppression?

It rained the day when Bangabandhu was buried. As the rain poured on, resistance to the coup was obvious by its absence. Those political leaders who could have put up resistance to the power grab by the soldiers were hiding from the scene. And those who did not resist were already inducted into the cabinet. None among the senior military leadership seemed willing or were alarmed to put up any resistance to the assassins. Only the four great leaders who were close to Sheikh Mujib and later jailed to death remained outside the cabinet and voiced their anger. These very men had engineered the provisional government in exile in 1971 and planned and executed the guerilla struggle against the Pakistani junta. 

Did the Chileans assassinate their great leader Salvador Allende and replace him with General Pinochet, a self-proclaimed military dictator who sent his nation hundreds of years backwards? Were the great patriots of Africa, Asia and Latin America assassinated by their own people? The straightforward answer is no. But the greatest final verdict is history. A great patriot does not die, he is immortal. He remains alive in people's hearts and lingers in their memory.

In Bangladesh, the wind is still, the sun sets and the rivers flow. But Bangabandhu has been buried where he was born. On the bank of the river Madhumati, a mausoleum stands today in memory of the noble person who spent his life in the service of his countrymen. Here every August people from all walks of life gather to pay their respect with thousands visiting his graveyard round the year to recognise his outstanding contribution to the people and the country Bangladesh. In such a way the name of this man, the greatest son of our soil is honoured and beloved. His memory, like his political activities will never die because he was the man of the people, for the people and not for a specific time but for all times.

"He cannot be written out of history. After all, more than anyone, he made Bangladesh."

Nuzhat Rifa Ehsan is a practising lawyer. She can be reached at [email protected].

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.