Expectations on the Occasion of Four Decades of Bangladesh’s Independence

H T Imam:  March 26 is the most important day in the history of Bangladesh. It was the inaugural day of an auspicious journey traversed by the Bengalee nation. March 26 of 1971 was the day of achieving independence by the exploited, deprived, repressed and tortured Bengali-speaking people of the eastern wing of former Pakistan. It was the day of roaring back at the military rulers of Pakistan in order to free oneself from various dubious techniques of exploitation-deprivation and suppression. March 26 of 1971 was the most sacred and memorable day in the life of the Bengalee nation. The Bengalee nation had to sacrifice innumerable precious lives for attaining this exalted day.

Following the termination of British rule in 1947, the Indian subcontinent was divided into two states on the basis of two-nation theory. One of these was Pakistan. The then East Pakistan or East Bengal was located at a distance of one thousand mile from West Pakistan. Its people possessed a distinct culture, social customs and separate language. They had to wage movements from the very inception of Pakistan against its one-eyed policies. This struggle was directed towards attainment of freedom for the Bengalee nation. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the greatest hero of that epic struggle for the liberation of Bangla, which was crafted in 24 years between 1947 and 1971. After a long struggle, the Bengalee people irrespective of religion or colour became united in 1971 under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It was a glorious chapter in the annals of Bangladesh.  

 The communal military rulers of West Pakistan started to dilly-dally on the question of handing over power of the whole of Pakistan to Awami League chief Bangabadhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the undisputed leader of the Bengalees, who had won majority seats in the general election. At the instigation of the ring-leader of evil forces in West Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the military clique of General Yahya unleashed an armed assault with heavy weaponry against the unarmed and innocent Bengalee civilians on the night of 25 March 1971. They carried out indiscriminate genocide. General Yahya had deceived Bangabandhu in the name of talks. Soon after the start of the military campaign, Bangabandhu was arrested by the Pakistani forces at 1.30 a.m. after midnight. Before his arrest, he sent out the following message to Chittagong through the wireless transmitter of the then East Pakistan Rifles for publicising it all over East Bengal:

 “This may be my last message, from today Bangladesh is independent. I call upon the people of Bangladesh wherever you might be and with 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.” [Bangalir Kantha, Agamee Prokashani]

 The declaration of independence cannot be a matter of a moment or a day. The question of a nation’s life or death is involved with its independence. The very survival of the Bengalee nation was therefore related to the achievement of Bangladesh’s independence. At the beginning of this article, I have dwelt very briefly on the attitude and activities of the military rulers of West Pakistan towards the Bengalee people of East Bengal. It is necessary here to add a few more themes for the sake of our future generation. The movement for an end to British colonial rule included the establishment of Muslim League in 1906 and the Lahore Resolution of 1940. The leaders of East Bengal made notable contributions to these developments. After the partition of the subcontinent, the colossal defeat of the Muslim League in the 1954 election of Pakistan could not be concealed through the promulgations of martial law in 1958 and 1969; similarly, the movement for self-determination of the Bengalee nation could not be suppressed by the Pakistani rulers. The reasons which I ascribe to such circumstances included the colonial attitude of the West Pakistani politicians, capitalists, bureaucrats and the military in the two wings of Pakistan after its creation in 1947. It generated the scope for strengthening of regional identity in East Bengal. Nationalism was born in East Bengal from that very sentiment.

I also agree with the analysts of nationalism that the nationalistic movement had commenced in Pakistan immediately after its birth. It is pertinent to mention here that compared to many of my CSP colleagues of the time, I knew a bit more about West Pakistan. That was because I was given posting as the private secretary to the then information minister of the Pakistan central government Khwaja Shahabuddin in 1965. The Indo-Pak war started a few days after I went there. As there was no prime minister of Pakistan at that time and the information minister was the senior-most among ministers, his position was next to the president. I could then know everything about the discussions and decisions in cabinet meetings. And the most influential secretary of the government was Altaf Gawhar. I could observe how the Bengalees were looked at and ignored by the West Pakistani officers. Consequently, when the Pakistanis attacked the people of East Bengal on 25 March 1971, there was no other option for us but to resist. At a personal level, I could not even think of staying on with the Pakistani government.

In the backdrop of the historic 7 March call of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then East Pakistan Association of CSP Officers informed all district administrations that we would not cooperate with the Pakistani regime. It may be mentioned here that the non-cooperation movement had started all over the then East Pakistan after the 7 March speech of Bangabandhu. At that time, I was serving as the Deputy Commissioner of undivided Chittagong Hill Tracts district. The CSP Officers Association was then working according to the instructions of the Awami League. Although martial law was in force at that time, the activities of martial law administrator for Chittagong was confined only within Chittagong district. It may also be pertinent to add that arms build-up of the Pakistani army in East Pakistan had started from the very commencement of 1971.

After briefly narrating the significance of 26 March 1971 in the life of the Bengalee nation and the history of Bangladesh, I feel that there are many topics surrounding the Independence Day which could not be properly preserved in the pages of our history over the past forty years. The main reason for this has been the evil attempt by local and foreign anti-liberation conspirators to annul the existence of Bangladesh since the start of the liberation war. While discharging the responsibility of the first cabinet secretary of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh at Mujibnagar, we faced numerous hurdles of such a nature on a regular basis. We had to confront the anti-state and anti-liberation-war elements even after emerging victorious by ousting the Pakistanis on 16 December 1971. The assassins killed our great leader, the declarer of independence and the architect of Bangladesh Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, while he was the President of Bangladesh. They usurped power by killing the legitimate president of Bangladesh; they exerted all their might to execute the blue-print prepared by Pakistan and some middle-eastern states. These countries have been making vile attempts to sow the seed of communalism in the minds of the people in order to change the history of Bangladesh and dim the heritage of our independence by distorting the history of liberation war.

I deem it necessary here to say a few words in order to remove the confusion regarding the declarer of independence. The reality of the liberation war was that it started on the very night of 25 March. Captain Rafique fought the Pakistani army on that same night in Chittagong. The declaration of independence by Bangabandhu was announced through mike at Chittagong in the morning of March 26. At noon of the day, Mr. Hannan along with Jahur Ahmed Chowdhury read out the declaration on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman over radio. Before Mr. Hannan, Dr. Shafi had also read out the declaration of independence by Bangabandhu. After this, some other people also read out Bangabandhu’s declaration. But the main announcement was made by Mr. Hannan. What should be noted here is that Major Ziaur Rahman did not come out of the cantonment at that time. That was because the Pakistani army had ordered Ziaur Rahman to release arms from the ship ‘Swat’ on that day. Before Major Ziaur Rahman had reached the dock, the Pakistani military had killed and wounded many workers by opening fire when they tried to resist. The then Major Khalequzzaman told Zia that he might be ambushed if he went to the dock. Ziaur Rahman therefore revolted against the Pakistan army instead of going to the dock. The leaders of Chittagong Awami League and some staffs of Kalurghat radio station, especially Belal Mohammad, had reached agreement on broadcasting Bangabandhu’s declaration of independence through the voice of an army officer; they succeeded in getting the consent of Major Zia for reading out the declaration. I heard the announcement made by Zia on 27 March afternoon while travelling to Ramgarh. Although Major Zia initially broadcast Bangabandhu’s declaration of independence in his own name, he immediately corrected himself while reading out the declaration next time. The question of legitimacy was paramount in making this correction.

I look at this aspect of declaration of independence in two parts, one of which was formal and the other informal. Anybody can read out the informal declaration, but that does not get legal validity. The broadcast of the declaration from Kalurghat was informal. Bangabandhu had declared independence in a political language from the Ramna racecourse ground on 7 March. That speech of Bangabandhu was the inspiration for our liberation war. The formal proclamation of Bangladesh’s independence was made on 10 April 1971. The government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was formed and sworn-in on 10 April 1971 by the elected members of the national and provincial assemblies at Mujibnagar, the first capital of Bangladesh. After that, the government gave formal approval to the declaration of independence made by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 26 March 1971. The title of this declaration was ‘The Proclamation of Independence’. It formed the basis for framing the constitution of Bangladesh in 1972.

 The following two sections of the Proclamation of Independence deserve special attention: “Whereas in the facts and circumstances of such treacherous conduct, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the undisputed leader of the 75 million people of Bangladesh, in due fulfilment of the legitimate right of self-determination of the people of Bangladesh, duly made a declaration of independence at Dacca on March 26, 1971, and urged the people of Bangladesh to defend the honour and integrity of Bangladesh.”

“We further resolve that this proclamation of independence shall be deemed to have come into effect from 26th day of March, 1971.”

Information on the issue of declaration of independence contained in the above paragraphs shall remain as a clear guideline for our future generations.

One thing must be said here, and that is the legal inception of the state of Bangladesh had occurred on 10 April 1971. Another thing should also be mentioned, so that the future generations are not caught in a web of confusion. And that is, Major Zia never claimed while Bangabandhu was alive or even after he became president by illegally seizing power that he had declared the independence of Bangladesh. He also never said that he was the declarer of independence. Those who had no idea about the liberation war had spread this confusion.

 Although many among the sympathetic readers may already know, what our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had said during his address to the nation broadcast over radio and television on 26 March 1972 on the occasion of the first Independence Day of Bangladesh should be mentioned here for the sake of our new generation:

  …”Today our problems are mountain-high. We stand at the cross-road of a great crisis. One crore refugees who have returned from abroad, two crore homeless people in the country, the devastated idle ports of Chalna and Chittagong, motionless factories, extinguished power supply, innumerable unemployed, food shortage, rising prices of essential commodities and uncultivated land – we have inherited all these.  My government has taken up this challenge by relying on the deep love of our people, their confidence, unremitting courage and incomparable unity. … We want to build the graveyard-like Bangla into a golden Bangla.”

 Again, part of the resolution related to the declaration of independence articulated by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 10 April 1972 at the inauguration ceremony of the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh is relevant here. It was as follows:

 …”You know the history of 25 March. The barbaric invading forces of Pakistan had not obeyed any law on that day. The military of barbaric Yahya were sent out like dogs against the helpless and unarmed 7 crore Bengalees. If the army had declared war then we could have confronted them. But they attacked us all of a sudden on 25 March. We realized then that our struggle had started. I informed Chittagong via wireless that Bangladesh was an independent and sovereign state from that day. Let that news be reached to all, so that resistance could be built up in all thanas, sub-divisions, districts. I also issued necessary instructions for that.”

None else had the legitimacy enjoyed by Bangabandhu as the undisputed leader of Bangladesh. All countries of the world had taken into cognizance the issue of Bangladesh’s declaration of independence based on the legitimacy of Bangabandhu. There was no instance of any country in world history where a military commander suddenly came, made a declaration and the land was freed.

Bangladesh achieved freedom in exchange for a sea of blood. The historic call made by Bangabandhu on 7 March and the declaration of independence on 26 March had inspired the Bengalee people of the then East Pakistan with the mantra of freedom. The whole of the Bengalee nation joined the liberation war and brought home the victorious wreath of liberty.

  The great liberation war for snatching our freedom was a unique kind of people’s war in the truest sense. The principal ingredients of the people’s war were the support and participation of all classes of people and the huge sacrifices they made. Our Bengalee army and the liberation forces were born from amongst the people. The massive participation of the masses in the liberation war of Bangladesh has been seldom seen in world history. Similar to the Vietcong guerrillas who were present everywhere without any fear, our freedom fighters also maintained their positions in towns, villages, ports, paddy-fields, canals-water-bodies, nooks and crannies. They used to launch attacks against the enemy whenever there was any opportunity. As a consequence, the Pakistani forces resorted to indiscriminate mass-killings, rapes, plunders and setting fire to everything in the Bengalee habitats. Even women-children and the aged had to sacrifice their lives during those assaults. Descriptions of these hellish incidents were published in the western media under the headline, ‘Bangladesh: A Thousand Mai Lai’. The pervasiveness of Bangladesh’s people’s war was incomparable in world history. The spontaneously raised people’s forces, semi-military militias, local administration and even the womenfolk stood on the same plinth at a critical juncture of the liberation war. It appears that their contributions have so far remained neglected in the history of Bangladesh’s independence war. Of late, the deeds of the female freedom-fighters are, however, being published due to the interventions made by Bangabandhu’s daughter; their evaluations are now getting more prominence. People of all ages had participated in one way or another in the liberation war of Bangladesh. Their contributions were both noteworthy and memorable. Even then, the role and contributions of the womenfolk of Bangladesh, who constitute half of the country’s population, must be recalled with reverence. The manner in which the female freedom-fighters nursed their wounded colleagues was simply unparalleled. Not only care-giving, they used to collect information regarding the positions of enemies and their activities inside the country. They also made arrangements for providing food to the freedom fighters. I humbly recall those great female freedom-fighters on the eve of four decades of our independence.

Bangabandhu had expressed the desire to build a ‘Golden Bangla’ on the occasion of first Independence Day of the country; he had urged the people to wage a second revolution for materialising that aspiration. Before that programme could begin properly, the anti-liberation forces brutally killed Bangabandhu on 15 August 1975 in order to thwart it; this coterie maintained their grip on power in the country for a long time. The patriotic Bengalee people demolished the blue-print of those conspirators on 29 December 2008. The daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Hasina has taken the initiative to build Bangabandhu’s ‘Golden Bangla’. She has devoted herself to building a ‘Golden Bangla’ through her programmes of ‘changing days’.  The clarion call for the liberation war made by Bangabandhu will achieve fruition if the ‘Vision-2021’ for building a Digital Bangladesh based on modern science and technology undertaken by our dearest leader of the masses Sheikh Hasina is implemented successfully.                                                             Translation: Helal Uddin Ahmed