Dear Moderator,
The attached article is for possible publication in your esteemed website.
With kind regards.
Md. Anwarul Kabir
Assistant Professor & Research Coordinator
Department of Computer Science
American International University-Bangladesh
Kemal Ataturk Avenue
Banani, Dhaka
Dhaka 1213
Bangladesh
9890415, 8815386 Fax 00 88 02 8813233
url: http://www.aiub.edu
alternative email: kabiranwar@yahoo.com
The 7th March address and the young generation
If we roll back the history, it will reveal that some speeches have tremendous impact on the course of the history. Just consider the last sermon of Hazrat Muhammed (SM), which was delivered on the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah 10 A.H (632 A.D.) in the Uranah Valley of mount Arafat in Mecca. This short address, indeed, is one of the prime motivations in producing the Muslim Ummah (Muslim Brotherhood) worldwide. "O people! Verily your Lord is one and your father is one. All of you belong to one ancestry of Adam, and Adam was created out of clay. There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab; nor for white over the black nor for the black over the white except in piety. Verily the noblest among you is he who is the most pious", nullifying the racial discrimination, this assertion of the prophet of Muslims has upheld the very credence of racial equality and the Muslim brotherhood. Even today the Muslims all over the globe have been inspired by this unparallel religious sermon. Another remarkable speech, popularly known as Gettysburg address (November 19, 1867) was delivered by Abraham Lincoln, the great leader of America. Speculating the triumph of anti-slavery civil war, Lincoln in this famous speech evaluated the history of America and pointed out, "our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Perhaps, the frequent quoted utterance from this short historical speech related to defining the democracy is, "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
In our own context, the speech that changed the course of history of the land is the legendary speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibor Rahman delivered on the 7th March of 1971 at Race Course Maidan (Suhrawardy Udyan) in the presence of millions of freedom loving people. "Ebarer sangram, swadhinotar sangram, ebarer sangram, muktir sangram" (The struggle this time is a struggle for emancipation. The struggle this time is a struggle for independence.), "Protyek ghoree ghoree durga goree tolo--tomader jaar ja kichhu ache, tai niee shatrur mokabela korte hobee" (turn every house into a fortress, resist the enemy with everything you have), "Rokto jakhon diechhi, rokto aro dibo, e-desher manushke mukto kore chharbo inshallah" (Having mastered the lesson of sacrifice, we shall give more blood. God willing, we will free the people of this land.), these quotes from the historical speech of Bangabandhu were not mere expressions of heartfelt emotions of freedom seeking Bengalis at that historical turning point, rather these acted as more than deadly weapons targeted at the Pakistani occupying armies during our liberation war. In fact, in 1971 the historical 7th March address united the whole nation (except a few collaborators of the Pakistani army) with the spirit of the Liberation War. People of all walks of life became freedom fighters in one way or another. Some actively joined the war, and millions, though they did not directly take part in the war, gave moral support to our war of independence. These people were, in fact, silent freedom fighters, among whom many sacrificed their lives, wealth, and efforts for the great cause.
However, the members of the generation who were mere children during our liberation war and who finished their major parts of their schooling in the post 1975 era and the generation afterwards, in general, are utterly failed to appreciate the significance of the legendary speech of Bangabandhu. Whereas, the young generation of America after about 150 years of Gettysburg address still uphold the essence of Lincoln's famous address when they look back to its national history. To unveil the causes behind this failure on the part of our young generation, we need to shed light on the 15th August, 1975, the blackest day of our national history. The 15th August, 1975 can be marked as a turning point for our country, from the light to the dark-- from the hope to the despair. On this day, with the brutal killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, the monumental icon of independence and founding father of Bangladesh, the nation had to bury all the spirits of the liberation war. So, in the independent Bangladesh, in 1975 the freedom fighters were defeated and the enemy of the liberation war, the collaborators of the Pakistani army, won reversing the history by implementing their well designed conspiracy!
The reactionary groups who captured the power centre of the country capitalising post 1975 political scenario feared live Mujib than dead Mujib. The brutal killing of Bangabandhu was not that hard as they proved it at the midnight of the 15th August, 1975. But killing of dead Mujib or in other words erasing the spirit of our liberation war from the mindset of the people was not that easy. For this, they adopted different strategies. In fact, the enemy of the country, the reactionary forces, are very shrewd. And so after the fall of the patriotic freedom fighters in 1975, they started to fabricate the history of liberation in their own ways. Indeed they were aware of the implication of the history and its long time impact on the nation. They knew that the exposure of the true history of our liberation war would trash them in the dustbin and eventually they would never be able to come to the power centre. They knew that the generation who participated in our liberation war either directly or indirectly would gradually disappear following the law of nature. So, the reactionary forces initiated the strategy for history distortion with a view to keeping the new generation in a dark. Perhaps, they feared the speech of historical 7th March the most as this could successfully capture the spirit of our liberation war. So, they imposed restriction on this historical speech. After 1975 (except AL's five years tenure from1996 to 2001), the state controlled media could not transmit this legendary speech due to conspiracy of the reactionary forces. Even in our history texts, the significance of the 7th march is deliberately neglected. Though AL and some of the pro-liberation activists have tried to keep alive the spirit of the 7th March and transmit this speech privately, it has little impact on the young generation as they are confused by the distorted history designed at the state level. Without knowing true historical context, appreciation of the 7th March is really hard. For this, we must know the atrocity that had been done by Pakistani regimes on Bengalis in the name of religion, language and culture. For this, we must know how in 1971 the then Pakistani military regime demeaned the people's verdict in 1970 election with a view to depriving Bengalis of this land. We should know the fact surrounding Agartala conspiracy case which ultimately turned Sheikh Mujib into Bangabandhu, unanimous leader of the Bengalis. We should also know about 6-point doctrines of the nation as well as 11-point demands of the students at the advent of our liberation war. Above all, we must aware of the true history of the liberation war. Does our history text focus on these crucial issues?
If the true history of our liberation war starts to reveal then the new generation will uphold the significance of the 7th March and will take initiative for a positive move. Infusing the message of the 7th March address definitely they will take bold step for complete emancipation of the common people of the country, which was the prime objective of our liberation war.
In conclusion, as a conscious citizen of the country I would like to urge the government to include the historical 7th March address in our curriculum either at school or college level, probably in the Bengali course. In fact, this spontaneous speech (it was an unwritten speech!) delivered by the great leader has added a unique dimension in our literary sense too.
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