August 15, 1975 and August 15, 2011: the Contrast!
BY Obaid Chowdhury
August 15 this year has just gone by but the mourning continues. Living outside the country, I had the privilege to watch the day's events over Bangla TV channels. Most of them transmitted the government owned BTV programs. It was one the biggest fanfares one could experience thus far.
It reminded me of the contrast between the August 15 of 1975 and the August 15 this year. In 1975, it was difficult to find a person to say Innalillahi… after hearing the death of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. People rather heaved a sigh of relief that day and swarmed the streets of the capital in happiness braving the curfew. Today, Bangladeshis seemed to have discovered they had lost everything on the day in the persona of the Shorbokaler Shorbosresto Bangali, Jatir Jonok, Bangabandhu and so on---! The statements, comments and interviews of some of the known intellectuals were so very strange. Where had they been in 1975 and the years then after?
Last year I met a visitor from Bangladesh, someone with good social standing. According to him, stern official notice went to every office--- public or private, home or abroad--- to observe the Mourning Day with much fanfare and report the activities subsequently. Defaulters were dressed down appropriately. For profanity, it is better not to go to details what awaited the organizations that failed to comply. I also read a shocking story---in the Daily Amar Desh--- what the Chatra League cadres did to a few girl students in a hostel who declined to go to 32 Dhanmodi Road for offering flowers on Sheikh Mujib's birthday last year.
Was the fanfare I saw in TVs real or just obeying government directives to avoid reprisal?
During the height of famine in 1974/75, Kamal and Jamal had royal-style weddings at Gonobhaban and Sheikh Mujib celebrated his birthday or something at his Dhanmondi residence. Reportedly, show cause notices went to businesses and organizations that missed those functions and failed to send gifts. I recall, at the 32 Dhanmodi function on a torrential rainy day, watery processions passed by the road down below one after another. The sari-clad women drenched in rainwater presented an embarrassing sight on the TV screen.
Life of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was depicted in large scale, everything from his birth, family, education, life, politics, jail, struggles etc. Anyone with a little knowledge of our political history would find that the narration often did not match the visuals and videos shown. March 7, 1971 speech was heavily edited. So was his speech on January 10, 1972.
But one part of his life became conspicuous by omission. It was his 'Golden Period of Sonar Bangla' from 1972 to 1975. How come his achievements during that time left totally untouched?
What happened to Shiekh Mujib's one of the greatest creations--- the Rakkhi Bahini? People still shriek out at the thought of it. Some 40 thousand political opponents and innocents died in the hands of this draconian force that was under Mujib's personal command. There were many Fazilatun Nesas and Russels among those victims. Sheikh Mujib himself bragged in the parliament about elimination of leftist leader Siraj Sikdar: Kothay aaj Siraj Sikdar (where is Siraj Sikdar today)?
Half a million people died in the man-made (according to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and others) famine during Sheikh Mujib's time. It was man-made because there was no dearth of relief materials, which, however, were kept hoarded at the warehouses of the ruling coterie to be dispensed for political expediency or sold in the black. Scenes of men and animals struggling with each other for eatables from the waste were common sights in the cities. Yet, weddings and birthdays celebrated in grand scale at Mujib's place while thousands kept dying outside for want of a little grub. Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger termed Bangladesh "bottomless basket" for nothing. (Please see New York Times, Washington Post and many other international print media of November and December 1974).
Why nobody talked of Sheikh Mujib's 4th Amendment that slaughtered the constitution and implemented a presidential dictatorship within minutes and without any debate?
How about the Emergency of 1974 that gagged the press, banned all but four newspapers and suspended fundamental rights? Thousands of political opponents were thrown into jails under Presidential Order 9 for indefinite periods and without charge.
Awami leaders still brag and pride that BAKSAL (Bangladesh Awami Krishak Sramik Awami League) was Mujib's Second Revolution. It introduced the socialist-style one-party system, banning all other parties. Bureaucracy and military were politicized by forcing their members to join it. No political activity outside BAKSAL was allowed. Why nobody touched on this great achievement of Sheikh Mujib?
It is sad that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 21 others lost lives on August 15, 1975. But what was the objective of those who masterminded the act: to kill Mujib or to bring about a regime change?
To kill, what could be the motive? Personal rivalry? Political clash? Power grab? Subsequent ground situations do not support those assumptions. There was no apparent personal or political equation between the two sides to for a kill. The post-Mujib cabinet was formed entirely by the elected representatives of the Awami League, and none of the coup leaders was within miles of power. Foreign hands? No conclusive proof to that. Defeated forces of 1971? Not likely. Almost all officers were decorated freedom fighters. Wasn't it then a regime change, a political action? Why then the officers had to walk to the gallows? Is that how we pay to those who saved the nation?
Sheikh Mujib had great contributions towards the awakening of East Pakistanis who won Bangladesh for themselves in 1971. But, history would not absolve him for the series of blunders he committed during his 3 and a half-year rule.
Well known Indian journalist and writer Kuswant Singh wrote about Sheikh Mujib in the Illustrated Weekly of India, "In 1970 he was the most-loved man by his people and million of others in India and elsewhere. Within a couple of years, he had lost much of his charisma and lived in a cocoon of self-spun esteem. He came to regard honest critics as traitors and sycophants as loyal friends. It was a classic case of folio de grandeur. He was blissfully unaware that the very people who called him 'Bangabandhu' or 'Bangapita' to his face were behind his back called him 'Banga-Shatru'.
Noted historian and author K Ali said on Sheikh Mujib, "He was out and out a despotic ruler and snatched away fundamental rights of the people by introducing absolute dictatorship under one-party system----there was hardly any doubt that the measure (one-party rule) was taken only to establish his permanent rule in the country without any opposition."
Lately, Lawrence Liftschultz, a left-leaning writer from the US, has been imported to give a new dimension to the conspiracy theory of August 15. He was earlier brought in to depose at the retrial of Col Taher's case, ostensibly to malign the late President Ziaur Rahman. Please read his book "Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution" and find what he thought of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman---not much to be proud of.
Bottom line: Please go back to August 15, 1975 and its preceding times before giving a value judgment on the event. Generations in early 50s and below: please do not be brainwashed by a distorted picture of our past.
Obaid Chowdhury
New York, USA
E Mail : alaldulal@aol.com
http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=363802
It reminded me of the contrast between the August 15 of 1975 and the August 15 this year. In 1975, it was difficult to find a person to say Innalillahi… after hearing the death of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. People rather heaved a sigh of relief that day and swarmed the streets of the capital in happiness braving the curfew. Today, Bangladeshis seemed to have discovered they had lost everything on the day in the persona of the Shorbokaler Shorbosresto Bangali, Jatir Jonok, Bangabandhu and so on---! The statements, comments and interviews of some of the known intellectuals were so very strange. Where had they been in 1975 and the years then after?
Last year I met a visitor from Bangladesh, someone with good social standing. According to him, stern official notice went to every office--- public or private, home or abroad--- to observe the Mourning Day with much fanfare and report the activities subsequently. Defaulters were dressed down appropriately. For profanity, it is better not to go to details what awaited the organizations that failed to comply. I also read a shocking story---in the Daily Amar Desh--- what the Chatra League cadres did to a few girl students in a hostel who declined to go to 32 Dhanmodi Road for offering flowers on Sheikh Mujib's birthday last year.
Was the fanfare I saw in TVs real or just obeying government directives to avoid reprisal?
During the height of famine in 1974/75, Kamal and Jamal had royal-style weddings at Gonobhaban and Sheikh Mujib celebrated his birthday or something at his Dhanmondi residence. Reportedly, show cause notices went to businesses and organizations that missed those functions and failed to send gifts. I recall, at the 32 Dhanmodi function on a torrential rainy day, watery processions passed by the road down below one after another. The sari-clad women drenched in rainwater presented an embarrassing sight on the TV screen.
Life of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was depicted in large scale, everything from his birth, family, education, life, politics, jail, struggles etc. Anyone with a little knowledge of our political history would find that the narration often did not match the visuals and videos shown. March 7, 1971 speech was heavily edited. So was his speech on January 10, 1972.
But one part of his life became conspicuous by omission. It was his 'Golden Period of Sonar Bangla' from 1972 to 1975. How come his achievements during that time left totally untouched?
What happened to Shiekh Mujib's one of the greatest creations--- the Rakkhi Bahini? People still shriek out at the thought of it. Some 40 thousand political opponents and innocents died in the hands of this draconian force that was under Mujib's personal command. There were many Fazilatun Nesas and Russels among those victims. Sheikh Mujib himself bragged in the parliament about elimination of leftist leader Siraj Sikdar: Kothay aaj Siraj Sikdar (where is Siraj Sikdar today)?
Half a million people died in the man-made (according to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and others) famine during Sheikh Mujib's time. It was man-made because there was no dearth of relief materials, which, however, were kept hoarded at the warehouses of the ruling coterie to be dispensed for political expediency or sold in the black. Scenes of men and animals struggling with each other for eatables from the waste were common sights in the cities. Yet, weddings and birthdays celebrated in grand scale at Mujib's place while thousands kept dying outside for want of a little grub. Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger termed Bangladesh "bottomless basket" for nothing. (Please see New York Times, Washington Post and many other international print media of November and December 1974).
Why nobody talked of Sheikh Mujib's 4th Amendment that slaughtered the constitution and implemented a presidential dictatorship within minutes and without any debate?
How about the Emergency of 1974 that gagged the press, banned all but four newspapers and suspended fundamental rights? Thousands of political opponents were thrown into jails under Presidential Order 9 for indefinite periods and without charge.
Awami leaders still brag and pride that BAKSAL (Bangladesh Awami Krishak Sramik Awami League) was Mujib's Second Revolution. It introduced the socialist-style one-party system, banning all other parties. Bureaucracy and military were politicized by forcing their members to join it. No political activity outside BAKSAL was allowed. Why nobody touched on this great achievement of Sheikh Mujib?
It is sad that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 21 others lost lives on August 15, 1975. But what was the objective of those who masterminded the act: to kill Mujib or to bring about a regime change?
To kill, what could be the motive? Personal rivalry? Political clash? Power grab? Subsequent ground situations do not support those assumptions. There was no apparent personal or political equation between the two sides to for a kill. The post-Mujib cabinet was formed entirely by the elected representatives of the Awami League, and none of the coup leaders was within miles of power. Foreign hands? No conclusive proof to that. Defeated forces of 1971? Not likely. Almost all officers were decorated freedom fighters. Wasn't it then a regime change, a political action? Why then the officers had to walk to the gallows? Is that how we pay to those who saved the nation?
Sheikh Mujib had great contributions towards the awakening of East Pakistanis who won Bangladesh for themselves in 1971. But, history would not absolve him for the series of blunders he committed during his 3 and a half-year rule.
Well known Indian journalist and writer Kuswant Singh wrote about Sheikh Mujib in the Illustrated Weekly of India, "In 1970 he was the most-loved man by his people and million of others in India and elsewhere. Within a couple of years, he had lost much of his charisma and lived in a cocoon of self-spun esteem. He came to regard honest critics as traitors and sycophants as loyal friends. It was a classic case of folio de grandeur. He was blissfully unaware that the very people who called him 'Bangabandhu' or 'Bangapita' to his face were behind his back called him 'Banga-Shatru'.
Noted historian and author K Ali said on Sheikh Mujib, "He was out and out a despotic ruler and snatched away fundamental rights of the people by introducing absolute dictatorship under one-party system----there was hardly any doubt that the measure (one-party rule) was taken only to establish his permanent rule in the country without any opposition."
Lately, Lawrence Liftschultz, a left-leaning writer from the US, has been imported to give a new dimension to the conspiracy theory of August 15. He was earlier brought in to depose at the retrial of Col Taher's case, ostensibly to malign the late President Ziaur Rahman. Please read his book "Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution" and find what he thought of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman---not much to be proud of.
Bottom line: Please go back to August 15, 1975 and its preceding times before giving a value judgment on the event. Generations in early 50s and below: please do not be brainwashed by a distorted picture of our past.
Obaid Chowdhury
New York, USA
E Mail : alaldulal@aol.com
http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=363802
__._,_.___
