Survivor of Martyred Intellectual Dr. Mohammed Fazle Rabbee's family speaks
N. Rabbee
Dr. Mohammed Fazle Rabbee, a brilliant son of our beloved country, an internationally acclaimed cardiologist and researcher, perished in the 1971 intellectual killing ordered by the Pakistani government. This was an immoral, illegal and heinous act of war crime. Dr. Rabbee's wife had kept his memory and vision alive for three decades. Each year, December was especially hard for the late Dr. Jahan Ara Rabbee and it never got better. On 15th December, 1971 when the Pakistani army and local Al Badars came to pick Dr. Rabbee up for the Rayerbazar killing center, part of Mrs. Rabbee died that moment in their home: the part that was loved dearly by her husband perished alongside him. After Mrs. Rabbee passed away, I have been continuing our family legacy by writing each year in order to enable Bangladeshis to apprehend and appreciate the principles behind the intellectuals who sacrificed their lives and honor in order to secure the freedom for this country. These are our heroes and their vision was the highest for our nation.
Today Dr. Rabbee is gone. Dr. Mrs. Rabbee is gone. A whole generation who envisioned the best for our country has either been killed or died after working hard without seeing their dreams come to fruition. Our country is in much worse shape than when this exceptional couple began their lives as young graduates of the Dhaka Medical College in the 1950s. Today Bangladesh has topped all the lists for pollution, corruption or lawlessness in society. International media only utters her name when reporting congested roads or boats, corrupt regimes, or polluted cities.
The leaders of our nation have done the country wrong over the past five decades. They have led us through journey after journey without a destination or a roadmap. They have lacked the moral conviction for undertaking systematic nation building. The vision for building this independent nation was encapsulated in the minds of the 1971 intellectuals and they had the capacity to lead us from a poor country, plagued with ethnic and religious strife, to a fully democratic nation over time.
Thirty eight years later we are far from that vision: we are no longer dreaming of the best, but expecting and tolerating the worst for ourselves. We need to demand that our leaders have the vision and willpower for expanding our nation's infrastructure, our economic prosperity, social freedom and improving our global stature. That is the right and duty of a citizen of an independent democracy.
I am elated to see we are finally bringing to justice those who murdered the father of our nation, founding President Shiekh Mujibur Rahman! This is a huge step forward in regaining our self-respect. As far as the genocide and intellectual extermination of 1971, I know that no country can stand in pride when it has failed to bring to justice those who have willingly committed massive human, spiritual and intellectual destruction against its good citizens.
We, the surviving family members of the freedom fighters and shaheed intellectuals, will not go to our graves without seeing justice brought to those who committed genocide and grave violations of human rights against our families in 1971.
Dr. Nusrat Rabbee, daughter of Dr. Fazle Rabbee and Dr. Jahan Ara Rabbee, is a scientist in the field of Bioinformatics and Statistical Genetics. She may be contacted at nrabbee@yahoo.com.
http://dailyalochona.blogspot.com/2009/12/alochona-intellectual-day-71-survivor.html
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