44th Victory Day: Rise of Bangladesh and Beyond

1971

e-NewsDesk- DHAKA, Dec 15, 2014 :  The nine-month long War of Liberation waged by the people of Bangladesh in 1971 will for ever remain recorded as one of the most glorious chapters in human history. The sovereign and independent People’s Republic of Bangladesh, as it stands today, is the outcome of an arduous struggle of the people under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The very nomenclature of the country, the declaration of independence, proclamation of the glorious War of Liberation, the national flag- the crimson sun on the canvas of green and the inspiring national anthem – all these we owe to his inspiring and unique vision and courage. He served to shape the history and aspirations of his people. He rejuvenated them with the indomitable and unbending spirit of Bengalee Nationalism, charged them with unprecedented courage, valour, resilience and granite-like unity and triggered off an armed struggle for freedom- the like of which the world rarely witnessed before.

As usual, the Victory Day is a joyous celebration for Bangladeshis all over the world, in which popular culture plays a great role. TV and radio stations broadcast special programs and patriotic songs. The main streets have been decorated with national flags. Different political parties and socioeconomic organizations undertook programs to mark the day in a befitting manner, including the paying of respects at Jatiyo Smriti Soudho, the national memorial at Savar near Dhaka.  the nation observed the Martyred Intellectuals Day commemorating the murders of the country`s golden sons and daughters on this day in 1971 just before the ultimate victory on December 16 after nine-month war with the Pakistani occupation forces.

Liberation War: Initiation

A Freedom Fighter is carrying his dead comrade during the liberation war,1971

The Liberation War did not start overnight. It had been brewing for 23 years. Ever since the birth of Pakistan in August 1947, the Bengalees first felt ignored in the scheme of the country’s governance and gradually found themselves deprived and exploited by the power elite dominated by the West Pakistani bureaucrats, the military and the big businesses.

Although they constituted the majority of the country’s population, the Bengalees of the eastern wing had a very poor representation in the civil services and the armed forces and had almost no place in commerce and industry. At the political level, their voice was stifled in the name of security of the realm and the bogey of mighty Hindu India’s constant threat to the existence of Islamic Pakistan which had its two wings separated by nearly 1200 miles of Indian territory. The Muslims of the eastern wing were regarded as inferior Muslims and no effort was spared to cleanse them and make them as ‘good as the Muslims of West Pakistan.

Historic Six-Points

By 1958, Pakistan went under military dictatorship blocking normal avenues for a political resolution of the constitutional issue. In September 1965, Field Marshal Ayub Khan fought his country’s second costly war with India, exposing the military vulnerability of the eastern wing, and also made a costly experiment with democracy in getting himself elected as President through a ridiculously limited franchise of 80,000 ‘basic democrats’ It was against this background that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman put forward in 1966 his historic six points which, in effect, structured the foundation for East Pakistan’s future independence. The proposal suggested:

1. Pakistan should be a federation of states with parliamentary system of government;
2. Only defence and foreign affairs should remain with the federal government;
3. There should either be separate currencies for the two wings or one currency for the whole country with its inter-wing flow to he regulated by the reserve banks of the two wings;
4. Taxes to be levied only by the regional governments, but a specified portion will automatically go to the federal account;
5. Separate accounts to be maintained for foreign currencies earned by each region; and
6. A separate militia or a paramilitary force to be created for the eastern wing.

Historic genocide and bloodshed

The Liberation War which resulted in the secession of East Pakistan from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and established the sovereign nation of Bangladesh. The war pitted East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan, and lasted over a duration of nine months. One of the most violent wars of the 20th century, it witnessed large-scale atrocities, the exodus of 10 million refugees and the displacement of 30 million people.

The people quickly woke up to the warnings their leader had sounded time and again about the evil designs of the Pakistani military and the directives Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had issued about building up resistance with whatever they had. They soon turned their anger into determination to beat back the occupying military at their own game. That meant no immediate direct confrontation at the strategic positions of the enemy troops, but employment of guerrilla tactics to drag them out of their fortresses and force them to spread out into the country-side which was the freedom fighters’ home ground.

Victory is Ours-1971

On 16 December 1971, Lieutenant General Amir Khan Niazi, CO of Pakistan Armed Forces located in East Pakistan signed the Instrument of Surrender. The Instrument of Surrender was a written agreement that enabled the surrender of the Pakistan Eastern Command in the Bangladesh Liberation War, and marked the end of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in the Eastern Theater.

The surrender took place at the Ramna Race Course in Dacca on December 16, 1971. Lieutenant General Amir Khan Niazi and Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, Joint Commander of Indian and Bangladesh Forces, signed the instrument amid thousands of cheering crowds at the race course. Air Commodore A. K. Khandker, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, and Lieutenant General J F R Jacob of the Indian Eastern Command, acted as witnesses to the surrender. Also present were Vice-Admiral Mohammad Shariff, commander of the Pakistani Naval Eastern Command and Air Vice-Marshal Patrick D. Callaghan of the Pakistan Air Force’s Eastern Air Force Command, who signed the agreement. On behalf of Bangladesh, Air Commodore A. K. Khandker acted as witness to the surrender. Lieutenant General Jacob Rafael Jacob, Chief of Staff of the Indian Eastern Command, along with the other commanders of Indian naval and air forces, acted as witnesses on behalf of India. Aurora accepted the surrender without a word, while the crowd on the race course started shouting anti-Niazi and anti-Pakistan slogans.

Participation of ‘Muktibahini’ (Freedom Fighters)

Mukti Bahini Training, 1971

Mukti Bahini or Liberation Army, also termed as the “Freedom Fighters” was a guerrilla force which fought against the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971.

The earliest move towards forming the liberation army came from the reading of declaration of independence by major ziaur rahman of East Bengal Regiment on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He had defected after the 25th March crackdown of Pakistani Army on Bangladeshi Forces. In the declaration made from Kalurghat Betar Kendra (Chittagong) on 27 March 1971, Zia assumed the title of “provisional commander in chief of the Bangladesh Liberation Army”.

Statistics of Freedom Fighters

Maj. Gen. K.M. Shafiullah, the commander of Sector-3 and later commander of S-Force during the War of Liberation, and later the first Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh Army gives as estimate in his book “Bangladesh in Liberation War” as follows:

Sector-1 5,000
Sector-2 20,000
Sector-3 15,000
Sector-4 5,000
Sector-5 5,000
Sector-6 5,000
Sector-7 5,000
Sector-8 9,000
Sector-9 4,000
Sector-11 7,000

Total 80,000

The above is the number of Freedom Fighters under of the Bangladesh government in exile. The estimate for other smaller forces are as follows:

Mujib Bahini 10,000
Kader Bahini 5,000
Hemeyet Bahini 1,500
Others 10,000
Sub-total 25,500

Grand Total:105,000

Martyred Intellectuals Day

14-12-14-President_PM_Martyred-Intellectuals-7

14th December is observed as Intellectual Martyrs Day in Bangladesh in memory those bright souls who fall victim to a brutal military regime two days before West Pakistan surrendered.

The martyred intellectuals include Munir Chowdhury, Dr Alim Chowdhury, Muniruzzaman, Dr Fazle Rabbi, Sirajuddin Hossain, Shahidullah Kaiser, Gobinda Chandra Dev, Jyotirmoy Guha Thakurta, Santosh Bhattacharya, Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury, Khandaker Abu Taleb, Nizamuddin Ahmed, SA Mannan (Ladu Bhai), ANM Golam Mustafa, Syed Nazmul Haq and Selina Parvin.

President, Prime Minister and Opposition Leader each year pay their respects at the Mirpur Intellectual Martyrs Mausoleum in the morning. Hundreds of people also gather at the Memorial to honour the intellectuals who were murdered in the killings fields of Rayerbazaar in the very last days of the War.

Bir Sreshto: The Most Valiant Heroes

Bir Sreshtho-The Seven Most Valiant Heroes

The Bir Sreshtho title is the highest military award of Bangladesh. It was awarded to seven freedom fighters who showed utmost bravery and died in action for their nation. They are considered martyrs.

The Bir Sreshtho title was awarded by the Bangladesh Gazette 15 December 1973. It has been given to seven people. Listed below are the people who have received the Bir Srestho.

Shaheed Lance Naik Nur Mohammad Sheikh
Shaheed Flight Lieutenant M Matiur Rahman
Shaheed Naik Munshi Abdur Rouf
Shaheed Md. Ruhul Amin
Shaheed Sepoy Hamidur Rahman
Shaheed Sepoy Mostafa Kamal
Shaheed Captain Mohiuddin Jahangir

Ek Shagor Rokter Binimoye (Video) Singer: Swapno Rai,  Lyrics: Gobind Halder, Tune: Apple Mahmud

Sources: Bangladesh Online News, Bangladesh Genocide Archive, Wiki, i-Bangla Limited, Bangabandhu.com.bd and DoinikBarta

Bangladesh Liberation 1971: Recalling United States and China’s Record

chibanBangladesh emerged as an independent nation in December 1971 after a horrendous ethnic genocide inflicted by the Pakistan Army beginning March 1971 on the Bengali East Pakistan even though the Pakistan Bengalis constituted Pakistan’s majority population.

The genocide was vicious and brutal leading to the slaughter of nearly a million Bangladeshis. It was meant to stifle the Bangladeshi demands for independence.

The Pakistan Army genocide onslaught on Bengali East Pakistan was launched to nullify the General Elections results which would have swept the Awami League of Sheikh Mijibur Rahman into power in Pakistan. The Pakistan Army had the tacit support of Pakistani prominent leaders like Zulfiqar Bhutto.

Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation soaked in blood and violence. The Pakistan Army can be said to have virtually wiped out a generation of the best intellectual brains of Bangladesh.

The whole of 2013 has witnessed Bangladesh engulfed in a series of externally funded or inspired violent demonstrations operating with dual political objectives.

The first objective was to pre-empt or prevent the International Crimes Tribunal War Crimes trials of Bangladeshis who collaborated with the Pakistan Army in its genocide against Bangladeshis who happened to be their fellow citizens and co-religionists. These Bangladeshi collaborators of the Pakistan Army genocide were predominantly of the Jamaat-i-Islami. The first execution has taken place and some more are awaited.

Bangladesh’s present ruling Awami Party cannot be faulted for exorcising the Bangladeshi psyche of the ghosts of its genocide and cleansing the political ethos if violence which still persists. Bangladesh’s Generation Next has widely welcomed and supported these moves of the Government.

The second political objective operating in Bangladesh is to somehow prevent or discredit the January5 2014 General Elections ordered and being considered as per the existing Constitution. Spearheading incessantly this unending disruptive strikes and violence is the main Opposition Party, the BNP, which presumably feels politically toothless by its main coalition partner the Jammat-i-Islami being debarred by the Supreme Court from contesting elections. Jammat-i-Islami the largest Islamist party in Bangladesh

In essence what Bangladesh is witnessing today are some shades of the Liberation War 1971, Then it was a violent war being fought for liberation and independence. Today it is a political war with more violence than dialogue as Bangladesh’s Generation Next aspires that the ruling Government goes firmly ahead with exorcising the ghosts of Liberation War 1971. Then too the Islamist parties were on the wrong side of history and now too they are on the wrong side of history.

Contextually, it is curious and surprising that the United States and China as two major countries calling for ‘all inclusive’ General Elections are overlooking the fact that the main Opposition Party, the BNP has obdurately dug in its heels to ensure that General Elections as scheduled are not held or even if held as per the Constitution, then the outcome stands discredited. The ostensible demand being made is for a caretaker government when that provision in response to a Supreme Court ruling was constitutionally amended.

It is open to question as to why the United States with flurry of US officials visits to Dhaka and China with its ‘friendly’ advice have not been able to prevail over the BNP not to boycott the Elections. Is there some sub-surface geo-political game going on by these two?

At this crucial juncture, it would be appropriate to recall the United States and China’s record in the Bangladesh Liberation War 1971.

United States Sordid Record of Permissiveness in Pakistan Army’s Genocide in Pakistan

The United States dislike of the Awami Party stems from its role in the creation of Bangladesh. The United States record was rather ignoble and permissive of the Pakistan Army genocide of 1971.

Even today enough media reports are available suggesting that the United States perceptionaly desires that a BNP-Jamaat-i-Islami coalition should emerge as the new Bangladesh Government. So much so that reports indicate that one of the reasons for the current US-India stand-off is the widely differing political perceptions on Bangladesh.

Coming back to the sordid record of the United States in the 1971 Liberation War, I would like to quote a few excerpts from a brilliant book that has come out “The Blood Telegram” by Gary J Bass. It details the open revolt by the US Consulate in Dacca in 1971 headed by Archer Blood. Their despatches reflect the US sordid record in not restraining the Pakistan President and the Pakistan Army from ghastly atrocities being observed by the US Consulate officials and being reflected to Washington.

Read these damning excerpts from this book:

“The cable ( Blood Telegram to the State Department0 – the most radical rejection of US policies by its diplomats- blasted the United States for silence in the face of atrocities, for not denouncing the quashing of democracy, for showing ‘moral bankruptcy’ in the face of what they called ethnic genocide”

“As its most important international backer, the United States had great influence over Pakistan. But at almost every turning point in the crisis Nixon and Kissinger failed to use that leverage to avert disaster. Before the shooting started, they consciously decided not to warn the Pakistan’s military against using violence against their own people”
Nixon and Kissinger, always sympathetic to the Pakistan junta, were not about to condemn it while it was making itself so useful ( in opening a secret link to the Chinese leadership for the Americans ). So the Bengalis became collateral damage for realigning the global balance of power.”

“But Americans have been able to forget the legacy of 1971, the peoples of the sub-continent have not. The atrocities remain Bangladesh’s defining national trauma leaving enduring scars on the country’s politics and economy.”
The United States today has a lot to atone for and the least recompense is not to interfere in the internal political dynamics of Bangladesh. Their emphasis should not be on an ‘all-inclusive election’ but should have laid emphasis on ‘General Ejections be conducted strictly as per the Constitution’.

The emphasis on ‘all-inclusive elections’ is pressurising the present Government to yield to the BNP blackmail and thereby bring their preferred BN into the reckoning again.

China Opposed to Bangladesh’s Creation and was Complicit with the United States

China could not reconcile to the dismemberment of Pakistan and creation of the nation-state of Bangladesh. In this direction China twice used its veto powers to prevent the admission of the Bangladesh in the United Nations.

In the book quoted above it transpires that the United States in a bid to forestall the creation of Bangladesh prevailed on China to move Chinese troops to the India-Tibet border so that the Momentum of Indian Army and Mukti Bahini offensives racing for the fall of Dacca could be stalled. China did so and even issued ultimatums to India on specious grounds.

Fortunately both the United States and China could not reverse the tide of history and the Bangladeshi upsurge for liberation from the Pakistani brutal and suppressive yoke.

Chinese call today for all-inclusive elections is laughable when in China itself there is no democracy or inclusive political functioning. The Chinese ethnic and religious genocide in China Occupied Tibet is in no way less than the Pakistan Army genocide in Bangladesh in 1971.

In conclusion, at this critical juncture when Bangladesh Government and its Generation Next is engaged in exorcising the ghosts of its Liberation War1971 through the War Crimes Trials, they must remember the words of the Founding Father of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who declared famously that: “ I have given you independence, now go and preserve it.

Bangladesh should never again allow itself to become “Collateral Damage” in any future geopolitical games.

Paper No. 5625 Dated 27-Dec-2013

By Dr. Subhash Kapila

OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT

OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT: PLANNING AND EXECUTION OF THE 25th MARCH MASSACRE

b0abe-yahya-tikka-rao-farman

The massacre of 25 March, 1971 in Dhaka and the then other East Pakistani major cities, was a regular military operation by Pakistan Armed Forces, officially named Operation Searchlight. The idea of this operation came to some of senior Generals after massive demonstration of East Pakistanis on 21 February 1971.

It was the operation of a country’s regular army, regarded as one of the finest of the time, to kill its own people, unarmed and from all walks of the society. Peddlers, rickshaw-pullers, homeless, police and paramilitary personnel in their barracks, resident students in their halls, both male and female, military servicemen of Bengali origin, university teachers in their residential quarters, all were targets, and were taken down with utmost sincerity. Operation Searchlight!

Operation Searchlight is one of the few post-WWII military operations which ultimately had been planned fully against the civilians, just to kill a smart percentage of them and scare the rest, the survivors. And none of the victims was anyone from an enemy nation. The army and the genocide-victims all belonged to the very one country, had very one national identity.

The plan was drawn up in early March 1971 by Maj-Gen Khadim Hussain Raza and Maj-Gen Rao Farman Ali, as a result of a meeting between Pakistani army staff on the 22 February.

images (1)Senior Pakistani officers in East Pakistan who were unwilling to support heavy offensive on civilians, Lt-Gen Shahabzada Yakub Khan and Vice Adm Ahsan, were relieved of their duties and flown back to West Pakistan. As replacement of the both came Lt-Gen Tikka Khan to take over as chief marshal law administrator of East Pakistan (military zone B) and the state’s governor.

Planning

images (2)On 17 March, Gen Khadim Hussain Raza was given the go ahead to plan for the crackdown via telephone by Gen Hamid, the then Pakistan Army chief. In the morning of 18 March, Gen Raza and Maj-Gen Rao Farman Ali put the details to paper at the GOC’s office at Dhaka cantonment. The plan was written on a light blue office pad with a lead pencil by Gen Farman containing sixteen paragraphs spread over five pages.

Gen Farman wrote out the operational premises and conditions for success, while Gen Khadim dealt with the distribution of forces and particular tasks of the individual brigades and other units.

Planners took this to consideration that the Bengali officers and other military or paramilitary units will revolt at the onset of operations. To minimize that risk, it was suggested that all Bengali armed units like Police, Riffles (EPR) should be disarmed and the political leadership arrested during their meeting with the President, Gen. Yahya Khan. No operational reserves were earmarked.

Though the draft asked to disarm Police, EPR units, thousands of unarmed Police men and EPR troops were massacred inside Dhaka’s Police lines at Rajarbag and EPR Headquarters at Pilkhana, in Dhaka.

3346521_origThe handwritten plan was read out to Gen Hamid and Lt-Gen Tikka Khan on the 20 March at the flag staff house. Gen Hamid objected to the immediate disarming of regular army Bengali units but approved the disarming of riffles, armed police and other paramilitary formations.

In the initial draft of the massacre plan, Gen Rao Farman suggested that Awami League leaders should be arrested amid the ongoing dialogue with Gen Yahya. But the President refused it for some reason.

After frequent verification and scrutiny, the amended plan was approved and the operational plan was distributed to various area commanders on the 24 and the 25 March daytime, when a group of Pakistani Generals, accompanied by Gen Hamid, Maj-Gen Mittha, the SSG mastermind and mentor, and Col. Saadullah, the principal staff officer, visited the major garrisons via helicopter and personally briefed the various garrison commanders or senior West Pakistani officers on the operation.

Maj-Gen Aboobaker Osman Mittha, as the chief of the elite Special Services Group (SSG), was tasked with the most dramatic chapter of entire plan, the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Maj-Gen Qamar Ali Mirza and Brig-Gen. Harrison were later flown to Dhaka from West Pakistan to assist Maj-Gen Mittha, who was also tasked with arranging the logistical details. The responsibility seemed difficult because the Sheikh Mujib’s non-cooperation programme was affecting the spontaneity of the military supplies.

Secrecy and Deception

Secrecy was kept at extreme strictness. Only a few junior commissioned officers (JCOs), definitely West Pakistanis, had knowledge about the plan beforehand though fully on a need to know basis.

Some Bengali officers had become suspicious of the ‘all West Pakistani’ officer briefings. Later it showed that some of Bengali officers initiated revolts as a confused advance from their suspicions.

It appeared after the deadly war that followed, that many Bengali officers tactically disobeyed the decoy orders by their West Pakistani superiors and survived apparent assassination plots.

‘Zero Hour’

The Operation started on the night of 25 March, 1971, technically from zero hours of 26 March. Dhaka and other garrisons were to be alerted via phone about their zero hour to start their operations.

Gen Farman Ali commanded the forces in Dhaka, while the rest of the province was commanded by Gen Khadim himself. Lt-Gen Tikka Khan and his staff were present in the 31st field command centre to supervise and support the command staff of the 14th division inside Dhaka Cantonment.

To the time of leaving Dhaka for Karachi, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto accompanied Gen Tikka Khan inside the cantonment. It is said that Bhutto’s request to inspect a bloodied provincial capital on a military vehicle was turned down by Gen Tikka Khan at that night.

The Declaration of Independence

The 7th March speech of Bangabandhu was the definitive commencement of Liberation war.

“Ebarer sangram amader shadhinoter sangram”-----The historic address at the Race Course ground, March 7, 1971.

“Ebarer sangram amader shadhinoter sangram”—–The historic address at the Race Course ground, March 7, 1971.

The independence of Bangladesh was declared by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman through a message on 26 March 1971 just before he was arrested at about 1:30 a.m. This declaration of independence marks the beginning of the Liberation War.
“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.”
Bangabandhu spread the declaration and was reached to many. The wife of M.R. Siddiqi was given an urgent message over telephone from Bangabandhu received through the wireless operators of Chittagong. [ Sheikh Mujib: Triumph and Tragedy by S. A. Karim]

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FROM KALURGHAT (March 26, 1971):

Soon after the Pakistani army crackdown on the night of March 25, 1971,the first declaration of independence was made over the radio by M. A. Hannan. According to the English language newspapers from around the flashed around the world on news wires on the evening of March 26, 1971 and the world came to know about the independence of Bangladesh from Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s original message received in Calcutta on the morning of March 26 and from broadcasts from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro on the evening of March 26.

The following world press also reported on 26th March:

The Statesman and The Times of India from India; Buenos Aires Herald from Argentina; The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald from Australia; The Guardian from Burma; The Globe and Mail from Canada; Hong Kong Standard from Hong Kong; The Jakarta Times from Indonesia; Asahi Evening News from Japan; The Rising Nepal from Nepal; The Manila Times from the Philippines; The Straits Times from Singapore; The Pretoria News from South Africa; The Bangkok Post from Thailand; The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times of London from the United Kingdom; and, Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle and The Washington Post from the United States.

Bangabandhu dictated the declaration through telegram, A telegram containing the text of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s declaration reached some students in Chittagong. The message was translated to Bangla by Dr. Manjula Anwar. The students failed to secure permission from higher authorities to broadcast the message from the nearby Agrabad Station of Radio Pakistan.

The Kalurghat Radio Station’s transmission capability was limited, but the message was picked up by a Japanese ship in Bay of Bengal. It was then re-transmitted by Radio Australia and later by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Announcement of the declaration of independence:

Awami League leader M.A. Hannan aired the declared the independence on behalf of Bangabandhu : (Signed by Bangabandhu):
Abul Kashem Sandeep translated the message to broadcast.

“Today Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday night West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka. Many innocent and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh. Violent clashes between EPR and Police on the one hand and the armed forces of Pindi on the other, are going on. The Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh. May God aid us in our fight for freedom. Joy Bangla.”

Pakistani sources:

Siddiq Salik had written that he heard about Mujibor Rahman’s message on the radio while Operation Searchlight was going on. [ “Witness to Surrender” ]

The Statesman published from New Delhi on March 27, 1971 and explained the two messages received on March 26:

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made two broadcasts on Friday following the Pakistani troops move to crush his movement, says UNI.
Announcement of the declaration of independence by Major Zia on behalf of Bangabandhu

There are Major Zia declared the independence on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

# Maj. Gen. Hakeem A. Qureshi in his book The 1971 Indo-Pak War: A Soldier’s Narrative, gives the date of Zia’s speech as 27 March 1971.
# MASSACRE by Robert Payne, Publisher : The McMillan Company New York.
# J. S. Gupta The History of the Liberation Movement in Bangladesh
# India, Pakistan, and the United States: Breaking with the Past By Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli ISBN 0-87609-199-0, 1997, Council on Foreign Relations. pp 37

Major Zia’s declaration of independence on behalf of Bangabandhu was made controversial over an Very few people heard this declaration and Major Zia’s famous “Ami Major Zia Bolchhi”.
“Our struggle is for our freedom. Our struggle is for our independence.” The speech is regarded as the de facto declaration of independence although a formal declaration came on March 26, 1971

Our history has undergone huge twist at the hands of vested quarters. Some people claim that Zia declared himself as provisional commander in chief. In fact Zia made two speeches. When this unauthorized speech created confusion among the people, the Awami League leaders asked Zia to read out a text prepared by A. K. Khan.

Zia followed the suggestion, and made a second speech, where he mentioned that he was speaking on behalf of our great national leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Announcement

The government of theSoverignStateon behalf of our great national leader, the supreme commander ofBangladeshSheikh Mujibur Rahman, do hereby proclaim the independence ofBangladesh. And that the government headed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has already been formed. It is further proclaimed that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the sole leader of the elected representatives of seventy five million people ofBangladesh, and the government headed by him is the only legitimate government of the people of the independent soverign state ofBangladesh….

It was impractical to think of the declaration of independence without mentioning name of Bangabandhu. His name carries more value than any political party. The sky is the limit to measure the popularity of Sheikh Mujib and the landslide victory of 70’s election was its reflection only.

Zia read out the declaration on behalf of Bangbanandhu. Formation of Mujib Nagar Government carries the historic significance.

Bangabandhu’s Declaration of Independence.
(Reserved in Liberation War Museum, Segun Bagicha, Dhaka)
Telex Copy of Bangabandhu’s Declaration of Independence

The atonement still goes on Bangabandhu with parents

When Bangabandhu was gunned down in the early hours on 15 August 1975, the Bengali nation to which he gave independence began a process of atonement for having committed patricide that continues even now. What can be crueler than killing the nation’s father that gave identity to a people who remained colonized for twenty-five years after the British had pulled out of the subcontinent in 1947?

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a rare personality who is not born in every generation. It was because of his uncompromising and visionary political struggle for which Bengalis gained a homeland of their own, and it was also because of his unflinching courage to boldly face the persecution of the Pakistani leadership, Bengalis are today getting opportunities in all fronts to prosper and flourish. Why then was he so brutally killed, with all members of his family, only a few years after independence?

The assassination of Bangabandhu is similar to the fall of a tragic hero. Indeed he was a protagonist in the political stage of the subcontinent unparallel to any other politicians of his own and the previous generation. Tragic heroes cannot be ordinary men, they have to be Kings or Princes, and therefore no tragedy has been written after the 16th Century. This genre of literature flourished only during the 5th century BC in ancient Greece and the 16th Century AD in England and France. With the advent of democracy, tragedy retreated to the background because ordinary men could not be endowed with the unqualified greatness of tragic heroes.

Bangabandhu’s life is characterized by many of the traits of a tragic hero: his extraordinary personality, his greatness of heart and his awesome popularity were all like the strengths of a tragic hero. But did Bangabandhu have a tragic flaw that like Hamlet or King Lear ultimately transformed him to the victim of his own mistake? Banganbandhu is not a character of a Shakespearean play; he was a rare human being, a politician with an extraordinary caliber. However like Prince Hamlet, procrastination partly led him to his tragic fall. Yes, he delayed like the prince of Denmark; his first reluctance was to form a government of national unity immediately after his release from Pakistani prison. Later when he declared the establishment of the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL), it was much too late, for the conspirators already had enough time to regroup and strike at an opportune moment to eliminate the towering man who had always outmaneuvered them in the past.

Bangabandhuhu’s second delay was his inability to summarily try and punish those who had killed, raped, burnt and looted in the soil of Bengal alongside the blood-drinking Pakistani military. Like King Lear, he did not realize that evil men could never change; those without compassion could never love humanity. The magnanimous Bangabandhu allowed the killers too much time to reorganize and strike back at him. Like Shakespeare’s King Lear, Bangabandhu also hurried. Lear the old King hastily banished and disinherited Cordelia his daughter who loved him the most. Bangabandhu in all his glory, only in his early 50s, decided to prematurely visit Pakistan at the behest of some Arab leaders. His sudden decision to attend the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Lahore gave the conspirators a renewed opportunity of plotting to kill a man who had to be earlier spared because of international pressure. The crafty Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had managed to secure the release of the 195 listed war criminals of the Pakistani military as an outcome of the Shimla agreement signed by Pakistan and India in 1973. Why then was the hurry and the necessity of returning to a country whose military, fully supported by Zulfiqar Bhutto, wanted the entire territory of Bangladesh to be smeared in blood only a couple of years ago in 1971? What could have Bangabandhu asked from Pakistan? His trip to the humbled Pakistan of 1971 can at best be described as the journey of a proud victor to the land of the vanquished. Little did he realize that behind the glitter and the razzmatazz surrounding his arrival at the Lahore airport, and his participation in the OIC meeting, a plot was underway to avenge the defeat in the hands of the Bengalis in 1971.

Lawrence Lifschultz, one of the most dispassionate chroniclers of the history of our glorious war of liberation, mentions in his book Bangladesh: the Unfinished Revolution the link of the infamous Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan in the murder of Bangabandhu. The ISI mustered support of a few disgruntled soldiers of the Bangladesh Army and successfully carried out its sinister mission on that fateful morning of 15 August 1971. When Bangabandhu’s body, riddled with bullets, lay lifeless at his home in Dhanmandi abettors to the conspiracy in the Pakistani army Headquarters, as Lifschultz states, were among the first to rejoice the news of this macabre happening.

The tragedy had turned full circle with the elimination of Bangabandhu, but the Bengali nation continues to atone for its collective guilt of giving birth to those who like cunning wolves stealthily moved from behind and felled a titan.

Author : Golam Sarwar Chowdghury is Professor of English at university of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).