Know real history of Liberation War: PM to children

17-03-16-President_PM_Tongipara-7#bangabandhu -Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today called upon the children to know the real history of victory in the Liberation War and the long struggle for the country’s independence alongside grooming themselves as “good citizens” following the ideals of Bangabandhu.

“After the tragic assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975, the spirit of the War of Liberation was foiled and the people of the country were deprived of knowing the true history of independence for 21 years and that there was something for which they could feel proud,” she said.

The Premier said but days have changed today. “The children of the country now know and see the true history of the Liberation War as we after coming to power again are projecting it before them,” she added.

She said: “We want that the children would develop themselves with such a mindset that they would know that we are a victorious nation and Bangabandhu gave us the flag of that victory.”

The Prime Minister said this while addressing a children’s rally marking the 97th birthday of Father of the Nation and National Children’s Day today on Bangabandhu Mausoleum Complex here. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs and Gopalganj district administration jointly organized the rally joined by schoolchildren of different educational institutions of Tungipara, the birthplace of Bangabandhu. Rafiatur Zaman, a student of a local school, presided over the function while State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroz Chumki was present as the special guest. Rittik Zidan, also a student, gave the welcome address.

Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Nasima Begum, Dhaka Divisional Commissioner Zillar Rahman and Deputy Commissioner of Gopalganj Khalilur Rahman were present on the dais. Ministers, parliament members, cabinet secretary, chiefs of the three services, political leaders, senior civil and military officials were also present at the function. Sheikh Hasina also advised the children to follow the guidelines of their teachers, parents and guardians as well as maintain discipline in all spheres of life to make their future meaningful. Mentioning the education as the most “valuable asset” in life, the Prime Minister said none could ever snatch this wealth.

“That is why, her government has created better opportunity for the children’s education to flourish their latent talent and merit,” she said. In this regard, she urged the children to be more dedicated and attentive in their regular academic studies, sports and cultural activities to develop themselves as worthy citizens. Urging the children to follow the ideals of Bangabandhu, Sheikh Hasina said Bangabandhu, the greatest Bangalee of all time, always had special affection and love for the children and juveniles.

The Prime Minister said Bangabandhu was the leader of the exploited and deprived people across the world and he used to help his poor classmates and distressed people from his boyhood. She said Bangabandhu had proved through his sacrifice that how much love he (Bangabandhu) had for the people. “As his children, we feel proud as he brought the self-identity and success for the nation,” she said. She said Bangabandhu established Bangalees as a victorious nation and there is nothing to be prouder than it. But the evil forces whom we defeated in 1971 took revenge by carrying out the 15th August massacre in 1975.

“The defeated forces of 71 along with their collaborators assassinated the Father of the Nation, his family members including minor children like Russell and Babu to take revenge of their defeat,” she said. Sheikh Hasina said the killers and their collaborators diverted Bangladesh towards opposite direction from the path of the spirit of the great War of Liberation. The Premier said Bangabandhu, who endowed the Bangalee nation with the freedom and independence through his 23-year-long struggles, gave priority to education to build a dignified nation before the world.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangabandhu soon after liberation, made the primary education free of cost to allow every child to have access to education for building up future generation and leadership. Following in the footprint of the great leader, she said, her government also nationalized over 26 thousand primary schools and formulated the National Children Policy 2011 to ensure their welfare. She said the verdicts of the trial of killers of Bangabandhu have been executed while the trial of war criminals for their crimes against humanity like killing, rape and looting is progressing.

“That is why, the country is being freed from the curse and advancing towards development and prosperity,” Sheikh Hasina said. In this connection, the Premier said the conspiracies of the anti-liberation forces are still on. “But the plots could not misguide the people,” she said. The Prime Minister said Bangabandhu had dreamt of building Bangladesh as a peaceful country in the world free from hunger and poverty. “We are working tirelessly to materialize that dream,” she said.

Later, Sheikh Hasina distributed prizes among the children who participated in literary, cultural and art competition organized marking the 97th birthday of the Father of the Nation and the National Children’s Day. She also handed over sewing machines among some distressed women and inaugurated a book fair on the mausoleum complex.

“To Each My Blood and Other Hymns”- 1971 poems from Papua New Guinea

bangabandhu finest hour-rrajowan
bangabandhu.com.bd : The immense struggle, sacrifice and bravery of the Bangalee nation in 1971 war of liberation emotionally moved the intelligentsia of Papua New Guinea and prompted this Oceania nation to publish a collection of poems titled, “To Each My Blood and Other Hymns” and attract world attention in favour of Bangalees.
It was published from Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea in 1971 and was edited by Prithwindra Chakroborti.
There were 16 poems written by 15 poets in the collection of poems. Prithwindra Chakroborti and Ulli Beier translated the Bangla poems into English. The poets whose poems were published in the collection were: Jasimuddin, Subhash Mukhopadhyay, Al Mahmud, Abdul Gani Hazari, Anisuzzaman, Asad Chowdhury, Ram Basu, Hasan Hafizur Rahman, Siddheshwar Sen, Ahsan Habib, Tushar Moulik, Shamsur Rahman, Kaisul Haque, Sanat Bandyopadhya and Alwal Joy. Ahsan Habib was the only poet whose two poems were published in the collection.
The book was dedicated to martyrs of Language Movement of 1952 and freedom fighters of Liberation War of March in 1971. The poem of Alwal Joy was the largest one in the collection and it covered five pages. He (Joy) is not familiar as a poet. The last line of his poem was “Joy Bangla for each drop of blood.”
Few lines of Sanat Bandyopadhya’s poem titled Bangladesh were: “I cannot leave you, even if I want to. Cannot efface your memory, Engraved in me even if I want to. When I leave you. You follow me like the fairy girl. Winds of gold and silver in the hands, you reach me quietly, my Bangladesh.”
Noted historian Professor Dr Muntassir Mamoon in an article “Papua New Guinea Thekeo Bangladesher Kabita Sangkolon Ber Hoi” (Collection of poems of Bangladesh even published in Papua New Guinea) in his edited book “Muktijuddher Chhinna Dalilpatra” gave a description on it.
Immediately after the nine-month war that began on March, 1971, thousands of people of different countries stand behind Bangladesh. George Harrison, an English musician, singer and songwriter organized the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh with Ravi Shankar while Poet Allen Ginsberg will also be remembered by Bangalees for calling the world’s attention to the suffering of victims during the Liberation War in 1971.
Ginsberg wrote his legendary 152-line poem, “September on Jessore Road”, after visiting refugee camps and witnessing the plight of millions fleeing the violence. Hundreds of others people held rallies and processions supporting the war and collected donations for the 1971 victims.
BY Asraful Huq and Mahmudul Hasan Raju

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

The Declaration of Independence

20110814-bb-460The 7th March speech of Bangabandhu was the definitive commencement of Liberation war. 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.

004Bangabandhu 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 day they killed Bangabandhu

fbcdfab44a6f089e15e2f16a2a615a1bIT was Friday, August 15, 1975. It was one of the most tragic days of our history. It reminded us of the dark night of March 25, 1971. The Father of the Nation, loved and respected in Bangladesh and the world over as a great hero, lay dead on the stairs of his famous residence at Road Number 32, Dhanmandi Residential Area. He was only fifty-five. We were twenty-year-old sophomores of Dhaka University.

Who killed Bangabandhu? His people, whom he loved to a fault? No! They were unhappy with a few activities of his government but they never even dreamt of killing him. They who control the world like people who obey them. They don’t like nationalist leaders and great patriots like Bangabandhu or Allende. Thus, Allende dies but General Pinochet lives on and makes life miserable for his countrymen.

There are many such instances in the Third World. If you want to kill a great leader, make him unpopular through planted journalists, corrupt and disgruntled bureaucrats and dismissed soldiers. Use some of them during his killing. Then get obedient people to rule the country and serve your purpose. No wonder our High Court has ruled that governments, which succeeded Bangabandhu and his cabinet were not legal. They had captured power by sheer force.

At dawn on August 15, I got up to hear from my parents that Bangabandhu had been killed along with his family. Even ten-year-old Sheikh Russell was not spared. My initial reaction was of great shock. I was dumbfounded with sorrow. Bangabandhu didn’t deserve a death like this! He was our greatest politician. His love for his country and his people was beyond question.

Who could kill our greatest patriot? The radio and TV were announcing his death at regular intervals. A certain Major Dalim was claiming credit for his death! Who was he? We had never heard of him before!

There was fear, there was confusion. There was silent sorrow among his followers and people who admired him. There was celebrations too — we later heard. There were a few people chanting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ somewhere in old Dhaka. There were a few Biharis, celebrating his death in Mohammadpur. But the patriotic Bangalee was silently shedding a tear or two for him. How could a Nelson Mandela or a Yassir Arafat get killed by his own people? They wondered.

Well, they killed Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi too, didn’t they? Some argued with themselves. Years later, I learned that the first procession to protest the death of Bangabandhu was organised by the boys and girls of Chhatra Union in nowhere else but my own district Kishoreganj. They warned the real killers that the death of this great patriot would turn Bengal into a Vietnam. Student leader, Kazi Abdul Bari led the procession. He had to suffer inhuman torture in jails for his noble protest against injustice. I feel honoured today to get a chance to salute this brave student leader. May Bangladesh be blessed with more Baris and not with Mushtaques and Dalims.
What were the Chhatra League leaders and workers doing? They went into hiding because they were the most wanted people for the Mushtaque government. Many faced arrest and torture later on.

I myself saw Abdur Razzak escaping through Dhanmandi Road Number 15 and Rayer Bazar. He was a big and healthy person then with no diabetes. We wanted him to escape, live and then protest. I saw him when curfew was withdrawn for an hour and a half for Jumaa prayers.

We were not political activists but we were young and patriotic and not exactly cowards. A few of us got together and walked up to Bangabandhu’s residence, which was less than a mile from our area. There was army patrol on the roads and police guard in front of Bangabandhu’s residence. We heard that tanks were guarding Khandker Mushtaque in the Bangabhaban. We were not allowed inside Bangabandhu’s residence but nobody disturbed us when we sadly stood in front of House No. 32 and quietly saluted the greatest son of Mother Bengal.

The killing of the full family was too great a shock for us. We spotted bullet marks on the walls. An uncle of mine worked for BTV as a news journalist. He had a chance to see Bangabandhu’s dead body the next day as a member of the BTV news team. We had listened to him in rapt attention when he told us what he saw inside.

Before the curfew was clamped again on August 15, we also managed to see Sheikh Moni’s residence. There were big signs of machine gun firing on the walls. Women and children were not spared in this house too. Why this mindless killing? To spread fear? To terrorise the people and keep them quiet?

There was no Awami League worker to be seen. There was not even a Bengali nationalist to protest his death. These two types were shedding silent tears. Dhaka had suddenly gone back to the Pakistani days, it appeared. It was a heart-rending experience for us.
Thirty lakh people had embraced martyrdom for nothing? There were rumours galore. Bangabandhu was alive and not dead? Sheikh Kamal had escaped too? India could attack us any time. O God, keep Bangabandhu alive! This man doesn’t deserve such a death. We silently prayed for him.

Khandker Mushtaque claimed himself President since the morning but took the oath in the evening. The Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Syed A.B. Mahmud, administered the oath to him. The Vice President, ten Ministers and six State Ministers also took oath. There were a few respected names in the cabinet.

Were they forced to join Mushtaque? The three services chiefs were present. Members of Parliament charged with corruption by Bangabandhu were also present. Mushtaque, it appeared, wanted to tell the world that only Bangabandhu was corrupt and his ministers had no fault.

The silence of the Rakkhi Bahini surprised many. A formal reaction of the Indian and the Russian governments was not coming. Ambassador Samar Sen was in Delhi. The Pakistan government was quite happy. Bhutto’s reaction said it all. We recollected that both Bhutto and Kissinger had visited Dhaka a year or so back.

Bangladesh Betar had instantly become Radio Bangladesh. What was wrong with the Bangla name? The curfew helped Mushtaque to take control in less than fifteen hours. People talked about his cunning. A few secretly called him the new Mir Jafar. He spoke to the nation in the evening. His nice words couldn’t remove our fear and anxiety.

We were happy to note that the stalwarts of the Mujibnagar government didn’t join Mushtaque. Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Captain Mansur Ali and A.H.M. Kamruzzaman didn’t betray their leader. Abdus Samad Azad, Zillur Rahman, Abdur Razzak and Tofayel Ahmed didn’t join Mushtaque either.

We went to sleep with heavy hearts. We loved and respected the martyred Bangabandhu even more. He had his tragic flaws but he was our greatest hero, wasn’t he? He was our greatest hero of the past, the present and the future. My twenty-year-old heart profusely bled for him. I was a budding writer. How could a writer not weep over the death of his land’s greatest patriot?

Author : Junaidul Haque writes fiction, essays and reviews books.