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Sheikh Mujib: Triumph and Tragedy By Sayyid A. Karim

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ISBN: 984 70220 041 7

Sheikh Mujib: Triumph and Tragedy By Sayyid A. Karim (Author)

Publisher(s):The University Press Limited (UPL)

First Published:2009-No. of Pages:407-Weight (kg):0.5- Price:$28.00

Writing an objective biography of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the only larger-than-life political figure of Muslim Bengal, is no easy task for a historian. In this well-researched book, Sayyid A. Karim has given a fascinating account of the life of Sheikh Mujib and makes an assessment of his legacy. Separating the man from the myth, the author has drawn a moving portrait of a heroic man who triumphed against all odds and became the founding father of a new nation, Bangladesh. While still young, Sheikh Mujib passionately supported the Pakistan movement, believing that the creation of a Muslim state was the best way of emancipating Bengali Muslims from the twin yokes of British rule and Hindu economic domination. But after Pakistan came into being, he passionately rejected the power centre in distant West Pakistan which showed an utter lack of interest in the well-being of Bengalis Muslims and Hindus alike. He became the foremost standard bearer of Bengali nationalism. For a while, shortly after the establishment of military rule under Ayub Khan, Sheikh Mujib even toyed with the idea of independence. The collapse of the Ayub regime ten years later gave him the glimmer of hope that revival of democracy in Pakistan was within reach. But when his party, the Awami League, won an absolute majority in the National Parliament, it soon became evident that the military had no intention of relinquishing power. Mujib was arrested, and the Pakistan Army resorted to a blood bath in a vain attempt to crush Bengali nationalism. After nine months of the liberation war, Sheikh Mujib returned to a free Bangladesh in early 1972 as its undisputed leader. Ill-advised, he adopted populist measures like nationalisation. The economy went into a downward spiral and famine was not long in coming. The 1914 famine had a profound effect on his psyche. Bangladesh had always filled his thoughts and he became convinced that a fundamental change of course was needed to surmount the crisis. He replaced the multi-party system by one-party state and concentrated power in his hands to implement what he called his second revolution. Machiavelli wrote: Nothing is more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor dangerous to handle, than a new order of things. Only a true revolutionary, with an iron will to take ruthless measures against anti social elements and die-hard opponents of the new order could successfully carry out the far reaching changes in government and society envisioned by Sheikh Mujib. Deep down he was a soft hearted man and did not have the ruthless streak in him to take strong action against counter revolutionary elements. He ignored warning signs of a conspiracy by disaffected army officers and thereby paved the way for the tragedy that befell him.

The Unfinished Memoirs-SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN

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ISBN: 978 984 506 111 7

The Unfinished Memoirs (Deluxe Edition)-By SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN (Author)

Publisher(s):The University Press Limited (UPL)
First Published:2012, No. of Pages:323, Weight (kg):1, Price:$53.00

When Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s diaries came to light in 2004, it was an indisputably historic event. His daughter, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, had the notebooks their pages by then brittle and discoloured— carefully transcribed and later translated from Bengali into English. Written during Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s sojourns in jail as a state prisoner between 1967 and 1969,they begin with his recollections of his days as a student activist in the run-up to the movement for Pakistan in the early 1940s. They cover the Bengali language movement, the first stirrings of the movement for Bangladesh independence and self-rule, and powerfully convey the great uncertainties as well as the great hopes that dominated the time. The last notebook ends with the events accompanying the struggle for democratic rights in 1955. These are Sheikh Mujib’s own words—the language has only been changed for absolute clarity when required. What the narrative brings out with immediacy and passion is his intellectual and political journey from a youthful activist to the leader of a struggle for national liberation. Sheikh Mujib describes vividly how—despite being in prison—he was in the forefront of organizing the protests that followed the declaration of Urdu as the state language of Pakistan. On 21 February 1952 the police opened fire on a peaceful student procession killing many. That brutal action unleashed the powerful movement that culminated in the birth of the new nation of Bangladesh in 1971. This extraordinary document is not only a portrait of a nation in the making; it is written by the man who changed the course of history and led his people to freedom.

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Dead Reckoning

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Dead Reckoning-Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War by Sarmila Bose

Description
This ground-breaking book chronicles the 1971 war in South Asia by reconstituting the memories of those on opposing sides of the conflict. The year 1971 was marked by a bitter civil war within Pakistan and war between India and Pakistan, backed respectively by the Soviet Union and the United States. It was fought over the territory of East Pakistan, which seceded to become Bangladesh. Through a detailed investigation of events on the ground, Sarmila Bose contextualises and humanises the war while analysing what the events reveal about the nature of the conflict itself. The story of 1971 has so far been dominated by the narrative of the victorious side. All parties to the war are still largely imprisoned by wartime partisan mythologies. Bose reconstructs events through interviews conducted in Bangladesh and Pakistan, published and unpublished reminiscences in Bengali and English of participants on all sides, official documents, foreign media reports and other sources. Her book challenges assumptions about the nature of the conflict and exposes the ways in which the 1971 conflict is still being played out in the region.

‘Combining rigorous scholarship and a passionate interest in setting the record straight, Dead Reckoning is the finest study yet of the social, cultural and political meaning of the 1971 East Pakistan/Bangladesh war. Sarmila Bose writes in the service of the truth. We are in her debt.’
–Stephen Cohen, author of The Idea of Pakistan

About the Author / Editor
Sarmila Bose is a Senior Research Fellow in the Politics of South Asia at the University of Oxford. She was a political journalist in India and combines academic and media work. She was educated at Bryn Mawr College and Harvard University.

Paperback    252 pages    ISBN: 9780199064779    Price: Rs.725.00

Era of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

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Era of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by Moudud Ahmed

Description:

ISBN 91 86702 09 2 1983  I   252pp HB Tk.490.00   I  US$27.00

The August coup of 1975, assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the events that followed have shown that it is easier to change a government Own to establish a legitimate regime and an effective administration. The power struggle that goes on in Bangladesh calls for a new consensus if the country has to achieve its politico-economic freedom.

Moudud Ahmed in this book presents an assessment of the politics pursued in Bangladesh during its initial years and argues that the crisis Bangladesh faces today is the result of the socio-economic and political measures taken by the Awami League government and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In the course of his assessment he has examined the political compulsion and contradictions which led the regime to go for a one-party rule. The ruling party’s treatment of the freedom fighters, the so-called collaborators and the army as an institution are seen as examples which had bleeding effect on the 66dy politic of the newly achieved country.

This work of the author is significantly objective and helps the readers to understand also the political dimensions of the newly independent states of South Asia and Africa. The study answers questions why so frequently nationalist leaders committed to liberal democratic governments have rejected the same after independence. The book also reveals how privatization of government destroys the concept of law and justice and how monopoly of patriotism by elite groups frustrates the efforts of the masses for any development.

The Author who refers to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as “the greatest phenomenon” of the history of Bangladesh has devoted a separate chapter to provide an objective appreciation of the personality of Bangabandhu.

This book is a mine of inexhaustable value to students of politics, history, law, economics and Bangladesh studies.

Moudud Ahmed displays profound insight into the life of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and as a sequel to the author’s earlier book, Bangladesh: Constitutional Quest for Autonomy, this definitive work is a major addition to books on political history of Bangladesh.

The author, Moudud Ahmed has been Deputy Prime Minister (1976-78), Prime Minister (1986-89), and Vice President of Bangladesh. He has his B.A. (Honours) and M.A. in Political Science from Dhaka University. He studied law in England and was called to the English Bar in 1967. He visited the Heidelberg University as a Fellow in 1976 and in 1980 and Harvard University in 1980-81.

He prepared the book, Bangladesh. Contemporary Events and Documents, published by the External Publicity Division of the Bangladesh Government in Exile in Calcutta in 1971. His earlier book Bangladesh: Constitutional Quest for Autonomy was published by UPL.

Source : 0161-2646352, (0161-BOIMELA), Book Code – 12238, ISBN      9186702092, Page   252, English, Binding Hardcover, Price Tk. 490.00

The Unfinished Memoirs-Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

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The Unfinished Memoirs – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Translated by Fakrul Alam

Description
These memoirs are based on four notebooks by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh and the centre of the cause célèbre of the 1970s, written while he was a state prisoner in 1967. The book records Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s opinions about political developments in East Bengal/East Pakistan. It contains considerable material about the turbulent political conditions in which the Awami League and the United Front were formed, routing the Muslim League in the elections to the East Bengal Assembly in 1954. The author has made observations about several prominent leaders of the time, including Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Liaquat Ali Khan, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, A.K. Fazlul Haq, Abul Hashim, Maulana Bhashani, Khawaja Nazimuddin, Ghulam Muhammad, Mohammad Ali Bogra, Chaudhury Muhammad Ali, and Nurul Amin. These candidly written memoirs help explain the genesis of Bengali Muslim nationalism.

About the Author / Editor
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920–1975), Bengali nationalist politician and the founder of Bangladesh began his political career as an All-India Muslim League activist in Calcutta and was one of the founding members of the East Pakistan Muslim Student League in 1948, and the Awami Muslim League in 1949. A follower of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, he entered parliamentary politics in 1954 as a member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly. Sheikh Mujib was a member of Pakistan’s second Constituent Assembly from 1955 to 1958 and served as a minister in the East Pakistan government. He came to prominence when he became General Secretary of the East Pakistan Awami League in 1953, and held the post until he became party President in 1966. In February 1966, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman proposed his Six-Point Programme, calling for provincial autonomy and political and economic equity between the two wings of the country. In 1968, along with thirty-four others, he was implicated in the Agartala Conspiracy Case, making him Bengal’s most popular leader. The case was withdrawn in February 1969.
He led the Awami League to a dramatic victory in the Pakistan general elections of 1970, which proved to be a key event in the emergence of Bangladesh. After talks failed in March 1971, the army began a campaign of repression in East Pakistan, arresting Sheikh Mujib and charging him with treason. The Awami League leaders who managed to escape to India declared a government-in-exile in April, with Sheikh Mujib as President.
Following the independence of Bangladesh, he was released on 8 January 1972 and sent to Dhaka, where he became Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujib was assassinated in Dhaka on 15 August 1975, during a military coup d’état.

Dr Fakrul Alam is Professor of English at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Hardback    364 pages    ISBN: 9780199063581    

Price: Rs.995.00