Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

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Sheikh Mujibur Rahman; known as Bangabandhu to his people in Bangladesh.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Bangla: শেখ মুজিবর রহমান) (March 17, 1920 – August 15, 1975), popularly known as Sheikh Mujib, was a nationalist leader in the former East Pakistan and the founder of the independent Bangladesh. He was born in Gopalganj, Bengal (now in Bangladesh). His political career began almost immediately with Pakistan's independence, as co-founder of the East Pakistan Muslim Students' League, a student orgaization affiliated with the Muslim League. His secular and nationalistic ideals led him to found the Awami League (party of people) in the 1950s. A follower of H.S. Suhrawardy, Sheikh Mujib was a popular Bengali muslim leader who was far removed from the ideologies of the feudal leaders that dominated the political landscape at that time.

6 Point movement

Main article: 6 Point Movement

Liberation of Bangladesh

Through the 17 points and the six points programs, the Awami League highlighted the economic exploitations of East Pakistan by West Pakistani ruling coterie (feudal gentry, military leaders, bureaucrats). The interest of West Pakistan, especially that of the province of Punjab was favoured in every economic decision at the expense of the East Pakistani interest. This became obvious after the great coastal cyclone of 1970, when the loss of lives and sufferings of thousands of Bengalis were met with complete indifference of the central government. As a successful culmination of the six point movement, Sheikh Mujib's Awami League achieved success in the general elections of December 1970. While Mujib's Awami League won all but two of the 162 seats in the Pakistani National Assembly allocated to East Pakistan, the Pakistan People's Party, led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, won most seats in West Pakistan. Because of the higher number of seats won by the Awami League (East Pakistan had a larger population, and larger allocation of seats) it won absolute majority and claimed right to form the next government. Although Bhutto was a populist Sindhi leader sometimes at odds with the military, this time his interests coincided with that of the military junta. Neither Bhutto nor the military was ever willing to cede to the results of the elections as long as Mujib won it and the balance of power shifted to the East Pakistan. Bhutto refused to bring his party to Islamabad to take part in the new assembly, and the military leadership took to stalling techniques in the name of negotiation. The situation caused great tension, especially in East Pakistan. Although always a champion of Bengali nationalism, up until now Mujib tried to reconcile Bengali interests within the framework of Pakistan. When this time his and his people's rights were denied outright, he called for peaceful but total non-cooperation with the Pakistani government. The government machinery in East Pakistan was completely halted after March 1 of 1971.

President Yahya Khan was unable to reach a compromise, declared Martial law and cracked down on East Pakistan. On the night of March 25, 1971, the Pakistani military commenced one of the most atrocious genocides of the human history. In the nine months that followed, about three million civilian were killed. Bengali resistance fighters Mukti Bahini started guerilla confrontations with the Pakistani army; first sporadically, and then under the command of the Bangladesh government in exile. Sheikh Mujib was arrested, but many of his supporters managed to escape to India, and declared East Pakistan's independence as Bangladesh. Mujib became provisional president. About a million East Pakistanis fled to India to escape the genocide and the routine rape, looting and torture instigated by the Pakistani army and their East Pakistani cohorts (mainly fundamentalist islamic parties). With the growing burden of the refugees and provocation by Pakistan at its borders, India rendered support to the Bengali resistance forces. Full scale war (Bangladesh Liberation War) erupted and by December 1971, West Pakistan troops in the East finally surrendered to the joint Bangladesh and Indian forces Mitro Bahini. On January 12, 1972, Sheikh Mujib was released from Pakistani jails and returned to the new Bangladesh to become the prime minister. The Awami League won a huge majority in the country's first elections in 1973.

One-party rule under BAKSAL

Sheikh Mujib proved to be a charismatic leader, was facing insurmountable problems left by the devastation incurred by the Pakistan Army in the nine months prior to the end of Liberation War on 16th of December, 1971. Infrastructure was totally destroyed and made the country dependent on aid from Soviet Union and India.

Although corruption was endemic in then Pakistan and continued in a post colonial environment, his government was plagued by infighting, and an insurgence by the ultra-left activists as well as reactionary forces that opposed independence.

However, from the beginning he earned the wrath of the Nixon/Kissinger White House, which set in motion events that led first to the famine and then the coup that killed him and his family. The famine was engineered when Nixon/Kissinger diverted PL-480 food grain shipments from the high seas headed for Bangladesh. This led to a devastating famine in 1974. Countries that opposed the emergence of Bangladesh (most notably the USA, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan) took advantage of the instability and started providing support to the subversive forces.

In 1975, Sheikh Mujib attempted to regain control by declaring a state of emergency. The legislature amended the constitution to make the presidency an executive post. Mujib declared himself president for life and outlawed all political parties except for the Awami League, which was renamed the Bangladesh Workers' and Peasants' Awami League (Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League, BAKSAL). "Rakhi Bahini", a paramilitary force raised during the liberation war was responsible for many extra-judicial killings (much like what is being done today under the guise of RAB)to subdue primarily a combination of left-wing extremists and criminals. His assassination later in the year ended the promise of a secular, modern, democratic nation. The death of Sheikh Mujib, similar CIA engineered assassinations of democratically elected leaders starting with Mossadeq in Iran, Lumumba in Congo, and Allende in Chile.

Assassination

On August 15, 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, several members of his family including minors, and his personl staff and political confidantes were killed in a military coup. Although first given the appearance of an act of revenge by a group of disgruntled junior army officers, facts emerging later present evidence of a long-planned conspiracy. Some cabinet ministers, bureaucrats wary of civilian power, and military leaders later claiming the full glory of the war of independence participated in what appears to be a plan initiated and executed by the then Dhaka station-chief of the CIA. (See Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood and other books by Anthony Mascarenhas). Mujib was replaced by one of the conspirators, his former minister of commerce and of land revenue Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad. The only survivors in his immediate family were two of his daughters, who were away in West Germany at the time. In 1996, Sheikh Mujib's daughter, Sheikh Hasina, was elected prime minister.

Quote

"The struggle this time is for our freedom. The struggle this time is for our independence."

— from a speech by Bangobondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Racecourse Ground (now called Ramna Park) in Dhaka on March 7, 1971.

See also

• [[Sh Mujib ur Rehman http://www.ePakistan.co.nr]
• 6 Point Movement
• Mukti Bahini
• Bangladesh Liberation War
• Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

External Links

• Bangladesh Liberation War. Mujibnagar. Government Documents 1971