Bangabandhu would have hoisted the flag of Bangladesh on the occasion of the golden jubilee of independence, nine days after his birthday.\u00a0 Bengalis have always profusely expressed their love and respect for Bangabandhu in poems, songs or other genres of arts and literature. Poet Jasimuddin used the analogy of volcano Visuvius to pen Sheikh Mujib\u2019s strong personality in a poem published on Mar 17, 1971, Bangabandhu\u2019s birthday.\u00a0 Bangabandhu never paid any importance to his birthday.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is the significance of my birth anniversary or death anniversary? My life and death are both dedicated to my people. I have dedicated my life to them,\u201d he used to say.\u00a0 It was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib who ushered the Bengalis to independence. He is the inspiration behind the journey of half a century through which the Bengalis have reached the point where they see economic liberty on the horizon.\u00a0 Last year, the government had planned to celebrate the birth centenary of Bangabandhu with majestic grandeur. The authorities, however, scaled down the celebrations considering the health hazards amid the coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, the celebration will continue until the next Dec 16 Victory Day. Amid the festivities of Bangabandhu\u2019s birth centenary, another moment of celebrations is arriving for Bangladesh \u2014 the golden jubilee of independence.\u00a0 The National Implementation Committee on the Celebration of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman\u2019s Birth Centenary has designed a 10-day programme in the Mujib Barsha and golden jubilee of independence focusing on \u2018Mujib Forever\u2019. The theme of this year\u2019s birth anniversary of Bangabandhu is \u2018Bhengechho Duar, Esechho Jyotirmoy.\u2019\u00a0 Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, president of the Maldives, will be present at the event on Bangabandhu\u2019s birth anniversary at National Parade Ground on Wednesday.\u00a0 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over the event while President Abdul Hamid will be the chief guest.\u00a0 Video messages of greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be played.\u00a0 Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib dedicated his entire life for the Bengalis. He never feared the gallows, which meant his family were deprived in many aspects.\u00a0 The independence architect spent almost a quarter of his life, which spanned for 54 years only, in jail. Hasina, Bangabandhu\u2019s daughter, explained how it led to the deprivation for his children.\u00a0 \u201cSheikh Kamal hadn\u2019t met father (in those days). When I was running to father and calling him, he was looking at him, astonished. Suddenly, he (Kamal) asked me \u2018can I call your father as mine?\u2019\u201d Hasina wrote. Sheikh Mujib is an inseparable part of Bangladesh and Bengalis. Hailing from a small village in Tungipara, he rose to be the greatest Bengali to ever walk the face of the earth.\u00a0 FROM KHOKA OF TUNGIPARA TO FATHER OF THE NATION\u00a0 Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was born on Mar 17, 1920 at Tungipara, Gopalganj in the Faridpur district.\u00a0 The third child of Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and Sheikh Sayera Khatun, he was fondly called \u2018Khoka\u2019.\u00a0 His siblings were Fatema Begum, Asia Begum, Amena Begum, Khodeja Begum and Sheikh Abu Naser.\u00a0 Khoka in his childhood and adolescence was brimming with energy and took an active part in several student movements. By the time he reached the age of 55, he had spent 4,682 days — that’s 13 years — in jail.\u00a0 Khoka went on to emerge as the Father of the Nation by putting Bangladesh on the world map with his vision and leadership.\u00a0 Sheikh Mujib studied at Gimadanga Primary School, Gopalganj Public School and Missionary School. He had a passion for football before he actively engaged in student movements and politics.\u00a0 Mujib was married to Sheikh Fazilatunnesa. Their offspring include daughters Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana and sons Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Russel. Sheikh Mujib began to work as an active member of the organisation ‘Muslim Seba Samity’ from his school days. The organisation used to collect rice in donation from Muslim households and pay for the education of poor students by selling it.\u00a0 He organised a reception for Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque, chief minister of undivided Bengal and Labour Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy in 1938 during their visit to Gopalganj.\u00a0 Sheikh Mujib was also vocal about student demands. It was the time he established contact with Suhrawardy.\u00a0 Later, he became secretary to Gopalganj Bengal Muslim Chhatra League and provincial councillor of Faridpur wing of All Bengal Muslim Chhatra League.\u00a0\u00a0 Mujib was elected secretary to Gopalganj Muslim Defence Commitee. He was known as a brave person and a rebel in his student days.\u00a0 In 1941, Sheikh Mujib was elected councillor of Bengal Muslim Chhatra Federation for a year. He was arrested twice that year.\u00a0 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman cleared matriculation examinations in 1942 from Gopalganj Missionary School. He graduated from Kolkata Islamia College, now known as Moulana Azad College, in 1947.\u00a0 In 1943, he was elected councillor of Bengal Provincial Muslim League, a branch of All India Muslim League. He was also elected, uncontested, general secretary of the student council in Kolkata Islamia College in 1946.\u00a0 With a vision to establish a sovereign and independent Bengal as a third country besides India and Pakistan, Mujib joined the movement led by Suhrawardy in 1947.\u00a0 Though the initiative was scrapped later, Bangabandhu nurtured his dream of an independent country based on the idea. He took part in Mahatma Gandhi’s peace mission with his political idol Suhrawardy.\u00a0 POLITICAL CAREER BEGINS\u00a0 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman enrolled to study law in Dhaka University in 1948. He formed the East Pakistan Muslim Chhatra League, the first-ever student organisation in Pakistan that opposed the government.\u00a0 It was in the same year that Mujib initiated a movement against the Muslim League’s conspiracy to establish Urdu as the sole national language in Pakistan.\u00a0 He proposed the ‘Sarbadoliyo Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad’ or an all-party council for national language, in the meeting at Fazlul Haque Muslim Hall in Dhaka University.\u00a0 Mujib along with his associates were arrested when they went on strike over the demand to establish Bangla as a national language. But the authorities had to release them in the face of agitations.\u00a0 While studying in Dhaka University, Mujib was arrested because of his role in the struggle for establishing the rights of fourth-class\u00a0 employees of the university.\u00a0 The Awami Muslim League, which is now known as the Awami League, was formed on Jun 23, 1949 while Mujib was in prison. He was elected joint secretary of the organisation. Bangabandhu spent two years – 1950 and 1951 – in jail.\u00a0 In 1952, the then Pakistan Prime Minister Khaja Nazimuddin announced that “Urdu will be the only national language in Pakistan.” Protests broke out against the decision and Sheikh Mujib actively engaged with the demonstrations by sending directives from prison.\u00a0 On Feb 21, 1952, the Chhatra Sangram\u00a0 Parishad called for a general strike to press their demand of making Bangla the national language. Protesters took out a procession, defying the Section 144 imposed by the government. Police opened fire on the procession killing Rafique, Salam, Barkat, Jabbar, Shafiur and others.\u00a0 Sheikh Mujib went on a hunger strike in jail and was released after 11 days on Feb 27.\u00a0 SHEIKH MUJIB – THE RISE OF A BENGALI LEADER\u00a0 Sheikh Mubiur Rahman rose to lead the Bengalis when he was elected general secretary of Awami Muslim League in 1953. \u00a0The first general election in East Pakistan was held on Mar 10, 1954. Jukto Front had a landslide victory in the election, winning 223 of the 237 seats, with the Awami League itself bagging 143 seats.\u00a0 Sheikh Mujib was elected from the Gopalganj constituency and took oath as the cooperative and agriculture minister of the new provincial government. He was the youngest member of the Jukto Front cabinet.\u00a0 Mujib returned to Dhaka from Karachi when the Pakistan central government abruptly declared the cabinet null and void. Later he was arrested and then released on Dec 23. Under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the word \u2018Muslim\u2019 was dropped and the party was renamed as the \u2018Awami League\u2019 during its council in 1955. Mujib was re-elected general secretary of the party.\u00a0 He then joined the provincial government as a minister, but left the cabinet after nine months only to organise his party. He was elected the Awami League general secretary again in 1957.\u00a0 To move towards his goal of achieving independence for Bangladesh, Mujib had formed a secret organisation called \u2018Swadhin Bangla Biplabi Parishad\u2019 with student leaders.\u00a0 Pakistan President Major General Iskandar Mirza and Army chief General Ayub Khan imposed martial law and banned all political activities the next year.\u00a0 Mujib was arrested and harassed with multiple false cases. He was released after four years when the martial law ended.\u00a0\u00a0 He went to Lahore and under the leadership of Suhrawardy, formed the \u2018Gonotantrik Front\u2019 that included other opposition parties.\u00a0 BECOMING BANGABANDHU\u00a0 The Awami League was revived in 1964 at a special meeting at Sheikh Mujib\u2019s residence in Road No. 32 in Dhanmondi. Moulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish was elected party president and Sheikh Mujib general secretary. The Awami League emerged as an independent party breaking out of the Jatiya Gonotantrik Front.\u00a0 Mujib was arrested prior to the presidential election and jailed for a year. He was released only on a High Court order.\u00a0 During the conference of opposition parties in Lahore, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman presented the historical \u2018Six Point Charter of Demands.\u2019\u00a0 The proposed charter was the base of the independence of the Bengalis. The Six Point charter sowed the seed of struggle to attain economic and social independence for the people in Bangladesh, as it struck the Pakistani colonialism.\u00a0 After serving the Awami League as its general secretary for 15 years, Sheikh Mujib was elected president of the party. He then began to travel across the country to create public opinion in favour of the Six Point charter.\u00a0 He was arrested eight times in three months during that time. He spent the entire 1967 in prison and was later jailed for about three years.\u00a0 AGARTALA CONSPIRACY CASE\u00a0 The Pakistan government started a sedation case against 35 persons, naming Sheikh Mujib as the prime accused while charging them with initiating a separatist movement in Pakistan with the assistance of India. The case \u2018State vs Sheikh Mujib and others\u2019 would become known as the \u2018Agartala Conspiracy Case\u2019.\u00a0 People took to the streets demanding the withdrawal of the case and release of Sheikh Mujib. The widespread agitations forced the Ayub Khan government to release him and other prisoners in the Agartala conspiracy case on Feb\u00a0 22, 1969.\u00a0 On Feb 23, the Kendriya Chhatra Sangram Parishad honoured Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with the title \u2018Bangabandhu\u2019 at the Race Course ground, now known as Suhrawardy Udyan, in a rally attended by thousands of students.\u00a0 In a rally organised by the Awami League on Dec 5, marking the death anniversary of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Mujib changed the name of East Pakistan to \u2018Bangladesh.\u2019\u00a0 The Awami League won a landslide in the 1970 general elections with the symbol of ‘boat’.\u00a0 It won 167 of the 169 seats in the East Pakistan part of the national council and 298 seats of the 310 in the provincial council.\u00a0 FATHER OF THE NATION LEADS TO INDEPENDENCE\u00a0 The national council session was postponed for an indefinite period in 1971 and it fuelled the Bengalis\u2019 dream to achieve freedom.\u00a0 From Mar 1 onwards, Bangabandhu was the one who led the country.\u00a0 On Mar 7, he declared in a huge rally in the Race Course ground, \u2018Ebarer sangram amader muktir sangram, ebarer sangram shadinotar sangram,\u2019\u00a0 — this time the struggle is for our freedom, this time the struggle is for our independence.\u00a0 Through this historical speech, Bangabandhu called on the people to prepare for the Liberation War.\u00a0 On Mar 25, the Pakistani military launched a genocide against unarmed Bengali civilians.\u00a0 Bangabandhu declared the independence of Bangladesh on the first hour of Mar 26.\u00a0 The first government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was formed on Apr 17 with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as its president.\u00a0 Syed Nazrul Islam was chosen acting president in the absence of Bangabandhu and Tajuddin Ahmad was made prime minister. The government took its oath in Baidyanathtala, Meherpur.\u00a0 Bangladesh achieved its independence after a bloody nine-month war with the surrender of the Pakistan forces on Dec 16, 1971.\u00a0 Bangabandhu returned home to an independent Bangladesh on Jan 10 in 1972 via London and New Delhi.\u00a0 He became prime minister of war-torn Bangladesh on Jan 12, 1972 with a vision to rebuild the country.\u00a0 The Awami League formed government on Mar 7, 1973 by winning 293 out of a possible 300 seats in the first general election in Bangladesh held under the new constitution.\u00a0 During his rule of three and a half years, Bangabandhu positioned the new country on a robust platform.\u00a0 Bangladesh commemorates Aug 15 as the National Mourning Day, the darkest day in its history when the father of the nation was killed. They also pay their tribute to the greatest leader nurturing his courage and ideology in their hearts.\u00a0 The Awami League has changed its economic philosophy but still follows in the footsteps of Bangabandhu to translate his dream of a Golden Bangla into reality, says his daughter Hasina. With his charisma, Bangabandhu still lives on in the hearts and minds of the nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bangabandhu would have hoisted the flag of Bangladesh on the occasion of the golden jubilee of independence, nine days after his birthday.\u00a0 Bengalis have always profusely expressed their love and respect for Bangabandhu in poems, songs or other genres of arts and literature. Poet Jasimuddin used the analogy of volcano Visuvius to pen Sheikh Mujib\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialherald.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialherald.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialherald.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialherald.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialherald.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/financialherald.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1046,"href":"https:\/\/financialherald.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions\/1046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialherald.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialherald.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialherald.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialherald.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}