Bangabandhu's Brutal Assassination Stigmatized the Nation

Hiren Pandit:

There was a conspiracy against him, Bangabandhu knew it. But the people of the country are conspiring to assassinate him-it seems Bangabandhu could not have imagined. At the Commonwealth Summit in Jamaica, the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, stood up where Bangabandhu was sitting and said, 'Sheikh Saheb, we have alarming news. There is a conspiracy against you. 'In reply, Bangabandhu said,' Madam Indira, don't worry. No Bengali will touch me. If they do, I will go to the village with the sheet (chador) around my neck. Sheikh Mujib is not the one to hold on to power.'

Political assassinations and military coups need long preparation, careful planning, and execution. The involvement of a few insiders and the support of foreign powers make things easier. In cases where the victim is someone like the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the task is more challenging.

The killers of Bangabandhu planned meticulously and acted professionally. Unfortunately, to make things easier for the killers, Bangabandhu himself never believed any harm could be caused to him or his family. On a few occasions, some well-wishers of Bangabandhu tried to warn him, but he brushed their warnings aside, saying that his people could never cause him any harm.

Despite knowing that there is a threat to life, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib never paid attention to the matter. Despite repeated warnings from various individuals and organizations, he never imagined that the people of Bengal could kill him. Leader of the people Sheikh Hasina is an exception at least in this case. Her security arrangements have been arranged considering the highest risk. She knows the assassin's bullets are chasing her all the time. In the last era, Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken the whole country to new heights.

The intolerant political environment provided the logistics for Bangabandhu's assassination. The emergence of opposition political forces in the newly independent country, the secret united forces of the defeated forces of 1971, the secret armed groups of the far-left parties on one side, formation of squads, police stations, bank robberies, murders, robberies on the other side confuse the people. And the conspirators took advantage of this opportunity. The killers meet the target.

At the end of the successful mission, Bangladesh was taken back to the fundamentalist ideology. Experts believe that the emerging leftist forces between 1972 and 1975 were largely responsible for creating the conditions for Bangabandhu's assassination. An ideological dilemma arose over the management of the newly independent country.

Awami League leaders considered democracy as their first choice. US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said he had three enemies outside the United States. One is Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the other two are Chilean President Salvador Allende and Vietnamese statesman Nguyen Van Thu. His political goal was to overthrow them anyway.

Of the three, he was the most dissatisfied with Sheikh Mujib, as it was because of Sheikh Mujib that the civil war broke out in Pakistan in 1971, which severely disrupted his plan to build Sino-US relations with Pakistan's help. Not only that, because of Sheikh Mujib, Bangladesh had good relations with India and Russia, the political rivals of America at that time, which was negative for America. So, at any cost, he intended to overthrow Mujib and establish his own favorable rule in Bangladesh.

The brutal assassination of Bangabandhu was the first direct military intervention in the civil administration-centric politics of Bangladesh. The assassination is considered an ideological turning point in Bangladesh. Analysts agree it was not a mere murder, but a political motive behind it. The verdict in the murder case also mentions the political conspiracy in brief. However, the political motive behind the brutal assassination and its involvement with the politicians of the time remained unclear even after the trial.

According to analysts, it is not at all simple that some local army members will kill the father of the nation with their families with unarmed tanks and take over the radio and television to report the murder to the nation. Bangabandhu was a nationalist leader. In the interest of the nation, in the interest of the country. Many countries in the Middle East, the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia, sided with Pakistan in the war.

Mainly due to support with the defeat of Pakistan in 1971. They too were defeated. On the other hand, the Cold War was going on all over the world. World politics was turbulent then. Bangabandhu was a huge factor in regional politics. Naturally, Bangabandhu was the victim of the Cold War. The politics of the subcontinent was weakened by the assassination of Bangabandhu.

According to researchers, Mujib's assassination has two dimensions. One is domestic politics and the other is international. None of this came up in the trial. Bangabandhu's assassination has been tried in the same way as the other ten murders under the country's customary law. Regarding the background of Bangabandhu's brutal assassination.

The murderers wanted to kill the soul of the state by killing Bangabandhu. Kills nationalism, non-communal, democratic, exploitation-free Bangladesh. It undermines the four principles of the state through the military rule. Bangabandhu's murder has been tried. However, the conspiracy did not come up in the trial.

After the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August 1975, it was a difficult time for the Awami League. After the assassination of Bangabandhu, his family members were also killed so that no one could take the helm of the Awami League. To assassinate Bangabandhu's ideology, four national leaders of the party were also brutally killed in jail on November 3. All sorts of mischievous attempts were made to destroy the Awami League. The leaders of the party were divided into different groups and sub-groups. Many of the senior leaders were betrayed. There was the instability of leadership.

There was the cowardice of the leadership. Some joined the cabinet of Khondaker Mushtaq by climbing the ladder of Bangabandhu's blood. Leaders and activists of the party across the country were arrested at that time. Inhuman torture was carried out. Their homes and businesses were set on fire. Many leaders and activists were shot dead.

There was not a single competent leader in the Awami League who could call for the prevention of such a tragic event. Even then, the grassroots leaders of the party did not give up. They wanted someone to call a resistance. But there was no leader to make that call. As a result, the politics of the Awami League was covered with the black cloud of the long new moon.

Bangabandhu's two daughters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana were in a hardship life abroad. The uncompromising leaders had to flee on the question of Bangabandhu. Highlighting the miserable days, the then leader said after the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu and his family on August 15, we hoped that resistance would be built in protest of this tragic incident.

The grassroots activists of Awami League, Chhatra League, and Juba League were ready to build resistance. But that did not happen due to a lack of competent leadership. Because, at that time there was the weakness of leadership, cowardice, hesitation. If resistance had been called for in any way, the whole country would have been in turmoil.

The fire of revenge for the murder of the father is in the heart of the misguided Awami League. Organizational activities began to turn around. Awami League leaders and workers across the country were rejuvenated and organized around this council. The session demanded the immediate withdrawal of martial law and the transfer of power to the people's representatives through general elections. They demanded the release of jailed Awami League leaders and activists and a trial for the August 15 killings and jail killings.

After the final victory in the War of Independence, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released from prison in Pakistan and returned to independent Bangladesh on 10 January 1972. He helped in restructuring the country's constitution, education, health, and economy. After independence, the defeated forces, domestic and foreign conspirators started various conspiracies against the economy and politics of the country.

Before the war of independence of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were assassinated on the night of 15 August 1975 when Bangabandhu was the President of independent Bangladesh. August 15 is not only a big disaster in the history of Bangladesh, it is a scandalous chapter in the history of the world.

The great architect of independence, Bangabandhu, and his wife and children were assassinated just three and a half years after the country became independent, which has no comparison in the history of the world. After the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu and his family, the shadow of intense mourning descended on the whole world, and the poison of hatred spread. After the assassination of Bangabandhu the people of the country lost their trust as human beings across the world. The Bengalis who can kill Sheikh Mujib can do any heinous act.

By assassinating Bangabandhu on 15 August, the brave Bengalis introduced themselves to the world as a cowardly-suicidal nation as the traitor. By assassinating Sheikh Mujib, the dreamer of the Bengali nation, the Bengali nation has shown its suicidal character to the people of the world. By killing Bangabandhu, the spirit of freedom was forgotten.

For a long time, it seemed that there was no real existence of Bangladesh without Bangabandhu. However, it can be said that if the Bengali nation is the name of consciousness, the name of a dream, the name of history of creation, the name of aspiration, the name of struggle, and the name of success - then its embodiment is Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He is the great hero of history. Bangabandhu will remain immortal in the heart of Bengalis forever.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently said the perpetrators behind the conspiracy in assassinating Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would be unmasked one day. Sheikh Hasina also renewed her vow to materialize Bangabandhu's unfinished dream of building a hunger- and-poverty-free Bangladesh

Writer: Research Fellow, Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication, BNNRC

Source: Daily Asian Age