涩里番

Subho Basu (涩里番)

March 7, 1971, was a sunny, humid afternoon in Dhaka. Generally, people avoid coming out on the street during that time of the year. Yet millions gathered under the scorching sun that day to hear Sheikh Mujib. There was a thunderous applause when he announced, 鈥淪o, the struggle this time is a struggle for emancipation; the struggle this time is a struggle for independence!鈥� The big moment had arrived in East Pakistan, where millions wanted autonomy for East Pakistan but were denied such freedom by the military government of Pakistan. Sheikh Mujib鈥檚 speech on that day moved millions. He was eloquent but precise, resolute in his demand but not adamant. He called for a non-violent struggle to restore democracy and delivered his finest political speech, which remained etched in public memory. Yet this was not the end of the story.

My presentation will address the controversy surrounding Sheikh Mujib in Bangladesh as a political figure. Sheikh Mujib evoked a contrasting response from the people. Those who supported the Awami League political party considered him the 鈥榝ather of the nation鈥�; those who opposed him considered him a fraud, a dictator, an Indian agent, and the founder of 鈥榝ascistic political culture鈥� in Bangladesh. By investigating his life story, his rise to power, his cowardly assassination, and his controversial legacy, this presentation seeks to explain a critical evolution of Bangladesh as a province of Pakistan in 1947 to an independent 鈥榥ation-state鈥� in 1971.

Light refreshments served.