The light he lit
The path to independence was not to be an easy one. It had started soon after Pakistan was created when the question of language became the crux of existence for the Bangalis of East Pakistan.
On 25 March 1971, the Bangali nation was ready for independence. And they had chosen the only Bangali fit to lead them to the ultimate realisation of their dream of self-actualisation, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The path to independence was not to be an easy one. It had started soon after Pakistan was created when the question of language became the crux of existence for the Bangalis of East Pakistan. After the February 1952 events, it had become clear to the Bangalis that they needed the assurance of a political, social, and economic structure that would recognise them to be what they were, not what a certain group of people wanted them to be.
So began the saga of a nation in the middle of the 20th century to culminate in an independent Bangladesh under the leadership of a man who would become the greatest of all Bangalis and deliver freedom to them.
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He began as a provincial leader of a political party and through his untiring work in every corner of his country, connected with the soul of the nation and made it ready for the final battle for independence.
The Bangalis had given Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib and The Awami League their full support to realise their inalienable rights in the election of 1970. The whole nation and the country were agog in a euphoric anticipation to see Sheikh Mujib as the statesman who would bring their rights on the centre stage.
The Pakistani military rulers had a different idea. When general Yahya Khan, the president of Pakistan abruptly cancelled the general assembly session in the first week of March 1971 to deny the Bangalis their rights, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman took the people into confidence and on 7 March delivered his immortal speech at the Race Course Maidan, declaring independence. It was the death of Pakistan that day.
On the night of 25 March, president Yahya Khan left Dhaka under the cloak of darkness and the Pakistan Army went into the execution of a very well-planned military action named Operation Searchlight to find and kill the key leaders of The Awami League, student leaders, and anyone who were considered to be sympathetic to the party and its ideas. The whole city was burning while the top brass of the Pakistan military lounged in comfortable couches on the green lawn of their headquarters in the Second Capital area of the city and monitored the ongoing massacre.
A special operation group went and arrested Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his residence at Dhanmondi Road 32. Before his arrest, Bangabandhu had recorded his final declaration of independence and directions to the people. His cohorts had arranged the declaration to be wirelessly broadcast from the EPR headquarters at Peelkhana, mere kilometres from his residence.
Days later, Awami League leaders at Chattagram would take over a radio station at Kalurghat and broadcast the declaration repeatedly for all to hear.
Meanwhile, the top leadership of the party had made their way to India on directions from Bangabandhu and formed a government to conduct the War of Independence.
The nation went through immense hardship while the Pakistani military conducted a genocide that has no parallels in history. The poorly outfitted freedom fighters and the newly raised regular forces comprising land, naval and air force, fought with extreme valour until the final December victory and realisation of a new country under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
