Today marks the birthday of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, born on March 17, 1920 in Tungipara, Gopalganj, to Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and Sayera Khatun.
From adolescence, Mujib was active in politics. As a student at Gopalganj Mission School, he was first arrested for joining the anti-British movement.
Later, while studying at Kolkata’s Islamia College, he came under the influence of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Abul Hashim, which strengthened his role in student politics.
His political career formally began in 1940 when he joined the All India Muslim Students Federation.
In 1946, he was elected General Secretary of the Islamia College Students’ Union.
On January 4, 1948, he founded the East Pakistan Muslim Chhatra League.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman emerged as the undisputed leader of the Bengali people through the Six-Point Movement of 1966, the mass uprising of 1969, and the 1970 general elections.
His historic speech on March 7, 1971 at the Racecourse Ground gave new momentum to the struggle for independence.
On March 25, 1971, he was arrested by the Pakistani military. After nine months of war, Bangladesh achieved independence on December 16, 1971.
Released from prison on January 8, 1972, Bangabandhu returned home via London and Delhi on January 10 to begin rebuilding the war-torn country.
Tragically, on August 15, 1975, he and most of his family members were assassinated.
Over his political life, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman spent a total of 4,682 days in prison, including eight birthdays behind bars.