Caliph is a title given to the supreme religious and political leaders of an Islamic state, or Caliphate. It is also the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, the political successors to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali are widely known as the four Caliphs of Islam, as they spread and practised the message of the Prophet Muhammad in ancient times, according to some Islamic history books.
Ahead of the Liberation War of 1971, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was also spreading some messages and directions to the people of the country. Chattra league and Chattra Sangram Parishad leaders Abdul Quddus Makhan, Shahjahan Siraz, A S M Abdur Rob, and Nure Alam Siddique led the way in spreading Bangabandhu's message.
Shortly after the general election of 1970, the quartet became known as the four Caliphs of Bangabandhu. In a column published in 2018, Nure Alam Siddique said he himself does not know how this came to be.
“It is well known and universally accepted - the people of Bengal called us the four caliphs immediately after the absolute victory in the 1970s elections. Who, why, and how the word Caliph came to be used before our names - is still truly unknown to me,” he said.
Courtesy“No matter who invented it, it not only spread like a pure sunrise in the desert to every people in Bangladesh but also filled everyone's hearts with wonder, and in no time the name of Caliphs was being spoken and circulated in the media. According to my knowledge, Bangabandhu can be a source of this. What he could not say in his own mouth for the sake of constitutional responsibility in politics or because the Pakistanis might label him as a separatist provocateur; many things struck his heart, but he refrained from stating them publicly because they might cause confusion in the public mind. Those words were openly and unabashedly established through our voices,” Nure Alam Siddique added.
Strong support from students, led by the four Caliphs of Bangabandhu, played a major role in expediting the march to liberation, such as in the 11-point and six-point movements.
March 1, 1971 is a very significant day in our Liberation War history. On this day, Bangabandhu instructed students leaders to form a Chattra Sangram Parishad. Chattra league President Nure Alam Siddique, General Secretary Shahjahan Siraz, DUCSU Vice President (VP) A S M Abdur Rob, and General Secretary Abdul Quddus Makhan in a meeting formed the Chattra Sangram Parishad in the afternoon the same day, according to the “History of student movement in Bangladesh 1830-1971” by Dr Mohammed Hannan.
Why were other student organizations not included?
There is some debate about why Chattra League formed the Chattra Sangram Parishad alone with their own organization's men when Chattra Union and other powerful student wings were available that time.
According to an interview of Nure Alam Siddique, meeting between Chattra Union and Chattra League leaders was held at Hotel Purbani on March 1 but a consensus could not be reached.
Another significant meeting was held on the March 1 night at Iqbal Hall of Dhaka University (now Zohurul Hoque Hall), where former Chattra league leader Sheikh Fazlul Hoque Moni, Sirazul Alam Khan, Abdur Razzaq, Tofail Ahmed and running leader of that time Nure Alam Siddique, Shahjahan Siraz, A S M Abdur Rob and Abdul Quddus Makhan were present.
Several historic decisions were taken at the meeting, including on the shape, colour and design of the flag of Bangladesh and the national anthem. The meeting also called a mass rally at Bottola of Dhaka University on March 2 to unofficially unveil the new flag.
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On March 24, 1971, the first Bangladeshi flag was officially hoisted across several places in Bangladesh. Bangabandhu hoisted the flag with his own hand at his residence of Dhanmondi 32 around 5am.
At 9am, the Bangladeshi flag was officially hoisted with the singing of the national anthem at the Paltan Maidan.
Joy Bangla Bahini performed a parade at the Paltan Maidan and showed a military salute to the four Caliphs, and the huge crowd then marched to Dhanmondi 32 to meet with Bangabandhu.
Nure Alam Siddique CourtesyOn this day, a Dhaka-based English newspaper named “The People” wrote: “A new flag is born today-a flag with a golden map of Bangladesh implanted on a red circle placed in the middle of a deep green rectangle base. This is the latest flag added to the total list of the flags representing various states and nations of the contemporary world. This is the flag for ‘independent Bangladesh'. This is the flag that symbolizes the emancipation of 75 million Bangalees.”
Remembering that rally, Nure Alam Siddique wrote: “We reached Dhanmoni 32 with the ever-increasing procession and I was formally handed over the flag of Bangladesh to Mujib Bhai as the President of the Chhatra League. He was not only an embodiment of the liberation war movement. In the oath that I recited on the eve of the formation of the Sadhin Bangla Chattra Sangram Parishad on March 1st, I declared Bangabandhu as the architect of independence and the chief commander of the ongoing movement in the oath spoken before millions of people.”
“Interestingly, these student leaders had already gained universal recognition as the four caliphs. Not only the student society but also the hearts of the mass people and the agitators and even the media have started to apply the name of the four caliphs. Whoever or whatever labelled us as the four caliphs, the universal acceptance was so rapid that it astonishes me even today. No matter how amazed I am, I am sure that the unspoken words and programs of Bangabandhu reached the people through us and the masses also carried out those programs without any dilemma and spontaneously,” he added.