It is incontrovertible that 15 years of misrule by the Awami League during its last tenure resulted in Bangladesh not only losing its democratic make-up but also a gradual loss of integrity on the part of our many institutions. The collective anger and frustration built up over a decade and a half is what ultimately led to the party’s downfall this year, which was nothing if not justified.
However, the interim government’s recent decision to cancel a number of national days, one of them being the historic March 7 speech delivered by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, merits scrutiny.
On the one hand, decisions such as the cancellation of historic days do nothing but take away attention from some of the most pressing issues facing Bangladesh at the moment -- issues such as our still hemorrhaging law and order situation and ever-increasing prices of essentials -- on the other hand, it risks fueling further unrest by provoking the kind of harmful politics that the nation has collectively agreed to leave behind.
There is absolutely merit in claiming that this is perhaps the result of the Awami League hijacking the legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman -- a figure that belongs to all of Bangladesh and not just any one party -- but disregarding key dates relating to our nation’s very birth in such a blanket manner is tantamount to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Let us end these interminable battles over history and our different interpretations of it, and instead focus on the very real problems that the nation faces today and how to build a better future together.