On this day in 1920, a child was born in the remote village of Tungipara in Gopalganj. Over the next 50 years, this child would change the course of Bangladesh's history with his relentless determination for freedom.
His parents named him Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. By the time his illustrious life was cruelly cut short by power-hungry assassins, over 75 million people had proudly come to revere him as Bangabandhu, the Father of the Nation.
Bangabandhu was the third child among four daughters and two sons of Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and Sayera Khatun. Sheikh Lutfar was a government employee at Gopalganj civil court.
Bangabandhu's parents played a key role in his early education, as he was initially taught at home. His parents kept three tutors for him: Maulvi Sahib for teaching Islam, Pandit Sakhawat Ullah Patwari for general education, and Kazi Abdul Hamid as a mentor.
His early education suffered for about four years due to eye ailments. He completed his matriculation from Gopalganj Missionary School in 1942, Intermediate of Arts (IA) from Calcutta Islamia College in 1944, and BA from the same college in 1947.
A born leader
Bangabandhu showed potential as a leader even during his school life. In 1938, the young Sheikh Mujibur Rahman organized a demonstration in order to impress the visiting AK Fazlul Huq, then chief minister of Bengal.
When he was a student at Islamia College, he was elected general secretary of the college students union in 1946.
Bangabandhu was also an activist of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League and a member of the All-India Muslim League Council from 1943 onwards.
In politics, he was a fervent follower of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, a legendary leader in the Indian subcontinent and considered a champion of democracy.
After the partition of India in 1947, Bangabandhu took admission in the University of Dhaka to study law. However, he could not complete his degree as he was expelled from DU in early 1949 over his support for the legitimate demands of the fourth-class employees of the university.
Sheikh Mujib was one of the principal organizers behind the formation of the East Pakistan Muslim Students League in 1948. He also played an important role in the Language Movement from behind bars. He was among the first Language Movement detainees on March 11, 1948.
In 1953, he was elected general secretary of the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League, subsequently renamed Awami League, a position he held until he became president of the party in 1966.
Rise in politics
Bangabandhu established his full command of the party by using his skills as a magnetic orator and organizer throughout the early 1960s. In 1966, he announced his famous Six-Point “charter for our survival”.
His insistence on freedom and equal rights for the people of Bangladesh put him at odds with the regime of General Ayub Khan, which resorted to putting him in detention repeatedly and eventually incarcerating him in the infamous Agartala Conspiracy Case.
Instead of discouraging Bangabandhu and his supporters, the controversial case only served to embolden them. Sheikh Mujib's charisma grew as all of Bangladesh stood together to protest the imprisonment of its leader.
The mass movement, organized mostly by youths, gained such momentum that the Ayub regime withdrew the case in early 1969 in an attempt to avoid civil war. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was unconditionally released on February 22 of the same year.
During a reception organized by Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad at the Ramna Race Course (now Suhrawardy Udyan) following his release, Sheikh Mujib was anointed as Bangabandhu by public acclamation.
Struggle for liberation
In 1970, during the first general election of still-united Pakistan, Bangabandhu was due to be sworn in as supreme leader as his party had secured 167 (including seven reserved seats for women) out of 169 seats in the Pakistan National Assembly for erstwhile East Pakistan. The total number of seats for the whole of Pakistan was 313.
However, the Pakistani ruling class and vested interests were adamant in their refusal to hand over power to Bangabandhu. Tension began to build between West Pakistan and East Pakistan, ultimately culminating in the Liberation War of 1971 and the emergence of East Pakistan as the sovereign state of Bangladesh.
In early March 1971, Bangabandhu initiated a non-cooperation movement against the oppression by the rulers in Pakistan. On March 7, he delivered his historic address at the Ramna Race Course which effectively served as an unofficial declaration of independence.
Bangabandhu was again arrested on the night of March 25 and confined at Dhaka Cantonment until he was taken to Pakistan to face charges of sedition and inciting insurrection.
Before his arrest, Bangabandhu sent a wireless message to Chittagong, officially declaring the independence of Bangladesh.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was not released from Pakistani incarceration until after the liberation of Bangladesh on December 16. He was received with raucous applause and jubilation when he arrived in Dhaka via London on January 10, 1972.
After returning to the country, he headed the first post-liberation government of Bangladesh for just three-and-a-half years. During this time, he made significant progress in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.
Bangabandhu's time at the pinnacle of the country's leadership was cut short when a group of disgruntled army officers assassinated him and most of his family on August 15, 1975. The incident remains one of the darkest chapters in Bangladesh's history.
Only Bangabandhu's daughters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana survived the assassination, as they were abroad at the time.
