Whose fault is it that a large section of our young people have a poor sense of national history? Have we been abdicating our responsibility of imparting the details of our legacy to them? Or have we focused too much on ourselves and so ignored the young?
These are questions which come up when we observe young men and women making their way happily to the Ekushey Boi Mela and yet unaware of the background to the happenings of February 1952. A few private television channels have been catching up with these young people at the fair grounds and examining them on their knowledge of history. In almost every instance of a response, the performance of the young has been atrocious to say the least.
There are those who simply have no idea of the Language Movement. There are those who believe that in 1952 a war broke out between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Some confidently let you know that the War of Liberation took place in 1962, that the Language Movement dates back to 1972. For many of these young men and women, March 26 is Victory Day and December 16 is Independence Day.
A report carried by a reputed Bangla newspaper not long ago revealed the shocking discovery that the young have little or no idea of the four national leaders who provided leadership to the guerrilla struggle against Pakistan in 1971.
That begs the question: Why don’t they know anything about Tajuddin Ahmad, Syed Nazrul Islam, M Mansoor Ali, and A H M Kamruzzaman, the leaders who shaped wartime strategy, presided over our battlefield victory and then perished in the land they freed? Why is it that the young are not aware of the 11 sectors and the sector commanders who spearheaded the war against the Pakistan army?
We must not delude ourselves into imagining that we of the older generation, especially the generation which was witness to 1971, have done our job of enlightening those born after the war about the political heritage which has underpinned our history. How fair and dispassionate have we been about focusing on the contributions of the four national leaders to the making of this country? They were all dedicated loyalists of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leaders who Bangabandhu knew were politically accomplished enough to guide the nation in his absence. They did the job with finesse.
But have we presented them to the young as the great men they were? Not much mention is made of them, unless it is the Mujibnagar anniversary of April 17 or the anniversary of their assassination on November 3. Beyond that, neither the young nor we who are in the twilight of life have much information about their lives and political careers. To what extent have we brought the stories of these great men before the nation? And have we at all tried speaking of their contributions before audiences abroad? Have we initiated any seminars at the national level on their lives and achievements?
In all seriousness, let us ask ourselves how many biographies of these four national leaders have been written in the decades since they were murdered in the darkness of prison? More importantly, have we at all been serious about analyzing the politics which shaped the philosophies of these four men and which philosophies they sought to enlighten the nation with?
The fault, dear readers, does not lie with our stars. The fault is within ourselves. When the young cannot respond to questions about history, we are left red in the face. The very next moment, though, we go into questioning ourselves. Have we taught these young the details behind the Six Point movement of the 1960s? Have we properly informed them why East Bengal became part of Pakistan in 1947 and then fought a war to form the sovereign state of Bangladesh?
All our conversations have focused on the abstract. We elderly people have only been speaking to ourselves. We have been preaching to the converted, to each other, without stressing the need for history to be made an integral part of education at all levels. Why have we been unable to have Bangladesh’s history form an essential chapter at madrasa, school, college and university?
In these times when the media happily go into shaping programmes -- of music, fashion, movie talks, celebrity interviews, cooking shows and so much else -- how many of our newspapers and television and radio channels have devoted concentrated programs on history for the young? How many organizations have there been to arrange regular essay competitions on national history for school and college-going students? Of course we feel indignant when a teenager breaks into silly laughter, unable to answer a query on history.
Of course we are scandalized when a young man does not recall if it was in 1961 or 1971 that the War of Liberation took place. Of course we are shocked when many young people remain oblivious to the history of the Agartala Conspiracy Case, to the murder of Sergeant Zahurul Haque. Ask the young when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became Bangabandhu. Ask them of the history of the political negotiations between the Awami League, the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan army in March 1971, of Bangabandhu’s captivity in Pakistan. Chances are you will draw a blank.
The conclusion? These historical details have not been offered to the young in their classrooms. The sadder thought is in knowing that teachers of history do not appear to have done the job of enlightening these young with the realities shaping the political heritage of this country.
That Maulana Bhashani was the first president of the Awami League, that the party was initially known as the Awami Muslim League, that Shamsul Haq was the party’s first general secretary, that the Jukto Front won the provincial elections in 1954 and was dismissed a couple of months later are truths the young must know, in a way that when they become adults they can impart this education to their children.
History is a comprehensive study of civilizations and nations. It becomes the moral and social responsibility of older generations to ensure that it remains the bond linking people with the past, with the heritage their nations are heir to. In our times, given the depressing reality of many among the young remaining divorced from history, it is of critical importance that a new and coordinated focus on the historical background of Bangladesh -- and that means a focus on all the individuals, groups, organizations, movements contributing to the national cause between 1947 and 1971 -- be emphasised.
How many of the young know of the sacrifice of Dhirendranath Dutta? How many have heard of Nachol and Ila Mitra? Of the Khapra Ward massacre? Of Jinnah’s visit to Dhaka in 1948? Of the students’ movement against the education commission report of 1962?
Questions, only questions. We should be arming our young people with the answers.
Syed Badrul Ahsan is Consultant Editor, Dhaka Tribune.
