Khairul Alam : “I am the ardent admirer of the love of seven crore Bengalis. I can lose everything, but I cannot lose the love of the people of Bangladesh.” This is how the Father of the Nation, the great leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, expressed his love for his country and its people.
He was one of the foremost political leaders of Bangladesh, a key figure in the struggle for the establishment of Bangladesh, and revered as the architect of the nation.
He served as the first President of Bangladesh and later as its Prime Minister. He was honored with the title “Bangabandhu” by the people in 1969.
On this day in 1920, a beacon of light was born to dispel the darkness of a thousand years. With his birth, a nation’s destiny was written, a certificate of liberation; with his cries, echoed the agony of centuries of subjugation!
The world witnessed as that child one day showed the path to the nation, holding the torch of liberation, bringing freedom!
The birth anniversary of that liberator, the father of the Bengali nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is today. Bangabandhu and Bangladesh are inseparable. Sheikh Mujib means Bangladesh.
In the slogans of the freedom-loving people, the name Sheikh Mujib reverberates. In the conscience of the Bengali nation, the purest name, Sheikh Mujib, flows. He is eternal; an immortal consciousness from birth to birth, the name of unwavering consciousness of the Bengalis.
He is the supreme leader of the Bengali nation in the epic of freedom, the great guide of the path to liberation from the shackles of subjugation, the venerable figure worshipped by Bengalis for thousands of years.
He is the epitome of limitless courage of the Bengalis, the greatest hero of all time for the Bengalis.
With his hands, he held Bengal and showed the direction of freedom; he was also inspired by the golden horizon of economic liberation in the twentieth century, just as the Bengalis stood before the golden horizon of economic liberation in the path of the twentieth century, he too was inspired.
On March 17, 1920, in the enlightened house of Sheikh Lutfur Rahman and his mother Saira Khatun in Tungipara of Faridpur district in Bengal, a bright star named Sheikh Mujib was born. Among four sisters and two brothers, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the third.
Growing up amidst the sorrows and joys, laughter and tears, emotions and experiences of rural society, Bangabandhu deeply understood the rural life from childhood. The land and people of the village strongly attracted him. Since childhood, he witnessed the social harmony of Hindus and Muslims in the village. Even in his youth, he actively participated in politics.
In his twenty-three years of struggle and movement, Bangabandhu founded Bangladesh Chhatra League in 1948 and later in 1949 Bangladesh Awami League.
He led the Language Movement of 1952, the United Front election of 1954, the Education Movement of 1962, the Six-Point Movement of 1966, and emerged as the undisputed leader of the Bengalis in the historic election of 1970.
After the announcement of independence in the Racecourse Maidan on March 7, 1971, the country erupted in an unprecedented non-cooperation movement. With the arrest by the Pakistani occupying forces in the first hours of March 26, 1971, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman officially declared the independence of Bangladesh.
Through the sacrifice of 30 lakh martyrs and the anguish of 2 lakh mothers and sisters, during the nine-month-long armed struggle under the leadership of the great leader of the liberation war, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh achieved independence.
In the 21st century, 10th January 1972 was the only opportunity to celebrate four birthdays upon returning home. When a foreign journalist raised the topic of his birthday celebration, Bangabandhu said, “I don’t celebrate my birthday.
What is my birthday in this sorrowful Bengal, and what is my day of death? My life and death are for my people. The people of Bangladesh have no happiness in their lives. The people are almost dead today. What is my birthday again? I am yours.”
In the eyes of the world media, Bangabandhu was born as a momentary man. This extraordinary leader, admired by all, was called “the symbol of independence” or “the maestro of politics.” Even foreign admirers, harsh critics, and even enemies praised him in their own language for his lofty intellect.
In the twenty-first century, among the oppressed, tortured, and oppressed people, those who have fought and struggled for their rights, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is one of their greatest leaders.
For his relentless contributions to equality, friendship, freedom, democracy, and world peace, he was awarded the ‘Julio Curie’ award by the United Nations.
In the eyes of the BBC’s poll, he was chosen as the greatest Bengali of all time. In the world media, Bangabandhu is a briefly-lived man. His birthday is not celebrated. His life is dedicated to his people. He is the people’s man.