BP Desk
The historic 7th March speech of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was not only a political speech delivered at a mammoth public gathering, it was rather a glaring example of bravery of the strongest leadership of a statesman of a great acumen.
By his 7th March speech, Bangabandhu launched a non-violent non-cooperation movement against the oppressor Pakistani Junta rulers. The non-violent non-cooperation movement launched by him was a great example of Gandhian philosophy and action. It can be compared with the civil rights march of Martin Luther King.
The moment was very dramatic. The Pakistani forces were ready to strike if Sheikh Mujib unilaterally declared independence. They can branded him as secessionist and punish him for breaking up Pakistan. But Sheikh Mujib delivered a brilliant speech, short but thoughtful, at the same time inspiring. He narrated 23 year history of Pakistan, explained how every effort to establish democracy were negated by the rulers. He emphasized on the democratic verdict of the people and on the basis of that said, "The struggle this time is the struggle for our emancipation, the struggle for our Independence". In a crafted way he played with the word 'emancipation and independence'. He made his point clear and the people got the message. At the same time it was not a unilateral declaration of independence, but a call for independence.
The speech very powerfully conveyed the message that the Bengali people united to achieve their right will fight to the end. It is also important to note that the call was for a non-violent struggle which may become armed struggle for emancipation if the military attacked with brutal force. That happened on 25 March, 1971 when Pakistan Army launched their brutal genocidal attack. On 26 March Sheikh Mujib declared independence and after nine-months of war Bangladesh emerged as an independent state with the defeat of Pakistan Army.
Voice of thunder roars
The 7th March speech of the Bangabandhu in contents and quality has been recognised as equivalent to that of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address and to those of Demosthenes , the great Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. Bangabandhu’s 7th March oration constitutes a significant expression of his intellectual prowess and provides insight into the politics of the then East Pakistan.
The speech of the Father of The Nation, seems to be the exact reflection of a line in the poem of Gitanjali of the immortal bard Rabindranath Tagore, where the poet sings, "Chitto Jetha Bhoyshunyo, Uchcho Jetha Shir" (Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high)."
The March 7 speech of the Bangabandhu is indeed more than a beautiful and glorious piece of poem that inspired the Bangalees to wage a war of liberation from the exploitation of the then West Pakistan.
The speech, delivered 52 years ago, is still fresh and thrilling for the people of the country and it will remain a perpetual source of inspiration to libertarian people from generation to generation everywhere in the world. This speech would never become old.
Many more things are yet to be discovered from the inimitable diction and style of the speech that came from the Voice of Thunder.
The greatest ever speech was given on March 7 in 1971 by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Ramna Race Course (now Suhrawardy Udyan) in Dhaka to a gathering of over two million people. It was delivered during a period of escalating tensions between the then East Pakistan and the powerful political and military establishment of then West Pakistan.
In the speech, Bangabandhu virtually declared independence of Bangladesh, proclaiming: “Ebarer Songram, Amader Muktir Songram. Ebarer Songram, Amader Swadhinotar Songram (The struggle this time is a struggle for our liberty. The struggle this time is a struggle for our independence)."
He announced a civil disobedience or non-cooperation movement in the then province of East Pakistan, calling for "every house to turn into a fortress". The speech addressed the Bengali people to prepare for a war of independence amid widespread reports of armed mobilisation by West Pakistan. The Bangladesh Liberation War began 18 days later when the Pakistan Army initiated ‘Operation Searchlight’ against Bengali civilians, intelligentsia, students, politicians, and armed personnel on the night of March 25 and 19 days before the formal declaration of the independence of Bangladesh on March 26.
In the official website of the UNECSO, it is mentioned that; "The Historic 7th March Speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman" was delivered by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 7th March, 1971 who led the people of Bangladesh to independence in 1971. At that time when the Pakistan military rulers refused to transfer power to the Bengali nationalist leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose party Awami League gained absolute majority in the National Assembly of Pakistan in the general election held in 1970.
The speech constitutes a faithful documentation of how the failure of post-colonial nation-states to develop inclusive, democratic society alienates their population belonging to different ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious groups. The speech was extempore and there was no written script. However, the speech survived in the audio as well as AV versions.
It must be admitted that the directives included in the 7th March Speech were the key to cementing Bengali national unity for waging the great War of Liberation. Certainly, its appeal is timeless. The speech continues to inspire the young as well as the old everywhere.
Every sentence of the speech reveals the political wisdom of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In it, he gave specific guidelines for achieving independence. The people of the country had long been struggling to establish democracy and follow the ideals of non-communal politics. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib was able to read correctly the political situation of that time and the aspirations of the Bengali nation and gave the right decision at the right time through his unique speech with his extraordinary political wisdom.
Evil forces could kill Bangabandhu physically, but his great deeds will never fade away. He will remain in the heart of the people of Bangladesh as the inspirations to all the libertarian people of Bangladesh and the world as well.
The seventh-March speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1971 has gone down as one of the greatest speeches in the history of the world politics. It deserves to be permanently recorded in the history of politics and very relevantly the job has been done by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
On 30 October 2017, the UNESCO added the speech to the Memory of the World Register as a documentary heritage.