While addressing a discussion on the occasion of the Great Independence Day-2024, Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina said the history of proclamation of independence in 1971 by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was distorted after his assassination in 1975.
After the midnight of 25th March in 1971, Pakistani Occupation army launched a sudden cowardly massive attack on the unarmed sleeping people of the then East-Pakistan’s capital Dhaka and other parts of the country as part of their blueprint to thwart the Awami League’s assumption of office following the victory in the 1970 elections. By carrying out ‘Operation Searchlight’, they (Pakistani occupation forces) just wanted to stop the movement of the freedom-loving people.
Immediately before the military attack and moments before Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested by the Pakistan Army, prompting him to declare the independence of Bangladesh the very next day -- March 26, 1971. Bangabandhu’s independence proclamation was spread through wireless and his party men reached it elsewhere of the country.
But after his assassination, the history was distorted. Sheikh Mujib betting his own life waited for the moment as he knew that Pakistanis might attack the Bangali people.
Bangabandhu only he had
the legal authority to declare
independence as he was the
representative of the people
But BNP and its allies later spread lies about that historic declaration and they did this to deny independence, to erase people’s memories about the fact that the people of Bangladesh jumped into the Liberation War on the call of the Bangabandhu. The party completely depends on falsehood and lies and the Supreme Court delivered its verdict that there was only one declarer of independence - Bangabandhu and only he had the legal authority to declare independence as he was the representative of the people. In the distorted history, it was said Major Ziaur Rahman standing on a drum blew the whistle and Bangladesh got independence. But, any country cannot attain independence this way.
The distortion of history of the Liberation War started when Zia grabbed state power by violating Constitution. Coups took place one after another during Zia’s military rule and thousands of the freedom fighter army officers were killed in these coups and they did not know what their offence was. Bangabandhu’s name was erased from history at that time and a false history was created to misguide the people.
But nobody can erase the truth forever and it has now been proved before the entire world and the people of Bangladesh. We also saw culture of impunity during the rule of military dictator Ziaur Rahman and his wife Khaleda Zia, where no self-confessed killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were brought to justice. All know General Zia and the then Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia had resorted to the politics of killings and enacted indemnity laws to save the assassinators of Bangabandhu and Awami League leaders and activists. Ziaur Rahman had given all sorts of support to the murderers. The ‘culture of lies’ and culture of impunity’ weaken the hope in justice, and encourages the repetition of the same offences. He (Zia) even gave lucrative foreign postings to the killers of Bangabandhu, while Zia’s wife [Khaleda] brought self-confessed killer of Bangabandhu to parliament by rigging votes.
Therefore, all will have to think that on the soil of Bangladesh, the traitors like Mir Zafar and Khandaker Moshtaque were born and the people like ‘killer Zia’ has come time and again. But they could not cling on to power for a long time as they grabbed it through conspiracy and illegal ways.