New-> Sheikh Hasina’s Washington Rhetoric for Untruth

Sheikh Hasina is on with her all out rhetoric in political activities in the foreign soil in Europe and America. That is nothing unusual for her to pursue. What is however, highly offensive though not unusual that she keeps on making propaganda through misrepresentation facts of history in public gatherings there. The latest on her made on the 15th August in Washington on Friday as was news cast live in the Dhaka ATN TV Channel at 7 P.M. news bulletin on the 17th August. She had been misrepresenting the fact that the 15th (1975) August ‘killing’ in Dhaka had been the works of the anti- independence forces of 1971. The subject matter though not anything new in her rhetoric but an often repetition of the fact that remains grossly untrue and misleading.

The so-called anti-liberation or anti-independence force is itself a baseless matter. Should one mean that those who did not support the 1971 line of political actions Tajuddin Ahmad led for about nine months in 1971 based in India be labeled as the ‘anti- liberation’ elements, one can not escape labeling Sheikh Mujib, Hasina’s father, with the same pejorative accusation. Because, he refused to line up with Tajuddin to flee to Indian soil to lead the political movement Tajuddin engineered later on with some political colleagues. The chain of actions and finally the India-Pakistan war of 1971 had nothing to do with the Sheikh’s real intention in the matter of independence of Bangladesh having had Indian armed intervention. The crucial fact was that Mujib before surrendering on the 25th March 1971 to the Pakistan Federal Security forces did not make the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). He had rather asked Tajuddin and others to go on with civil movement as the next program was the Hartal or shut down on the 27th March announced earlier by the Sheikh. The rest in raising Mukti Bahini, training them to put up fight and finally the actual war had nothing been of the Sheikh’s making but of Tajuddin and of the Indian government who since 1947 had been on the look out for the opportune moment to ‘cut to size’ Pakistan, India’s ‘number one’ enemy since the very beginning.

Mujib had some grievances against the Pakistan Federal Government but not against the nation and State of Pakistan, because, he happened to be one of Pakistan’s founders in the sense that he had been a committed worker in the 1940s. Further, being a very loyal follower of Hussein Shahid Sohrawardy, Mujib had only been a loyal Pakistani as Sohrawardy had been (See Sohrawardy’s letter from Karachi prison in mid 1962 addressed to President Ayub Khan) until his mysterious death in Beirut Hotel in 1963. That the Sheikh had been against secession of East Pakistan or for independent Bangladesh for obviously falling into the vicious trap of the Big India’s Brahminism had many proofs. I may mention below one incident of early December 1971 that was published as a news item much later in the London fortnightly, The Impact International. The fortnightly stated, ‘Mujibur Rahman was being tried on the charge that he had been working for the secession of East Pakistan and according to Brohi he had absolutely denied the accusation. Brohi also personally believed that this was a true defense plea... Later on when India attacked East Pakistan, again, according to Brohi. Mujibur Rahman, offered to appear on the TV and appeal to the people of East Pakistan against Indian attack. He passed on the offer to the martial law administrator, Gen Yahya Khan. Apparently, the offer was ignored (Impact International Vol. 17:18, 25 Sept-8 Oct. 1987, p.19).

Skeptics might question the authenticity of the news item. But personally I believed the news, because, the editor Faruqi had Brohi’s statement as a dying declaration for Brohi had been in London for treatment of his old age complications and he was almost certain to die. The editor before publishing the news had consulted me as we were fairly closely known to each other myself being in London for years then.

Mujib had years before 1971 closeness with Yahya Khan even before Yahya took over in early 1969 from President Ayub Khan ( Sarder Muhanmmad Choudhury;s voluminous memoirs, The Ultimate Crime, Lahore 1999, p.98). The deal was that Yahya would remain the President and Mujib the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Yahya was well known to have stated in pubic soon after the 1970 election victory of Mujib to be the FUTURE PRIME MINISTER OF PAKSATAN. Mujib also had been determined to chair the position of Prime Minster of Pakistan even for ‘an hour’. A minister in the 1971 Governor Malek cabinet stated to me with all authority in 1995 that Mujib had secret connivance with Yahya for the army action that followed the black 25th March night for Mujib wished to have the ultra-left flashed out through army action and for him safely share power with Yahya Khan later on. It was India and Tajuddin made the things different that went out of hands of both Mujib and Yahya. Tajuddin had his punishment soon after Mujib took over Bangladesh’s administration in early 1972, so much so that he had to end up with a disgraceful exit from the Cabinet and totally neglected later during Mujib’s life time. Mujib had all hatred for Tajuddin’s usurpation, for Tajuddin’s temporary capital Mujibnagar and everything done in his absence so much so that he did never for a moment in three and a half years made time for a moment to visit the historic place in western Bangladesh. These facts should show to any sensible men and women that Mujib should first be termed as the number one of ‘anti-liberation’ element of Bangladesh. I am not sure what way Hasina would react to these points in the matter.

Sheikh Mujib fell on the 15th August in the successful army coup that came obviously for change of his oppressive and autocratic dictatorial BAKALITE government unleashed by the killer and unconstitutional Rakkhi Bahini for multi-party democratic system that the people spontaneously welcomed and as the coup was victorious one and not a failed one, the episode can in no way in legal norm be labeled as any ordinary killing in penal code. The coup makers happened to be almost all freedom fighters of 1971 in the active field and none had opposed the Tajuddin led and India sponsored 1971 war. It was thus Hasina’s rash, if one would not term as grossly wrong and false the statement made in Washington on the 15th August 2008, of her labeling the heroes of the 15th August as the ‘anti-liberation’ forces. Almost all of them were Awami Leaguers or sympathizers of the Sheikh’s party and some were family friends of the fallen leader. None of them belonged to the federalist sympathizer parties like Muslim League, Nezam e Islami, PDP, Jamat e Islami etc. It was as such very much rash of Hasina to summarily label the 15th August (75) coup operators as the ‘anti-liberation’ elements of 1971 bearing in mind the historically crucial fact that the people had no clear cut mandate for secession in 1971 through any popular vote that could have been done just as it had been in the 1946 election for establishment of Pakistan in 1947.

M.T. Hussain
Ibrahimpur, Dhaka-1206
Bangladesh
18 August 2008