I’ve been flicking through the Bangladeshi channels over the past week sitting here in London and it’s the same celebration everywhere – triumph of the execution of the assassins of our father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It’s great news, a great achievement – but how much role did the people celebrating the event play in this victory?
I’m not a historian, and never sat down to go through Bangladesh’s history – but I do have conscience. Father of nation or any common man for that instant, the assassination of an entire family in such a brutal manner deserved just trial and punishment, and this deserved in any era, and any country. Why did it take this long then?
I was born years after the liberation. Like me, youth of today did not experience the cloud of chaos that covered the country after its liberation, nor did we face the rise in nepotism and corruption in Bangladesh during the regime of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. However, we have been fortunate enough not to experience the same over the last ten years. I say fortunate for a reason – this is so our fathers can live to compare what happened in the past with what is happening in the present. Unlike the event that took place in 1975, such has not repeated today.
Then why does the title sound so provocative? Today, the assassins have faced just punishment and we are all rejoicing and celebrating this as reclamation of our pride, honour and national interest. Where was this when the assassination took place? History leaves it’s footprints in places other than our hearts and memories. After the military coup took over on August 15th, almost every leading nation including Russia, America & China recognized Bangladesh as a new country where they could invest in. The country’s people breathed a sigh of relief after the political family regime was thrown over. I remember phrases such as ‘Only one segment amassed wealth while others were suffering, in an impoverished new nation’. Isn’t this the same nation that is now celebrating the execution of the assassins?
People will get me wrong and misunderstand me – what happened on 15th August 1975 was brutal, and what happened on the 28th January 2010 was justice. My question is, how shameless are we? And do we have any conscience at all? On one side, the nation thanked God when the dictatorship was overthrown. On the other side, the same nation thanks the same God for punishing the people who made the overthrow possible. I don’t blame the nation anymore – how can we expect our people to remember what happened 35 years ago, when our memory is refreshed every five years during the elections.
To be perfectly honest, over the last 10 or more years, only families closely attached to the Sheikh family have pursued this day – or families who directly benefit when the Awami League party is in power. On the other side, only families directly linked with the army personnel who were involved in the crime were keen to avoid this day. The common man and common population of the country is just like a swing – it rejoices and revolts only when it comes with benefits.
Shame on the nation for its weak conscience and memory. Shame on the nation for lack of its own judgement. Bangladesh is said to be one of the happiest countries in the world – I am not surprised.
I’m not a historian, and never sat down to go through Bangladesh’s history – but I do have conscience. Father of nation or any common man for that instant, the assassination of an entire family in such a brutal manner deserved just trial and punishment, and this deserved in any era, and any country. Why did it take this long then?
I was born years after the liberation. Like me, youth of today did not experience the cloud of chaos that covered the country after its liberation, nor did we face the rise in nepotism and corruption in Bangladesh during the regime of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. However, we have been fortunate enough not to experience the same over the last ten years. I say fortunate for a reason – this is so our fathers can live to compare what happened in the past with what is happening in the present. Unlike the event that took place in 1975, such has not repeated today.
Then why does the title sound so provocative? Today, the assassins have faced just punishment and we are all rejoicing and celebrating this as reclamation of our pride, honour and national interest. Where was this when the assassination took place? History leaves it’s footprints in places other than our hearts and memories. After the military coup took over on August 15th, almost every leading nation including Russia, America & China recognized Bangladesh as a new country where they could invest in. The country’s people breathed a sigh of relief after the political family regime was thrown over. I remember phrases such as ‘Only one segment amassed wealth while others were suffering, in an impoverished new nation’. Isn’t this the same nation that is now celebrating the execution of the assassins?
People will get me wrong and misunderstand me – what happened on 15th August 1975 was brutal, and what happened on the 28th January 2010 was justice. My question is, how shameless are we? And do we have any conscience at all? On one side, the nation thanked God when the dictatorship was overthrown. On the other side, the same nation thanks the same God for punishing the people who made the overthrow possible. I don’t blame the nation anymore – how can we expect our people to remember what happened 35 years ago, when our memory is refreshed every five years during the elections.
To be perfectly honest, over the last 10 or more years, only families closely attached to the Sheikh family have pursued this day – or families who directly benefit when the Awami League party is in power. On the other side, only families directly linked with the army personnel who were involved in the crime were keen to avoid this day. The common man and common population of the country is just like a swing – it rejoices and revolts only when it comes with benefits.
Shame on the nation for its weak conscience and memory. Shame on the nation for lack of its own judgement. Bangladesh is said to be one of the happiest countries in the world – I am not surprised.
