Remembering one of the greatest heroes of Pakistan – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by Afshain Afzal

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman son of Sheikh Lutfar Rahman was born at village Tungipara, Gopalganj, Bengal (presently District Faridpur, Bangladesh) on 17 March 1920. He graduated from Islamia College, Calcutta in 1947. He was also elected as General Secretary of the Islamia College Students Union. He active worker of Bengal Provincial Muslim League from his college-hood and later in 1943 became member of the All-India Muslim League Council. Later in after the creation of Pakistan, he was top Muslim League leader and close aid of Quiad-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He was so much inspired by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Quaid-e-Azam that during pre-partition he used to sell pro-Pakistan weekly newspaper Millat on the streets of Dhaka along with other workers. In 1948, he was one of the leading founding member of East Pakistan Muslim Students League.

After the tragic death of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in 1949 Awami Muslim League was formed and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was one of the founding Joint Secretaries. On the ground that the ideology of Pakistan was being sidelined and a secular vision was being applied on the instigation of India and the West. In early January 1950, under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Muslim League took out an anti-famine procession in Dhaka on the occasion of the visit of Pakistan's Prime Minister Liaqaut Ali Khan to East Pakistan. Sheikh Mujib was arrested and he was expelled from Muslim League for two years. In January 1952, he joined Maulana Bhashani in the formation of Awami Muslim League. Maulana Bhashani was great friend of Quaid-e-Azam Assam branch Muslim League Party in 1934 and ever since he devoted his whole life for Pakistan movement.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman remained General Secretary of the Awami Muslim League from 1953 to 1966 and its President from 1966 to 1974. As an activist he had been a supporter of the Suhrawardhy-Hashim faction of the Muslim League. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman entered parliamentary politics first in 1954 through his election as a member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly. He was also a member of the Pakistan Second Constituent Assembly (1955-1958). During the elections of 1965, he joined hands with Fatima Jinnah and opposed dictatorial rule of General Ayub Khan. He and his party launched the campaign of Fatima Jinnah in East Bengal during her elections and because of him and other Bengali leaders Fatima gained more votes from East Bengal as compared to West Pakistan. He himself was elected as the Member of the National Assembly and always opposed the activities of the Pakistani establishment in the house.

During the War of 1965, he being a loyal Pakistan did everything which could be done for Pakistani forces against India; from campaigning to collection of devotions and supporting Pakistan cause through speeches. Many amongst the Pakistani politicians were anti Quaid-e-Azam and anti-Fatima and did not allow her to win the elections, however, Mujibur Rahman stood side by side with Fatima Jinnah as solid rock. Fatima Jinnah died in July 1967 and afterwards there was no one to protect the rights of the people of West Pakistan.

In the 1970 national elections, despite leading his party to a major victory in the elections, Mujibur Rahman was not invited to form the government. On 25 March 1971, he was arrested by the Pakistan Army in an Operation Searchlight. During his nine-month detention, insurgency erupted and an attempt was made by Pakistan Army to crush Bengali nationalists and bring peace. An all-out civi-war between the Pakistan Army and East Pakistani nationalists started in which USA played a major role in the disintegration of Pakistan. In the meantime, India forces intervened and it led to the liberation of East Pakistan as an independent nation and emergence of Bangladesh in 1971.

President of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed in a military coup d'état on 15 August 1975. His body was transported to his native village and orders were issued to bury him along with the wooden coffin but being a staunch Muslim and a Momin, no one allwed to do that  burial was done according to Islamic rituals. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's funeral was held on August 16, 1975 in Tungipara and he was laid to rest beside the graves of his father, Sheikh Lutfor Rahman and mother, Sheikh Sayera Khatun. Keeping aside the conspiracy theories, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a great leader of Pakistan movement; when was being buried his body was bleeding and it will bleed for ever as he is a true Shaheed who sacrificed his life for his country.

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