Denial of history

Hammad Ali
Published : 13 Sept 2014, 07:05 AM
Updated : 13 Sept 2014, 07:05 AM

Even at a relatively young age, there were two things that always bothered me about the people of Bangladesh. First of all, there does not seem to be a clear, uncontested version of the nation's history. Over 40 years after independence, we have pretty much come to accept that there will always be squabbles over who declared independence. Every now and then, a man of uncommon good sense comes up and reminds us that the declaration is immaterial, what we need to truly appreciate and devote energy to is the actual struggle for independence, the astoundingly unequal forces that locked heads in the liberation war, how we came out victorious, and above all, what role someone played in the actual war for independence. Forty-odd years after independence, we are yet to acknowledge all the people who sacrificed their lives and livelihood for this nation, but discussion of who declared something over a radio station dominates our newspapers. I can say without qualms that this is one of the biggest instances of misplaced zeal I have ever witnessed in my life.

The second thing, which I feel is more detrimental to the future development of Bangladesh, is that we do not seem to have any national leaders who are above slandering. If we look at the history of other nations, their pioneer leaders had human flaws and made serious mistakes, some of which they never got the chance to correct. Nevertheless, these nations and their common people try to focus on the good that these people did, and the lessons that can be taken from their life and work. The finer details, the unbiased analysis of their characters and principles, are left to the academics and their research papers. The common man is encouraged to focus on the good aspects, to replicate them in his own life and service. Generations of children are brought up with these leaders as role models. Examples of this phenomenon abound in the United States and even in neighboring India. Unfortunately, in Bangladesh we tend to focus on the negatives of all our leaders, instead of teaching our future generation to emulate their positive traits.

This unclear conception of history and focusing on the negatives has already done substantial damage, in the sense that a significant number of our youth lack national pride. In the past few weeks, this issue has once again come to the forefront thanks to a recent book written by Air Vice Marshall (Retd.) A K Khandker. I am yet to read the entire book myself, and rather doubt whether I even will devote time to such an undertaking. However, the thing about this book that has caught everyone's attention is Khandker's claim that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was not prepared for complete independence or an all-out war. That on the historic occasion of 7th March, he concluded his firebrand speech with Jiye Pakistan, a salutation hoping for the eternal sovereignty of the state of Pakistan.

Immediately upon publication of the book, Khandker has been subjected to both hearty approval from those who gain from such confusion, and scorn and ridicule from those who doubt that anything of the sort actually happened. Better people than me have done a substantial amount of research to deny his claim, most of which has been circulating social networks for the past several weeks, complete with references to books and newspapers from 1971. Personally, I find their findings compelling, and cannot help but wonder why someone like Khandker would claim something so easily proven wrong. Many a cynic could even claim that he may have been motivated by the age old maxim that any publicity is a good publicity, no matter the nature and reason of said coverage. One does have to admit that this is the most media coverage the retired Air Force officer has received in the last several years.

However, my intention is not to present documentary evidence to refute his claim. Like I said, this has already been done. What I would like to talk about is the general reaction of many around us to the sudden, and to be blunt, somewhat absurd claims made by Khandker. Like I already mentioned, some people are beside themselves in joy at the prospect of this further muddling of history. Further, for some of them it is almost a matter of personal triumph. All around us we see people nodding their head knowingly, claiming that they were always aware of this, aware of how Sheikh Mujib had no intentions of calling for independence and was always more interested in reconciliation with, and assuming rule of, a united Pakistan. They seem to take this great joy in denying Sheikh Mujib the place of honour he holds in the hearts of millions of Bangladeshis as a liberator, a champion of the masses and the catalyst of our independence.

Why is that? A few reasons come to mind, and I would like to take the liberty of mentioning them here. Firstly, as a lot of books and papers already mention, Bengalis in the Armed Forces were often woefully uninformed about the plight of their brethren in East Pakistan. No matter how underprivileged East Pakistan may have been, the Armed Forces were an elite organisation that was hardly affected by the economic realities of the rest of the nation. Indeed, many people in erstwhile West Pakistan often quip how other Armies exist to serve the state, but the state of Pakistan exists to serve the Army. As such, with a few exceptions like Abu Taher, the officers were rather out of touch with the realities of the time. On the night of 25th March, they were brutally woken up from their peaceful hibernation. Some of them lost months being locked in prison, and others were tormented by having to flee, leaving their families in the hands of the enemy. Could it be that all these years later, the guilt of being taken so unaware still bothers them, and it is almost therapeutic to simply deny that the masses were ready for independence, and that our leaders had acknowledged this need and set things in motion? Could it be that the knowledge of living large in Army garrisons while their countrymen were starving to death leads one to denial of the greatest turning point in a nation's history?

While at it, let us acknowledge an indisputable fact. Sheikh Mujib was not an elite leader. He was not one of the well-read, urbane members of the intelligentsia who called for a utopian society. Nor was he one of the captains of industry who wanted a more level playing ground for themselves. As far as family lineage and social background is concerned, Sheikh Mujib was, in every sense of the word, ordinary. He was not a brilliant scholar, nor did he hail from a line of elite politicians who ruled over the masses since the days of the British Empire. His father was not a feudal landlord. In every social aspect and dimension, Sheikh Mujib was a common man. Yet in those heady days leading to 1971, Sheikh Mujib became more than a common man, more than just a man. In our thirst of independence, Sheikh Mujib became an idea, a legend.

Could it be that even all these years later, the elites, the advocates of social revolutions, the descendants of the privileged who once had to accept Bangabandhu's leadership, have not been able to forgive how Bangabandhu, an ordinary Bengali, achieved everything they only talked about in their study circles? Could it be that the Armed Forces officers who lived their life of apathetic comfort still feel guilty about how out of touch they were with the reality of their own people?

Whatever the reason, we simply cannot let any more murkiness invade our history. It is bad enough that we are divided on who declared independence, and refuse to give people credit for their role in 1971 simply because we disagree with their political position today. It is bad enough that the farmers, fishermen and factory workers who were once valiant freedom fighters are now forgotten, while members of the upper-class society call themselves freedom fighters because they joined the Bangladesh cause on the night of 15th December 1971. We do not want further muddling of our history by calling into question the biggest turning point of our history. For anyone who has seen that speech, in person or later, it was loud and clear that Bangabandhu ended with a roar of Joy Bangla, leaving no room for any other slogan, literally or metaphorically. The only people, who deny and rewrite history, are the ones who are ashamed of it. We have no cause for shame. Our leader was a common man who became an idea, an idea that lives on till this day. We have no reasons to deny his words or his deeds.

———————————
Hammad Ali is a senior lecturer of Computer Science and Engineering at BRAC University.