Six points: The charter of freedom for Bengalis

We observe Jun 7 as the Six-Point Day. The year 2020 has arrived as a unique one for Bengalis. This year is very important to us – the people of Bangladesh. Extensive plans were made to celebrate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Not just in Bangladesh, expatriate Bengali people worldwide had taken preparation for it. UNESCO decided to celebrate the day while member countries of the United Nations also took preparations. The United Nations has launched a commemorative postage stamp.

Just when the preparations were in full swing, the pandemic broke out across the globe. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has struck the world on such a scale that people in almost all the countries in the world have been infected by it as all economic, social and cultural activities have come to a standstill. Bangladesh is not out of the virus's grip. For the safety of the people, we cancelled all programmes which could cause public gathering and instead held the programmes on radio, television and other digital media.

In 1966, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman presented the six-point demand, regarded as the 'Charter of Freedom' for Bengalis. I recall Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with reverence and show respect to my mother Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnessa Mujib. She played a unique role in making the Jun 7 programme a success. I also remember my family members martyred on Aug 15, 1975, and pay deep respects to the four national leaders and all the martyrs and oppressed mothers and sisters of the great Liberation War.

UNVEILING OF THE SIX-POINT DEMAND

On Feb 5, 1966, Muslim League President Syed Mohammad Afzal presided over a meeting of the opposition parties at the residence of Chowdhury Mohammad Ali in Lahore. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman presented the six-point demand in the meeting. But the proposal was turned down and Farid Ahmed of East Bengal went against the proposal.

On Feb 6, several newspapers of West Pakistan mentioned that the six points were being propagated to segregate the two parts of Pakistan. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib held a press conference on Feb 10 as a response. He flew back to Dhaka on Feb 11 and briefed the reporters on the six-point demand at the airport.

The six-point demand had proposed to introduce autonomy to every province of Pakistan. But the other political parties of Pakistan refused to even put this demand up for discussion. Bangabandhu then returned to Dhaka.

The executive committee of the Awami League approved the six-point demand. The proposal was accepted in the council meeting of the Awami League. It was decided that the demand will be spread widely. It was also decided that the party leaders would travel through East Pakistan and tell people about the demand. A booklet on the six-point demand written by Bangabandhu and attributed to party general secretary was published. The charter of demand was also put up to the people through leaflets, pamphlets and posters.

WHY THE SIX-POINT DEMAND

The people of East Bengal or the then East Pakistan were left completely defenceless during the Indo-Pak war in 1965. The security of the region held no significance to the central government of Pakistan. East Bengal was left at the mercy of India. If India had attacked East Bengal on a large scale, Pakistan had no way to save this region from 1,200 miles away. On the other hand, if we analyse the war scenario, we see that India would have taken control of areas stretching to Lahore had the Bengali soldiers of Bengal Regiment not valiantly fought off military attacks by India.

No formidable base of Army, Air Force and Navy was ever set up in East Pakistan. There was only a headquarters of the Pakistan Army's 14th Division, which was in a fragile state. The Pakistan Military had a very limited number of Bengalis. A 1956 report of the daily Dawn had portrayed the situation of Bengalis:

So the highest-ranking post for Bengalis in the Pakistani armed forces was lieutenant colonel and only two Bengali officers had the rank, though it was the Bengali soldiers who had been the bravest during the war.

After the war, an agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in Tashkent, known as the Tashkent Treaty, where the interest or security of East Bengal was also overlooked.

Looking back, we see that the Pakistani rulers had always shown disfavour towards the Bengalis. The first assault was on our mother tongue, Bengali language. They began conspiring to snatch our right to speak in our mother tongue. But the Bengalis shed blood to defend the dignity of mother tongue. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was a student of the Dhaka University then, began the Language Movement in 1948. It was actually then that he realised that the Bengalis must be freed from the oppressive rule of the West Pakistanis.

The Bengalis had always been rich in education and cultural practice than West Pakistan. The people of this region played a pioneering role in the creation of Pakistan. The majority of the population was also Bengalis. As much as 56 percent of the people lived in East Bengal.

West Pakistan was built on the loots from the earnings of East Pakistan. Unleashing oppression upon the Bengalis was the only task of the rulers. In 1954, the other parties led by the Awami League formed the Jukta Front alliance and won the election. The Muslim League suffered a heavy defeat, but it cancelled the elected government through imposing Section 92A, which is, emergency. The rule of the central government was then enforced on East Bengal. After overcoming many hurdles, the Awami League formed the government in 1956 but plotting against this region continued. In 1958, General Ayub Khan issued martial law. This is how the Bengalis faced one hurdle after another.

PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR SIX-POINT DEMAND

Public support for the six-point charter soared when it was presented in the wake of Ayub Khan's oppression. I think this is a rare event in the world. Another instance of such rapidly growing public support for a demand cannot be found in history.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib then began travelling through East Bengal. He was sued or arrested in whichever district he held rallies. He would again rally in other districts after getting bail. He was arrested eight times in the span of just two months. Upon returning to Dhaka from a rally in Narayanganj on May 8, 1966, Bangabandhu was arrested from his Dhanmondi residence and was sent to prison the following day. Cases were filed against him one after another.

Arrests of party leaders and workers also began. Numerous leaders and activists, including students and workers, were sued and arrested all over Bangladesh.

On May 13 in 1966, the Awami League held a public rally marking a Protest Day. The people showed their support for the six-point demand in the rally. On May 30, the East Pakistan Awami League's working committee held a meeting presided over by its Acting President Syed Nazrul Islam. Organising Secretary Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury acted as the general secretary. A province-wide strike was called for Jun 7 and all-out efforts were undertaken to make it a success. A lot of the Awami League meetings were held at the Dhanmondi residence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at that time.

My mother Begum Fazilatunnesa played a special role in making the Jun 7 general strike a success. She held secret meetings with student leaders and gave them directions. She communicated with the Awami League and workers' leaders and provided them with all sorts of support. The subjugation by the Pakistani rulers continued to grow. In protest, people from all walks of life — rickshaw-pullers, scooter drivers, factory workers, bus-truck-baby taxi drivers, van-pullers, shopkeepers, porters, labourers — all joined the movement.

Pakistan's military junta and President Ayub Khan gave East Pakistan Governor Monem Khan the full charge to suppress the movement at any cost.

But the people of Bangladesh defied all sorts of torture and enforced the Jun 7 general strike to show their support to the six-point demand. The Pakistani government was served a fitting reply. But sadly the police opened fire on the people without provocation. As many as 11 people, including worker leader Monu Mian, were killed. The people's involvement with the movement grew along with the intensity of the torture to suppress the movement.

About the strike on Jun 7, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman wrote in his diary: "After 12 we got confirmed news that the strike was held. The people took part in it spontaneously. They support the six-point demand and want freedom. It has been proved through the general strike that they want to live, to eat, have personal freedom, labour rights, and the right of the farmers to live." (Karagarer Rojnamcha, page 69).

On Jun 10 and Jun 11, 1966, students, workers and general members of the public were thanked for their support for the six-point demand through the participation in the strike at an Awami League working committee meeting presided over by the party's Acting President Syed Nazrul Islam. The meeting expressed satisfaction as the general strike proved that the people of East Bengal wanted autonomy. It decided to observe Jun 17, 18, and 19 as the Days for Prevention of Oppression. It was announced that all Awami League leaders and activists would hoist black flags in their homes and all would wear black badges for the three days. A fund was created to provide financial support to the families of those killed during the protest and for the treatment of the injured. A legal aid committee was also formed comprising Awami League lawyers to deal with the cases and get bails for the arrested protesters. It was decided that the party would bear all costs from its fund. All were asked to carry out programs of the movement peacefully.

Different programmes, including meetings, rallies, protest march and distribution of leaflets, were planned to spread the movement across the country for autonomy based on the six-point demand. The work to build massive public support for the demand began.

The government's oppression kept rising, but the more Ayub-Monem & Co continued torture, the more it infuriated the people and they got united further braving all sorts of subjugation.

On Jul 23 and 24 in 1966, the Awami League's working committee held a meeting and decided to take the movement to the second phase. The movement started to get stronger and spread from the centre to district, subdivision and union levels.

Government subjugation continued to expand. Acting general secretaries were arrested one after another when they took charge. Finally, there remained only the women affairs secretary. My mother gave a decision that the secretary be made the acting general secretary. The Awami League took the step accordingly.

AGARTALA CONSPIRACY CASE

The Pakistani government launched a new conspiracy. On Jan 18 in 1968, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was brought to the Dhaka Kurmitola Cantonment from Dhaka Central Jail. The Army was used for the secret job in the dark of the night. He was accused of sedition in case, which became more known as the Agartala Conspiracy Case.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the No. 1 accused in the case. Along with him, 34 other military and civil officers and citizens were also accused in the case.

Meanwhile, there were efforts to foil the six-point demand by raising an eight-point demand using some West Pakistani leaders to mislead the people. But the efforts did not work. Some high-level leaders were misled, but students and the general public remained united for Bangabandhu's six-point demand.

The main charge in the Agartala Conspiracy Case or the State vs Sheikh Mujibur Rahman case was that all the accused were involved in a plot to split East Pakistan from West Pakistan by staging a coup through an armed revolution. This was the reason behind the case against them.

What Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib said was: "We, East Pakistan, are 56 percent of the population, the majority. Why should we get separated? We want our just rights, we want to live freely. The minority, not the majority, can be separated."

The movement reached the peak following the case. It augmented the wish and spirit for independence in the minds of the people of Bengal.

An All-Party Student Movement Council was formed at the Dhaka University. Besides the six-point demand, the students announced an 11-point demand accelerating the movement. The movement spread to every educational institution, district and subdivision.

The proceedings of the case were initiated by setting up a court inside the cantonment. Besides this, the Ayub administration continued different sorts of torture and repression, including jailing, oppression, shooting, killings of students and teachers.

The members of the general public began building resistance spontaneously against the police torture, oppression and repression of the Pakistani government. They took to the streets. They began attacking establishments from pro-government newspapers offices to police stations to banks and administrative offices of the government. The entire Bangladesh turned fiery.

Even the school students took to the streets raising slogans like – "Withdraw Agartala Conspiracy Case", "We will break the lock of jail and bring out Sheikh Mujib" and "Release Sheikh Mujib". At one stage, on Feb 15 in 1969, one of the accused in the case, Sergeant Zahurul Haq, was killed inside the prison. People burst into anger. They feared that Sheikh Mujib would also be killed in the same way. Common people marched to attack the cantonment. The mob set fire to the house of the chief justice, who was the judge of the case. He fled to West Pakistan.

Facing intense mass protests, on Feb 21, Ayub Khan was compelled to withdraw the Agartala Case. At noon on Feb 22, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib was taken to his Dhanmondi residence clandestinely by a military jeep. Other accused were also released.

LANGUAGE MOVEMENT, AUTONOMY AND INDEPENDENCE: THE SUCCESS OF SIX POINTS

The Ayub government was overthrown in the mass movement. Army Chief Yahya Khan grabbed the power. Based on the six-point demand, elections were held on Dec 7 in 1970. The Awami League, led by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, secured majority in entire Pakistan in the elections.

On Dec 5, 1970, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib declared that the name of East Pakistan would be "Bangladesh".

But instead of handing over the state power to the Bengalis, the Pakistani military junta got engaged in a conspiracy. On Mar 7 in 1971, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made the historic declaration: "The struggle this time is the struggle for our freedom. The struggle this time is the struggle for our independence."

Bangabandhu called the Non-Cooperation Movement. The people of Bangladesh observed it strictly.

From the Non-Cooperation Movement, the Bengali earned victory through an armed Liberation War. On Mar 25, the Pakistani military junta launched genocide. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib declared independence and ordered to continue the war in the first hours of Mar 26, 1971. After a nine-month war, on Dec 16, the Bengalis achieved the final victory. The Bengalis got the status of a nation in the world, got the nation-state, an independent, sovereign Bangladesh.

[This article has been translated from Bangla]