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Conspirators and the country Zahid Hossain If we look back on the period of Pakistan rule between 1947 and 1971, we see that our political history was the denial of self-rule for the Bengalees and their exclusion from effective participation in the share of state power in the centre.The emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation state in 1971 was the first time that its people had been exposed to control over their own destiny. Till then whomsoever had exercised state power in Pakistan had derived authority through the capture of power rather than from the people. But the army-bureaucratic coterie of Pakistan which effectively ruled the country could never forgive and forget Bangabandhu and his close political associates for effectively organizing the people of the then East Pakistan by din't of their leadership qualities and popularity amongst the common people and founded Bangladesh. They maintained close contacts with their so called Bangladeshi collaborators, razakars and albadars of 71 as well as with some international conspirators for implementing their heinous design to destabilize the existence of Bangladesh. The brutal assassins killed the Father of the Nation not only to capture power. The conspirators had a long drawn plan to reverse the history of our independence which started with the language movement in 1952. It was only the beginning of the process and the plan. The conspirators knew it well that how popular Bangabandhu Sk Mujib was and that was why they were afraid of even his dead body. Knowing it well that the dead body or for that matter the graveyard of such a great man with the popularity of Himalayan height might turn into a volcanic eruption for them for turning all their plans into ashes, the conspirators did not allow the dead body to be buried in or around the capital city and sent it to Tungipara. In the same way, the dead bodies of the four national leaders who were brutally and mercilessly killed in jail were not allowed to be buried at the vacant place near the mazar of Sher-e-Bangla and Suhrawardy. Bangabandhu was undoubtedly a hundred percent Bengali. He was also a true muslim. Hypocracy in the name of religion was never found in him. That is why his dream Sonar Bangla concept has no room for exploitation in the name of religion, caste or creed. Democratic principles were the basis of governance and secularism was one of the state principles. But those were not acceptable to those who opposed our war of independence and could not accept by their heart the birth of a secular nation called Bangladesh. And thus the conspiracy started- the conspiracy not only to physically eliminate Bangladesh but to have a new Bangladesh with some fundamental principles and concepts of their imagination and not the Bangladesh Bangabandhu founded in 1971. The first phase of the conspiracy was the physical elimination of Bangabandhu . The conspirators took it for granted that once they were successful in physically eliminating Bangabandhu, the major obstacle on their way to establish new Bangladesh was removed. They were able to execute their sinister plan on august 15,1975 and for the anti Sonar Bangla conspirators it was a grand day. But for the general people of Bangladesh who under the dynamic leadership of Bangabandhu made supreme sacrifices for achieving independence and a homeland of their own, it was a day of mourning, a day of expressing heartfelt gratitude and acknowledgement to the great leader who is our real national pride who gave us an identity as a nation. After the August 15,1975, conspirators immediately changed the name of Bangladesh Betar as Radio Bangladesh and tried their best to make maximum use of it in propagating their anti-people designs in negating the ideals for which Bangladesh was founded. They gradually started re-opening some of the issues which the seventy five millions of people of this country settled finally in 1971 through their supreme sacrifices. Use of religion for political purposes was a dirty trick and those who used it during the Pakistan days were once again found active in pursuing their old game in the national politics in Bangladesh. Since the spirit of our independence was the main target and all their conspiracies mainly centred round this , the conspirators who captured power after the killing of Bangabandhu engaged all the agencies to find out the officials who were by heart pro- Pakistani and belonged to anti-Bangladesh lobby for posting in the key positions like Home Secretary, Foreign secretary, cabinet secretary etc. Pakistani collaborators and members of al-badar, al-shams were found out and invited to Bangabhaban and other government offices and their supports and cooperation were sought to form a new political party. The aim was very simple- just to change the ideals for which Bangladesh was created by using the services and support of this known sections of our people. A section of our social elites who became well-known for their anti-people roles during the period of Pakistan and who actively collaborated with the military junta in 1971 were given key positions both political and administrative. A man like Shah Azizur Rahman who was sent to UN for opposing the cause of Bengalees was made Prime Minister of the country and razakars like Abdul Alim and Maulana Mannan etc were made Ministers. As their target and the evil design was fixed and the strategy was also chalked out in a planned way, the conspirators made their position consolidated and firmly-footed before starting their operating aspects of changing the spirit of independence. They organized the so called “yes” or “no” referendum which actually made the country a laughing stock in the world media.. And the real game of the ugly design started after that. As the Pakistani rulers wanted to introduce “lingua franca” distorting the language of the Bengalees with the help of a group of hired agents, the conspirators similarly hired people like Khandakar Abdul Hamid, Taslim Hossain, Salauddin Ahmed and few others who were known for their anti-Bengali role during the war of independence in 1971, to introduce Bangladeshi Nationalism in place of Bengali Nationalism only to confuse the people about their cultural identity. The ugly motive behind this heinous step was very clear to distort the history and culture of the Bengalees. Thus the conspirators who played their dirty games even during the independence war in 1971 and tried to make some underhand dealings with a foreign agency nullifying the efforts of the freedom fighters, continued their anti-state activities after 1972 as well. Bangabandhu had all the information. But it was the broadness of his heart and the magnanimity of his character that virtually prevented him from taking actions against those who had been with him for long. The sky of Bangladesh is now apparently free from the dark cloud of conspiracies specially after the annulment of Indemnity Acts and subsequent trial of the killers of the Father of the Nation and the four national leaders in jail. Many of the known collaborators and conspirators were brought to political limelight by the martial law administrators. Fortunately the promulgation of martial laws which were subsequently endorsed by the parliament has been declared illegal and unconstitutional by the higher courts. More importantly, the trial processes for the war crimes and acts against humanity during the war of independence in 1971 have also been started on the basis of the unanimous decision by the present parliament. As a result, many of the known politicians who opposed the independence war and acted as collaborators of Pakistan army in killing, arson and looting will soon be put under trial. Bangabandhu's daughter Sk Hasina is now the prime Minister of Bangladesh and those conspirators and their associates are once again active to create obstacles on the way to economic development, political stability and welfare to the people. Therefore, it is high time for taking effective deterrent steps against those known conspirators and their associates. On this victory Day, let us take a pledge to do our best to complete the unfinished task of Bangabandhu in building a Sonar Bangla. And this is the only way we can express our heartfelt gratitude to the greatest son of the soil. ...................................................................... |