Sheik Mujib: His Legacy and Dream of final days: Was it "Awami League or BAKSHAL"?

By: Mohammad Gani (USA)

The most powerful nationalist political leader in the history of Bangladesh, Mujib has a long political "celebrity" career. For his leadership in the liberation struggle of Bangladesh as well as for his patriotic struggles and battles for many years for the freedom of the Bengali people of former East Pakistan, he became nation's founding father, also known as "BangaBandhu".

Background: An ambitious and motivated disciple of Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, Sheik Mujib began his political career as one of the founder of then East Pakistan Muslim Students League, a student organization to support the political activities and campaigns of the Pakistan Muslim League in electoral politics .Led by Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Awami League was founded on 23 June 1949 as Pakistan Awami Muslim League, a breakaway faction of the Pakistan Muslim League. In February 1950, All Pakistan Awami Muslim League" with Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy as its leader was formed.. In 1954 along with its allies the Awami League won the national election; Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy became the fifth Prime Minister of Pakistan with Sheik Mujib as a Cabinet Minister. The word "Muslim" was dropped in 1955. A follower of H.S. Suhrawardy, Sheikh Mujib became a popular leader known for his socialist views and staunch leadership against feudalism in Pakistan.

As the years went by, the Awami League became associated with the often oppressed Bengali speaking majority in East Pakistan. The principal issue that involved Mujib and his party was the institutional discrimination against Bengalis in Pakistan. Despite forming a proportional majority of the population, Bengalis formed a small fraction of Pakistan's civil services, police and military. East Pakistan also received a smaller proportion of funds from the central government and government schemes were also under-funded and poorly organized. There were great resentments and exasperation among the Bengali population over the adoption of Urdu at the expense of Bengali as the national language of Pakistan. Sheik Mujib and the Awami League were an important element of the Language Movement of the 1950s. Compounded by the lack of democracy in Pakistan under military rule, the popularity of Mujib and his party rose greatly.

Mujibur Rahman became a major critic of President Ayub Khan and his military regime. The Awami League joined the opposition coalition against Ayub Khan in the elections of 1963 and supported Fatima Jinnah against him. Government of Pakistan framed Mujib in the Agartala Conspiracy Case with 34 others, mostly leaders of Awami League. This was a sedition case although Mujib was not an advocate of the independence of East Pakistan but a proponent of increased regional autonomy and a federation system of government across Pakistan. His 6 Points Movement was a "Bengali nationalist movement" in East Pakistan which eventually resulted in the freedom of Bangladesh. The movement's main agenda was the realization of the 6 demands put forward by the East Pakistan Awami League to end the exploitation of East Pakistan by the West Pakistani rulers.

General elections of 1970 vs L.F.O: After the abrogation of the Constitution of 1962, Yahya Khan needed a legal framework to hold elections. He voiced his ideas about the constitutional issues in his broadcast address to the nation on November 28, 1969 and the formula was officially issued on March 30, 1970; and is known as the Legal Framework Order of 1970. According to this order, "ONE UNIT" in West Pakistan was dissolved and direct ballot system was introduced. The National Assembly was to consist of 313 seats, including 13 seats reserved for women. Women were also allowed to contest the elections from general seats. The primary function of the L. F. O. was to provide a setup on which elections could be conducted. However, the L. F. O. defined the directive principles of State policy and made it clear that the future Constitution should not violate these basic principles and Islamic way of life, observation of Islamic moral standards and teaching of the Quran and Sunnah to the Muslims. The Legal Framework Order also urged the Constituent Assembly to frame a Constitution in which Pakistan was to be a FEDERAL REPUBLIC (of 5 Provinces) and should be named Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The President also had the power to interpret and amend the Constitution and his decision could not be challenged in a court of law.

Mujib's Awami League emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly by winning 160 seats. It was also able to win 288 out of 300 seats in the East Pakistan Assembly. However, the party failed to win even a single seat in the four Provincial Assemblies of West Pakistan. Pakistan Peoples Party managed to win 81 out of 138 seats reserved for West Pakistan (4 Provinces) in the National Assembly. The Awami League's electoral victory promised it control of the government with Mujib as the country's prime minister but the inaugural assembly never met. As tensions mounted, Mujib suggested becoming Prime minister of East Pakistan while Bhutto is made Prime minister of West Pakistan. Mujib called for a general strike until the government was given over to the "People's Representatives". Yahya decided to ignore Mujib's demands and on 01 March 1971, he postponed the convening of the National Assembly indefinitely and named General Tikka Khan as East Pakistan's military governor.

As tensions rose, Yahya continued desperate negotiations with Mujib, flying to Dhaka in mid-March. Talks between Yahya and Mujib were joined by Bhutto but soon collapsed and Mujib led defiantly a "Resistance Day" on March 23, 1971 in East Pakistan instead of the traditional all-Pakistan "Republic Day". Yahya decided to solve the problem of East Pakistan by repression. On the evening of March 25, he flew back to Islamabad. The military crackdown in East Pakistan began that same night. The Pakistan Army launched a brutal and terror campaign calculated to intimidate the Bengalis into submission. Within hours a wholesale slaughter had commenced in Dhaka with the heaviest attacks concentrated on the University of Dhaka and the Hindu area of the old town. Mujib was captured (?) and flown to West Pakistan for incarceration.

During the liberation war, Mujib was in jail in West Pakistan and had been convicted of treason by a military court and sentenced to death. Yahya did not carry out the sentence, perhaps as a result of pleas made by many foreign Governments. Yahya relinquished power to a civilian government under Bhutto who released Mujib and permitted him to return to Dhaka via London and New Delhi. Mujib arrived in Dhaka to a rancorous welcome on 10 January 1972 and first assumed the title of President but vacated that office two days later to become the Prime Minister. His government was plagued by corruption, intrigue, infighting and an insurgency by the ultra-left activists as well as reactionary forces that opposed independence. The economy was devastated by a famine in 1974 and some exaggerated accounts of the famine contributed to further discredit his government. Mujib pushed through a new constitution and adopted it on 4 November 1972 to have a Prime minister appointed by the president and approved by a single-house parliament. The Constitution enumerates a number of principles on which Bangladesh is to be governed. These have come to be known as the tenets of "Mujibism" (Mujibbad) which include the four pillars of nationalism, socialism, secularism, and democracy.

The Constitution was amended again in January 1975 to make Mujib President for five years and to give him full executive powers. He wiped out all opposition political parties and proclaimed Bangladesh a one-party state in February1975, effectively abolishing the Parliamentary system. He renamed the Awami League the "Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League" (BAKSHAL) and required all civilian government personnel to join the party. The fundamental rights in the Constitution were ceased and Bangladesh was transformed into a personal dictatorship. A paramilitary force (Rakkhi Bahini) loyalist to the party was raised that was ruthlessly used to subdue any opposition. This force was responsible for many extra-judicial killings of mainly left-wing extremists.

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On 15 August 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with several other members of his family including minors was brutally killed in a military coup. In a wider sense, some disaffected officers and the several hundred troops they led represented the grievances of the professionals in the military over their subordination to the "Rakkhi Bahini" and Mujib's indifference to gross corruption by his political subordinates and family members. Although initially given the appearance of an act of revenge by a group of disgruntled junior army officers, facts later emerged that presented evidence of a long-planned conspiracy. Some cabinet ministers, bureaucrats wary of civilian power and military leaders claiming the full glory of the war of independence participated in this coup. Mujib was replaced by one of the conspirators, his former minister of commerce Khondaker "TOPI" Mostaq.

Sheikh Mujib proved to be a charismatic politician and national leader but his administrative leadership was not as effective as his political leadership and Statesmanship. His love for the then 75 million of people of East Pakistan and patriotism were intransigent. Mujib had a vision for success and prosperity of this nation but had no precious plan of actions in place to accomplish his mission. However, it was never his perfidy. Thus none of these should make his many years' dedication and intrepid struggle any lighter or should create any cloud on his patriotism, political leadership and true love for this nation. He deserves nation's accolade for ever.

There are still some trails of complexities on exactly what was in Mujib's mind during his ultimate final moments; whether it was the vision of Awami League or of Bakshal, is still a debatable issue among many of us. However, Awami League should waste no time in coming to the determination of that puzzle whether Sheik Mujib had Awami League or Bakshal in his mind and should embrace and promote Mujib's ultimate agenda in fulfilling the dream of the founding Party leader. Only ceremonial devotion and colorful respects to their most powerful Party leader is simply betrayal