Untold Facts

1975 and National Dignity of Bangladesh

Befooling the Ignorant

I had an occasion to listen to an interview of a Bengali poet of Bangladesh in a foreign Bengali Service Radio broadcast on the 21st February morning wherein he made a tangent remark that since after the 1975 August Bangladesh has for the first time restored Bangladesh’s dignity. So far as I could comprehend, he meant that Bangladesh had lost all her self dignity in August- November 1975 that has been restored after 35 years through the 29th December 2009 election. Is that so? Or else he was befooling the younger generation who would not know what a roughly undignified period people of Bangladesh had for about three years and a half just before the 15th August 1975.

Peoples’ Expectations

The 1971 independence of Bangladesh came about in high pitch of expectations of the common people suffering from poverty to have access to basic essentials like rice, pulses, edible oils etc. at cheaper prices. The expectations multiplied for many to enjoy after independence pluralism and multiparty democracy, as well, along with social safety and security of lives and properties for all.

Frustrations of the People

Soon after independence, peoples’ expectations went on being shattered day in and day out. Economic hardship began first to bite in rising prices of all daily essentials. Falling incidents of law and order along with forceful grabbing of properties of others labeled as ‘enemies’ became rampant and beyond control of law enforcing agencies. Corruption, smuggling of essential goods from inside the country to big neighboring country, rent seeking, permit selling, looting, etc. all being done by the cadres, workers, and even by some leaders of the ruling party became the normal order having little control by any boss, much less by the top ups. Rampant corruptions at almost every level soon started to bite the macro economy, on the one hand, and falling law and order, on the other. Though many private hoodlum groups having had favor of the top leader and a Para-military force styled as the Rakkhi Bahini went on rampage, torturing and killing many in thousands having no recourse to legal process, the overall situation deteriorated for there had been some underground groups putting up some resistance against the torture process of the government forces, police, Ansar, BDR, Rakhi Banhini, etc.

Tightening (?) of Grip or Hoodwinking the People

Whatever might have been the assessment of the boss, he tightened control over everything first through having a general election in March 1973 that turned out to be a farce through massive vote rigging, and then in late 1974 through promulgating Emergency in the country, and soon followed banning of all political parties except his own one. He, however, smarted to rename his party from Awami League to BAKSAL or Bangladesh Krisak Sramik Awami League on the 25th January 1975. That marked formally the final end of the multi-party democracy people had wished and fought for to have among some other issues in 1971.

Lone Party BAKSAL and the Unenlightened Dictatorship

Along with promulgating the BAKSAL, the leader not only assumed the position of the President of the party for life but also the President of the country initially for seven years until 1983 but keeping no way out for peaceful transfer of power to the next person both for the party and the country. Very curiously, though none in the free world liked the one party mode and rather joined in condemnation, the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, well known then to be representing the largest democracy, congratulated the Bangladesh leader for on setting one party government and dictatorial rule in Bangladesh.

Cronies kept on Making Illegitimate Fortunes

Behind the facade of the one man one party rule, it was only the cronies who had been reaping the good harvest in individual fortune making at the cost of the of the poor hungry who died in thousands (27,000 deaths–government official figure) due to man made hunger and famine ( See, Nobel Laureate Amarta Sen). The building of the extended family empire though had been firmly in the making.

Worries among People and in the Patriotic Army

Such undemocratic and corrupt mechanics naturally hurt the conscious people hard. Among the patriotic army there had grown by the time enough of grievances, the main one being that the Para-military force under the label of Rakhhi Bahini were being groomed as parallel armed force. These men were being armed with Indian weapons and logistic supports including motivational training from the Indian point of view and outlook that aimed clearly at liquidation of independent Bangladesh in the not too distant future, and so also the regular armed forces of Bangladesh. A lobby inside the country had constantly been hammering to all concerned through various media that there was no need to keep the regular army in Bangladesh as it had no external enemy to fight for the only neighbor is too big to fight, and that there was nothing that peace would not be possible to make with that big and only contesting neighbor. That rightly or wrongly was the psychological make up of the leader Sheikh Mujib as he had suffered at the hands of army men of Pakistan at various points of his life including his confinement and trial for treason for secession of East Pakistan in 1971.

India Launched the Rakhi Bahini for Realizing their Evil Design

The Bangladesh army that was formed formally in 1972 consisted both of fresh recruits in 1971, some Bengali speaking deserted from the Pakistan army in 1971 and some from the native Bengali repatriated from Pakistan in late 1973 after the separation took place in December 1971. They all felt in unison on one point and that was that the army was being relegated to unimportant position towards irrelevance as the Rakhi Bahini was being motivated and armed with Indian weapons in the opposite direction that might end the entity and identity of Bangladesh in favor of reunited greater India or for Ram Raj in Akhanda Bharat.

Indian Hegemony against Bangladesh

Although Bangladesh was known to be an independent country following the 1971 war it happened in reality nothing but a lackey of Delhi by the instrument of the ‘25 years treaty’ with India signed on the 19th March 1972. The clauses 8, 9 and 10 of the notorious treaty bonded Bangladesh into servitude to Delhi so much so that in foreign affairs, military issues even for arms purchase for the national army would not be done except having nod of Delhi masters. That is why not only many Muslim countries but even the Communist China did not recognize Bangladesh as an independent country until the fall from State power the government of the lackey Mujib in the 15th August victorious army coup d’ etat. The treaty terms for subservience of Bangladesh turned ineffective only after this coup.

Low IQ Leader and Uncouth Mujib

Sheikh Mujib as a person had not only been of very low IQ as Huseyn Suhrawardy would at times address him ‘My Illiterate Graduate’ but also out and out a person of poor cultural attitude and of typical rural feudal psyche and so would hardly care for dignity of others. He would even address the army chief Safiullah with feudal Bengali style pejorative term (Tui/Tora) if not in total contempt but many self respecting juniors would hate to accept such address at any ease.

Army Caught Hold of Party Men but could not Indict for Crimes Committed

Once in 1974 the army had been deployed to control smuggling and corruption was soon in about a week or so withdrawn by Safiullah being bitterly bashed by Mujib himself for the army men had arrested those whose 90-95% consisted of the workers, cadres and even some leaders of the same party of the government caught red handed by the army men on duty for all illegal misdeeds in smuggling, corruption, rent seeking etc. Thus the self respecting army men each day passing had accumulated grievances against him, apart from the political issue of killing of democracy, causing economic sufferings of the people and torture modes and viciousness of the unconstitutional Rakkhi Bahini operation.

The Obvious Fall Out of the Corrupt and Inefficient

Lenient view taken for Corruption, inefficiency of the administration, inward looking of the top boss on the one hand and unenlightened dictatorial rule on the other made it only obvious that some mid level army men took it very seriously all on their own to topple the government by overthrowing the top boss from absolute power. That was how the 15th August successful coup d’etat took place followed by internal allegiance by all state organs and external support and recognition for the coup and the subsequent government formed right then by another veteran Awami Leaguer Khondoker Mustaque Ahmad as the President of Bangladesh. China, Saudi Arabia, Yamen Turkey, Iran etc recognized the post 15th August coup Government of Bangladesh that they withhold and refused to recognize so long for over three and a half years since December 1971.

Anti-Nationalist Counter Coups Failed

In between the 15th August and the 7nth November some attempts were made by counter coup putsches that were decisively defeated for good that paved the way for full restoration of multiparty democracy in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is thus proud for the revolutionary changes of August and November 1975. The subsequent adoption of the process of the economic upturn put the derailed rail of economy to the path for coming out of the ignominy of the ‘International Basket Case’.

1975 Revolutions Restored Self-Respect and Dignity of Bangladesh

Thus it was the 1975 revolutionary change that paved the right way to restore dignity of the country that the people had long struggled for to re-establish since the most tragic days of the British take over following the debacle of the Battle of Palassey of 1757 A.D. The revolutionary change of 1975 not only restored plural democracy for dignity of the nation in the free world but also as the proud and dignified Muslim nation that charted the history through ups and downs though for nearly eight hundred years since 1203 A.D. beginning with Ikhtiaruddin Mohammad Bin Bakhtiar Khilijee in our part of the geographical area.

– Prof. M.T. Hussain