Long Live Bang Bandhu

 Long live Bang Bandhu

( Courtesy The Saturday Free School, USA)

On his 100th birthday, we celebrate Mujibur Rahman, the great revolutionary, and champion for the people of Bangladesh. Mujibur Rahman embodied the strivings of his people to control their own destiny, and by fighting for Bangladesh, defied the plans of imperialism in South Asia. After winning the freedom of Bangladesh, he joined the nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America in the Non-Aligned movement, and stood for peace, disarmament, and development for the poor. As Fidel Castro said of Mujibur Rahman, "I have not seen the Himalayas. But I have seen Sheikh Mujib. In personality and in courage, this man is the Himalayas. I have thus had the experience of witnessing the Himalayas." His courage and unwillingness to compromise for the freedom of all people led to his brutal assassination, along with that of his family. We celebrate Mujibur Rahman for his contribution to the struggle of all of mankind for peace, justice, and freedom. We celebrate him as a figure for our times, in the era of the fall of the American empire and the rise of the East.

On April 24th and 25th, we will hold a celebration of his life to understand the lessons of the Bangladeshi liberation struggle, and the Non-Aligned movement for our times. On the 24th, we will have presentations and cultural performances celebrating the history of the struggle of the Bengali people and worldwide solidarity efforts, and its current relevance in the era of the rise of Asia. On the 25th, we will hold an international keynote panel with distinguished guests from Bangladesh, India, and the United States to discuss a vision of freedom for the poor and oppressed. More details about the Zoom link and facebook event will be posted in the coming weeks.

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Mujibur Rahman was born on March 17th, 1920 in a small village called Tungipara. He was deeply shaped by the Bengal Famine, in which British Empire starved 5 million people to death to serve their own selfishness. He became involved in the Muslim League under the mentorship of Hussain Suhrawardy, and fought for an independent Pakistan. When Pakistan was made, Mujibur quickly realized that the Bengali people would have to fight again for their culture, their land, and their civilization.

The Bangladeshi liberation movement was rooted in a long history of anti-colonial struggle. In 1757, the people of Bengal fought against the East India Company in the Battle of Plassey on the shores of the Hooghly River. The British conquerors destroyed the native muslin weaving industry, cutting off the thumbs of Bengali weavers and turning them into beggars. They forced the peasants of Bengal to grow indigo, rather than food crops, forcing them into debt and starvation. They created conflicts between the Hindus and Muslims. They starved the people of Bengal throughout their rule, murdering tens of millions of people. 

The Bengali people fought back again and again. From the Fakir Sanyasi revolt, to the Faraizi Movement that organized peasants against the Zamindari rule, to the Bamboo fort resistance, to the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, to the Chittogram Revolt, to the Tehbaga movement, the people of Bengal, especially the peasants, drew upon their religion, language, and culture to fight against an unjust order.

Mujibur Rahman drew his inspiration not only from the fertile soil of his homeland, but from revolutions all over the world. He was inspired by Sun Yat Sen, the great liberator of China. Sun Yat Sen spoke of the rule of might versus the rule of right. The rule of might was the way of the West, a cult of force, a civilization that used aeroplanes, bombs, and cannons to enforce its way upon the world. The rule of right was the way of the East, a moral order, a civilization that used knowledge, art, culture to gain respect and spread peace throughout the world. Martin Luther King echoed this sentiment, saying that "The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.”

Mujibur Rahman fought against the treatment of the Bengali people as colonial subjects, denied their cultural, political, and economic rights in their own land. On March 7th, 1971, Mujibur Rahman called for nothing less than full independence, declaring “The Bengali people have learned how to die for a cause and you will not be able to bring them under your yoke of suppression”. On March 25th, 1971 the US-backed Pakistani military dictatorship perpetrated a horrific genocide against the Bengali people, murdering intellectuals, minorities, children, and other innocents. Mujibur Rahman was arrested, but not before he declared that the Bengali people would fight till the end for their independence. 

Sadly, the United States government continued firmly down the path of the rule of might to dominate the Bengali people, supporting the Yahya regime throughout its genocide. They put Cold War motivations over human ones, and were condemned not only by the people of the world, but by the people of conscience in their own country. They threatened the subcontinent with nuclear war, sending their aircraft carriers into the Bay of Bengal. Nixon viewed the people of South Asia as sub-human, suggesting they needed another famine.

The Bangladeshi people resisted murder, rape, arson, and other acts of untold horror. The peasants of Bengal turned into liberation fighters once again. With the aid of the Indian army, the Mukti Bahini freed their country from the colonial regime of West Pakistan on December 17th, 1971.

As the leader of a newly liberated Nation, Bangabandhu extended friendship to the peoples of the world. He saluted the struggles in Africa, Asia, and Latin America of people guiding their own destiny. He opposed the war in Vietnam. He understood that colonialism did not end with formal independence, and saw the need to end Western economic, military, and political domination.

As he said in his speech in Algeria at the 1973 Non Aligned movement “I place in the name of the martyrs of Bangladesh will always stand behind all those who are struggling for national liberation in Africa, Asia, and Latin America”.

He recognized the role of the West in denying the strivings of his people, and championed the cause of non-alignment. He spoke of how the principles of non-alignment represented the aspirations of the toiling masses of the world. He enshrined in the Bangladeshi constitution support for the renunciation of force in international relations and for disarmament, for the right of people to determine their own social, economic and political system, and support of oppressed peoples throughout the world in their just struggle against imperialism, colonialism, or racialism.

Mujibur Rahman sacrificed greatly for his stances. He spent a total of 14 years in prison. His youngest son barely knew him as his father. He and his entire family were murdered in the darkness of the night, in their own home, by the forces of intolerance and hatred who sought to undo his legacy of secularism and independence. His legacy has been twisted and shorn of its substance by power seekers and fundamentalists.

The true legacy of Mujibur Rahman, which we learn from his own words and from the wisdom of our elders, is a light to us today. His ideas showed a faith in mankind and willingness to put humanity before self. As Fidel Castro said of Mujibur Rahman, "I have not seen the Himalayas. But I have seen Sheikh Mujib. In personality and in courage, this man is the Himalayas. I have thus had the experience of witnessing the Himalayas."

In today’s world, the Western order is on the decline. China is rising in its place, eradicating poverty, and rebuilding the civilizational and economic ties of the Silk Road. However, even as Xi Jinping of China speaks of reviving the Bandung spirit, the West continues to promote the reactionary forces in Asia to make Asians fight Asians. As Bangabandhu reflected after his historic visit to China, "People from newly liberated countries had an obligation to come together for world peace. It was vital to build public opinion in favor of world peace." 

In this country, the vast majority of Americans no longer believe in their own democratic system. The people of this country cry out for peace, while its leaders make war around the world. African Americans continue to fight for their freedom against joblessness, homelessness, gentrification, and for their own culture. The people of this country must look to the legacy of freedom fighters like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mujibur Rahman to understand how we make our way for a new world founded on peace, respect, and freedom for all.