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Connecting with the founder

Asif Saleh
Afew days ago, in order to catch a live glimpse of Bangladesh vs Australia cricket match on the Internet, I logged on to a Bangladesh based website called bangladeshlive.net. While we were waiting for the game to start, the website showed a documentary on our liberation war. At one point of the documentary, I saw the March 7 speech of Bangabandhu -- the speech which is known as a big inspiration behind our liberation war. Suddenly I realised that I am 31 years old now and I had never before seen the actual video footage of this great part of our history. Unfortunately, such is the relationship between the Mujib and post-Mujib generation -- a relationship of disconnect. Most of the post-liberation generation grew up either not knowing anything about him or knowing wrong and fabricated information fed by the two political parties.
After I grew up, the first time I ever saw Bangabandhu on television was when I was 16 -- after the
fall of Ershad. Yes, it is hard to believe that in my formative years, I have never read about the founding father of my own country. Whenever, I heard his name mentioned, inevitably it would be in the context of some foolish comparison of him with Ziaur Rahman. As if to admire one of them, you have to hate the other.
I grew up admiring Zia for his personal honesty and leadership. When I was seven, I watched from the roof of our house the grief of hundreds and thousands of people who came for his funeral on Manik Mia avenue. I shed tears like others as well. That created a lasting impression.
I grew up watching the antiautocratic movement against Ershad and admired the principled stand of BNP leader Khaleda Zia. Yes, I was termed as a BNP sympathiser because of that. Without really thinking about any ideology, I
thought as a "Young Turk," Zia's party was always something I could relate to while Mujib's party always refer to this man who I have never seen or can connect to. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to me, was a passing thought. He was a leader whose picture I have seen but whose story I have never read. I only heard about him from my parents and when the forty-something Awami League leaders mentioned him in their speeches in a vague language.
Why am I saying all this? Because that is how me, my friends, and most of the younger generation formed opinion about Bangabandhu in the post-liberation Bangladesh. Lack of information compounded with fierce and bitter fight over the comparative greatness of Mujib and Zia created a permanent block on knowing the truth about him. The more each party tried to portray their version of the history, the more historical facts became the casualty. And the more the young ones like us became distant, bitter, and eventually indifferent about it. In fact, the progressive forces had a lot to lose here because they did not have the state machinery working for them.
However, instead of being empathetic with them, the young generation grew more distant from them. Why? Firstly Awami League brought Bangabandhu down to the level of a petty partisan leader instead of keeping his status as the undisputed father of the nation. Secondly, instead of a progressive and intellectual fight back, they resorted to mindless unquestionable worshiping of Bangabandhu. It became a mantra where if you believed in our liberation war, you had to accept Bangabandhu's greatness -- unquestionably.
Any question that the young, curious, and uninformed mind may have, they will be termed as a neo-razakar. A few years ago, in a related Internet newsgroup, I proposed that AL, instead of blaming others, needed to do serious soulsearching on why they lost in so many elections after the restoration of democracy in 1991. Immediately, I was kicked out of the group moderated by a fierce fan of AL. To him, any criticism of AL was tantamount to blasphemy and therefore it could
not be allowed. It goes without mentioning that such arrogance and idol-worshiping of a party and its leader is the last thing you want to do when you are in the business of winning new minds.
The biggest harm this brain-dead fundamentalism had caused was that it made Bangabandhu a distant and untouchable figure from the perspective of the young generation. For example, we often hear
that AL has to realise the dream of the Shonar Bangla that Bangabandhu dreamt, but as someone who was brought up during the Mujib black out chapter of our history, how am I supposed to know
what his ideas truly meant? No one talks about the very four core principles of the constitution that founded Bangladesh. Maybe they talk about it in political slogans and vague speeches. But no one talks about it in a language we can understand -in the context of Bangladesh of today. Ask these unpopular questions, you will be in the black book of Mujib worshipers just like I was.
Such fundamentalist supporters, unfortunately, are the biggest liability for the legacy of Mujib. I have an organisation that is built of young Bangladeshis worldwide. Originally people from all sections were part of it but now I have changed focus and am building the organisation entirely of the young. Partly because it is a lot easier to get an objective and fresh approach from a young mind and partly because their unclouded minds are more focused on implementing an idea rather than just talking about it. Recently, we did a project on creating website on the bomb blasts in Bangladesh -- the backgrounds, the investigations or lack of it, etc.
The principle motivation for this was not letting the facts surrounding these blasts become a causality before it is too late in the midst of blame and counter blames -- like so many other matters of importance in our history. We focused on just documenting the facts and let people make up their minds about it.
Can we find a similar study on Bangabandhu? In any historical matter of importance, finding a objective resource for historical study is a rarity in Bangladesh -- an objective study of Bangabandhu's career is no exception. As we are targeting to start an internship program, I am looking to compile a reading material for on the history of Bangladesh for the 2nd generation Bangladeshis. I know it will be a long struggle to come up with something authentic and objective on Bangabandhu.
Speaking of objectivity, I refer back to the footage of the leader of the nation on March 7 that I started
watching on bangladeshlive.net. I admire his speech. Thanks to those twenty-something organisers of the website, I see him unfiltered and unadulterated. As I have grown up now, I have access to more information about him. I gathered a fond interest towards the history of our nation. Now that I think about him, I think of him as a great leader who led a political struggle effectively, but who was a failure as an administrator and a visionary. Now as I have read up a little more on him, I can connect with him a little bit more. I connect with the four principles of the constitution that he led to create. Such a progressive constitution still makes me proud to be a Bangladeshi.
It is time for our younger generation to connect with Bangabandhu like this and be similarly proud of him. It is high time that we rescue him from all the mudslingings of the politics. It is time Awami League brings him down to earth from the unreachable pedestal they have placed him on. It is time BNP stops manufacturing histories about him. Our politicians will do this man a favour by not abusing his name in speeches and on agendas.
They need to realise that only by bringing out the real Bangabandhu will they be appreciated by the public and most importantly by the younger generation. We need to evaluate him and his position in history objectively -- not for personality worshiping but for understanding what we should expect from our political leaders. We need to create the seeds for the next Bangabandhu from this new generation who will learn from his mistakes and be inspired from his accomplishments. We owe it to our nation and to our future generations. Asif Saleh is the Founder and Executive Director of diaspora human rights organisation Drishtipat.org.