Hon’ble Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina said regarding the declaration of independence, after the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, the history of his declaration of independence in 1971 has been distorted.
Sheikh Hasina said, ‘Bangabandhu’s declaration of independence was spread through wireless and the party people delivered it to all parts of the country. But history has been distorted after he was killed.’
Hon’ble Prime Minister said, before his arrest, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu announced the independence of Bangladesh in the early hours of March 26, which was spread throughout the country through EPR’s wireless, telegram-teleprinter and party leaders and workers. However, after the killing of the father of the nation in 1975, this history was distorted.
Sheikh Hasina said, ‘A major stood on a drum and blew the flute, and that’s how Bangladesh became independent! A country does not become independent like this. They (BNP) are still playing the broken record of distorting history.’
Honorable Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina said these words today in a discussion meeting organized by Bangladesh Awami League at the Awami League office in Tezgaon in the capital on the occasion of ‘Great Independence and National Day-2024’.
Honorable Prime Minister said that the Father of the Nation prepared the entire nation for freedom and to face any situation through his historic March 7 speech. As he did not want to be identified as an aggressor or a separatist earlier, he was making all kinds of preparations step by step while continuing the non-cooperation movement.
Sheikh Hasina said that the father of the nation declared independence in the early hours of March 26 when the Pakistani army suddenly started attacking the innocent people on March 25. His declaration of independence was broadcast nationwide by the then EPR (now BGB) wireless network. This message was already sent to four people including Subeda Major Shaukat Ali. While the EPR was sending messages across Bangladesh using wireless, on the night of March 25, along with Dhaka University and Rajarbagh Police Lines, Pakistani forces also attacked Bangabandhu Bhavan at Pilkhana and Dhanmondi No. 32, and Bangabandhu was arrested. But the message spread across the country through wireless, telegram-teleprinters and police stations. Later, Awami League leaders-activists propagated it in different ways across the country and preachers including Subedar Shaukat were caught and brutally tortured and martyred. And this history has been distorted after ’75. An attempt has been made to distort the real history and bring out a different history.
Addressing the leaders and workers of the party, the Honorable Prime Minister said that they (BNP) are still playing the broken record of distorting history. There is a reason for that. Today, the one who says that on March 25, 1971, the Awami League leaders all fled, Moin Khan’s father, Momin Khan, was the food secretary. Who succeeded in creating the artificial famine of ’74 during his tenure as the Food Secretary and became Ziaur Rahman’s adviser with the status of a minister after being rewarded by Ziaur Rahman when he seized power illegally. But since ’75, there was famine in Bangladesh all year round.
The Honorable Prime Minister said that after being forced to return home when he was elected as the president of Awami League from exile in 1981, he traveled around Bangladesh and saw famine for years.
Sheikh Hasina said, “In the 70s, the winning members of the national and provincial councils formed the first government of independent Bangladesh.” Its president is Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Members of the government including Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam, Acting President and Honorable Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed took oath at Mujibnagar and led the Liberation War as the Father of the Nation was incarcerated.
Regarding Ziaur Rahman, the Honorable Prime Minister said that the government of that time divided Bangladesh into different sectors to build the armed forces and conduct the liberation war and gave each sector responsibility. Ziaur Rahman was given charge of a sector after the sector in charge was injured. Ziaur Rahman worked there as a salaried employee. Ziaur Rahman was a salaried employee under the Awami League government. Apart from that, Zia was a minor major. From here he was promoted to Major General but was given to him by the Awami League government. And before independence he was commissioned as a commissioned officer in West Pakistan and was serving in East Bengal, he was born in Calcutta, then his family moved to Karachi and his education and joining the army were all in Pakistan. So that Pakistan remains in his mind, and there is proof of that.
Sheikh Hasina said that when the Pakistani invasion forces started the massacre here on March 25, they also started the massacre in Chittagong. Responding to the call of the Father of the Nation, the Pakistan Army opened fire on those who were barricading. And Ziaur Rahman was in charge of that army in Chittagong and Ziaur Rahman also opened fire on those who barricaded that time. Not only that, the SWAT ship came with weapons from Pakistan, Ziaur Rahman went to redeem those weapons. There, the leaders of the Sangram Parishad and other common people stopped him on the way. He did not let him go, stopped him and took him from there.
Sheikh Hasina also said that when Hannan Saheb (Chittagong Awami League Secretary) started announcing from the Kalurghat radio station on March 26 at two-thirty. One by one, all our leaders read the declaration. At that time Zahoor Ahmed said, we need a military man. Then Major Rafiq was called. He is then sitting in ambush to stop the Pakistani invasion forces. He said, if I move from here, they will occupy this place. At that time Ziaur Rahman was arrested and the declaration was read out on behalf of the Father of the Nation by him later in the evening of 27th. So there is nothing to brag about it! They are bragging about it.
Awami League advisory council member and senior leader Amir Hossain Amu, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Salim, engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Dr. Abdur Razzak and Shajahan Khan, health secretary of the party and state minister of health. Rokeya Sultana, Dhaka District President Benazir Ahmed, Dhaka Metropolitan South General Secretary Humayun Kabir, Dhaka Metropolitan North General Secretary SM Mannan Kochi and others spoke in the discussion meeting.
Awami League’s Publicity and Publication Secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap and Associate Publicity Secretary Syed Abdul Awal Shamim moderated the discussion.
Honorable Prime Minister said, ‘Here I want to remind one thing, at that time Pakistani military officer Aslam Baig was working in Bangladesh. Later he became the Chief of Pakistan Army. This Aslam Beg wrote a letter to Ziaur Rahman. In that letter, he expressed satisfaction with Ziaur Rahman’s activities.
Hon’ble Prime Minister mentioned, Aslam Baig also wrote, ‘He is satisfied with his performance, he will be given more work in future. Zia’s family also informed in the letter that his wife and two sons are doing well in Dhaka Cantonment. A copy of the letter was also read in Parliament. It is also there as a document.’
Sheikh Hasina said, after the war started, our guerrillas rescued the families of various army officers and moved them to safe places. They also came to Khaleda Zia but she did not go with the guerillas and went to the cantonment with her two sons.
Sheikh Hasina raised the question, who declared independence, left his wife and son in custody, and Aslam Beg said in a letter, they are satisfied with Zia’s activities, do you know why they are satisfied? If you calculate the number of sectors where the war has taken place, the freedom fighters have been killed the most in which Ziaur Rahman was in charge. Most of the casualties were there.
Honorable Prime Minister said, I cannot say one more thing. I saw a leader of BNP opening the bed and burning it. Do not use Indian products. Then it was seen again, some sheets were bought and burnt. Well, winter is gone, now what else comes and goes if you burn the sheets. My question is, how many Indian sarees do the leaders who say boycott Indian products have? Then why are you not taking those sarees from the bride and burning them? You all ask this question to BNP leaders.
Sheikh Hasina said, ‘I will tell the BNP leaders, those who boycott Indian products, go to everyone’s house and ask their wives not to wear any Indian sarees; The day you bring all the sarees in the cupboard and burn them in front of that office, I will believe that you have really boycotted Indian products. We import garam masala, onion, garlic, ginger in our country. We brought ginger from Mizoram. Masalapati, Ginger Whatever comes from India, this Indian spice should not be seen in anyone’s kitchen. They have to cook and eat these without spices. So whether they can eat it or not, they have to give that answer.’
The Awami League president said, ‘You are a master of singing, we have seen this before. Come to the real words, we want to know whether you have really rejected these products or not.
Hon’ble Prime Minister criticized the so-called intellectuals and said, when this intelligence goes to other sectors, they become delusional, then it has no value, it becomes stupidity. This is the reality.
Sheikh Hasina said, BNP seeks democracy. Where will they get democracy? In their eyes, the thuli of dictatorship is worn. After August 15, 1975, curfew was enforced every night during the regime of military ruler Ziaur Rahman. Even when he returned home in ’81, he found himself back home by 11 p.m., an all-night curfew. Calling it ‘curfew democracy’ or ‘martial law’ democracy, BNP is now looking for that democracy or not, he also raised the question.
Honorable Prime Minister said, ‘We see a strange phenomenon in Bangladesh – ultra-right (right-wing) and ultra-left (left-wing) are now in one place. What is their ideal? What is their policy? They find no good in anything. There are several groups on the far left, they will absolutely revolutionize. The revolution that they have now become decadent.’