-Prof. AAMS Arefin Siddique, Former Vice Chancellor, University of Dhaka:
When Bangabandhu was murdered on August 15, 1975, it was as if the whole nation was murdered. Bangladesh couldn’t move forward since that day. The nation went in a completely Pakistan-centric direction.
After murdering Bangabandhu, the conspirators declared Bangladesh Betar as ‘Radio Bangladesh’; and instead of ‘Joy Bangla’, they chanted the slogan ‘Bangladesh Zindabaad’. Thus, the military dictatorship continued to rule the country, controlling its fate. Nothing could be more humiliating than this.
Our constitution was written with the blood of three million people. The military dictators issued ‘Indemnity Ordinance’ so Bangabandhu’s murderers could not be tried. After a long-fought movement in overthrowing this tyranny, democracy was reestablished in Bangladesh. Now, under the leadership of the daughter of Bangabandhu, the country is advancing. We have to remain vigilant, because anti-liberation forces are constantly working against Bangladesh’s progress. Even now, they conspire ways to turn Bangladesh into Pakistan.
Bangabandhu dreamt of Bangladesh. When he first dreamt that dream, he was but a budding student leader in Dhaka University’s Law Department. During that time, he once said that Bangalees can never be free as long as there’s a 1,200-mile distance between East and West Pakistan. As a student of Calcutta Islamia College, Bangabandhu himself was a participant of the Pakistan movement, but within only 7-8 months he realized that Bangalees’ freedom was not possible through this Pakistan. This became clear when the Pakistanis came down upon Bangalees with humiliation and torture when the latter called for their mother tongue Bangla to be declared as a state language.
Based on an interview by Ashiq Rahman, translated by Abrar Hussain