Marilyn Thipthorpe
“The history of the world is but the biography of great men” Thomas Carlyle.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was born in the small village of Tungipara of Gopalganj on the 17th of March 1920. From a sports mad boy to an impassioned youth in politics to the leader of a nation, Sheikh Mujib has been revered by most people. But do we know the man himself or what ran through his mind on a random day at a random time? Fondly known as ‘Bongobondhu’ the friend of Bengal by the people and ‘khoka’ by his family, this revolutionary leader strove with passion, and passed many a day in prison- all he wanted was a free country, a country where all sects could live in harmony.
To take a look into the mind and heart of this extraordinary human being, you need to read his unfinished memories. Translated into English by Professor Dr. Fakrul Alam and into Chinese as well, this unfinished memoir is a collection of notes, made by Sheikh Mujib during his many sojourns in prison between 1967-1969.
The haunting language shows the passion and desolation of the leader. It was originally inspired by his wife, Fazilatunnesa Mujib, later Mujib gave these notes to his nephew, Sheikh Fazlul Moni, to be typed up. After the ghastly assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family on the 15th of August 1975 the notes slipped into oblivion until it was rediscovered years later by a relative in one of Moni’s drawers. By then the notes had become frail and faded but it was readable.
The memoir follows his journey in prison and traces his ancestry, birth and childhood, school and college days up to his involvement in politics. He further describes his view on the famine and communal riots in India as well as Pakistan’s discriminatory attitude. The book gives an in-depth look into Sheikh Mujibs peers and contemporizes as well as what he thought of the leaders of the day such as Maulana Bhasshani, Mahatma Gandhi, A.K. Fazlul Haq and Nurul Amin. The last part of the memoir portrays the events leading up to the struggle for democratic rights in 1955.
The book remains unfinished as it spans only 35 years of Sheikh Mujibs life. On a personal note, the writing is such that Bongobondhu emerges as a simple, sincere, honest and loyal being who fought for what he believed was right for his people and they respected and loved him for it.