Come a given day the media and social media are replete with the memories of leaders, mostly political, whom we have lost due to natural causes or death by violence or for other reasons, Accolades are showered on these individuals but their philosophies and the very cause of their politics and their specialities are hardly ever mentioned. It leaves the rest of us poorer for lack of information and knowledge.
Journalist Syed Badrul Ahsan reminds us that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was more in fear of the political acumen of Tajuddin Ahmed rather than Bangabandhu and if that is surprising it shouldn’t be. Bangabandhu remained incarcerated in a jail oblivious to the freedom fight being waged in the then East Pakistan with Tajuddin Ahmed and the three other national leaders leading the fray. There was nothing Bhutto or Yahya Khan could do about it and Tajuddin Ahmed was a man of rare qualities. His wife and offspring too, have chosen to remain silent about the causes that led to Tajuddin being forced to resign from the cabinet by Bangabandhu. Save for his diary little research has been conducted about his life and work, his beliefs and principles and indeed his approach to running of the state in independent Bangladesh.
Far less is said of the role and compulsions of Capt. Mansur Ali, AHM Kamruzzaman and Syed Nazrul Islam even though their offspring too have since continued the political traditions of their families. There is much to learn from these political legends and their thinking of a Bangladesh where economic emancipation would be a reality. It is also incumbent on us to know why it was that their lives were cut short even after they were jailed without charges being brought against them and the rule of law followed for misdemeanours if any. Till today a proper investigation has not been conducted into their deaths and the justice that late Syed Ashraful Islam had demanded through the years of his lifetime was never delivered.
The four national leaders were close companions of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, supportive of an independent state. Close to four years, Tajuddin somewhat less, they traversed the journey of the father of the nation. But they too were individuals that believed in democracy. It is time more is known about their lives and indeed what made them tick through the struggle for emancipation. Mere observance of their death anniversary does not do justice to their roles in the creation of Bangladesh and their leadership during the liberation war. The Press and Publication wing of Awami League owes the nation as much. In a piece written by one of the sons of Syed Nazrul Islam we come to know a little of how the man withstood the overtures of Khandakar Mushtaque Ahmed, something other stalwarts failed to do. Even in jailed circumstances he refused to budge and instead concentrated on writing something akin to memoirs. If only these were available. Mere remembrance can be no substitute towards knowing the substance these men were made of. They are part and parcel of the true history of the country’s independence movement.
A communications and regulatory affairs specialist, Mahmudur Rahman has worked as head of function with British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Robi and served as the CEO of Bangladesh Cricket Board.