"... His hand repeatedly flashed like a spear
Swells up, swells up, Maulana's white Punjabi,
As if he is all with a Punjabi
You desperately want to cover the scattered corpses. ”
Shamsur Rahman
Today, November 18, is the 43rd death anniversary of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, the great leader of Afro-Asia and Latin America. Analyzing the history of Bangladesh, the most profound and significant thing in the life of the Bengali nation is the 'independence movement' or 'liberation war' of Bangladesh.
If we look at the movement for independence and autonomy of Bangladesh from a historical context, it can be seen that Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani was the first to bring the issue of autonomy and even independence to the fore in his various political programs. As he said on March 19, 1948 in the context of language rights, ‘Are we slaves of the Central Government?’ From the early fifties, Maulana Bhasani raised the issues of autonomy and self-determination of East Bengal before national politics. But Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy became the Prime Minister and refuted Maulana Bhasani, saying, "98 percent autonomy has been given to East Pakistan."
Similarly, in the 21 points he declared before the United Front elections in 1954, he said in 19 points, "On the basis of the Lahore resolution, East Bengal will be given full autonomy and sovereignty and all matters except national defense, foreign affairs and currency will be brought into the hands of the East Bengal government." In the original six-point statement of 1966, which was identified as a certificate of liberation, but 19 points of Bhasani's United Front were reflected. In addition to addressing the public meeting of the platoon on 16 June 1955, Maulana Bhasani on 15 January 1958 spoke directly about independence. In the wake of Maulana Bhasani's demand for more autonomy in East Pakistan and the abandonment of Pakistan's war alliance, the Suhrawardy faction abandoned him through the 1958 Kagmari Conference.
At the Kagmari Conference of 1956, he spoke of independence in unambiguous language. But then he said farewell to Pakistan 'Assalamu Alaikum'. At a large public meeting at the Kagmari Conference on 8 February 1958, Maulana Bhasani said, "If the people of East Bengal continue to be exploited in this way, the people of East Bengal will say Assalamu Alaikum to West Pakistan in the next 10 years." You look at your path, we will look at our path. ' For example, Abu Jafar Shamsuddin, the convener of the reception committee of the Kagmari Conference, later addressed the historic and well-known utterance of the day, saying, "In my humble opinion, the first clear demand for political independence of Bangladesh and the determination to fight for it was announced through that voice."Although it is true that at that time the people of East Bengal were fully prepared for the independence movement, historians may be able to assess differently in the future.
Similarly, during Yahya's military rule in 1969, in his old age, Maulana Bhasani tried to unite the leaders of different political parties through various peasant conferences, and it was through these peasant conferences that he repeatedly spoke of independence. During the reign of the military ruler Yahya, many such peasant conferences were held in Shahpur in October 1969, Santosh in January 1970 and Mahipur in April of the same year. At these farmers' conferences, Maulana Bhasani said, "We have to build our own destiny." Pindi's slavery must be broken. 'In the wake of the cyclone in the Bay of Bengal on November 12, 1970, the great leader again raised his finger and guided the nation. No more indirect language, ‘freedom is not autonomy, we want freedom.’ He repeated the same words at the public meetings of the platoon on 23 November and 4 December 1970.
After holding an all-party conference at the Santosh Darbar Hall on January 9, 1971 with the aim of achieving independence, Maulana Bhasani rushed to the city-port, village-ganj at meteor speed. His words are the same, I want freedom. And just brought up the question of freedom in the speech? No. Even during the talks with Yahya Khan himself, he threw in the face of the President, ‘Pakistan kisika bapka zaidad nehi hai (Pakistan is not the property of the father.’).The question may come, why he is repeatedly talking about freedom instead of elections. We find the answer in this regard, the central leader of the Ganatantri Party with whom Bhasani had spoken in Dehradun, India, he mentioned. He summed up Bhasani's statement by saying, "Many revolutionary leaders and workers of the party did not believe in elections. They thought that the conditions for revolution had been created.Apart from that, one of my thoughts was that whether it is a revolution or not, this is the best time to achieve independence. If I take part in the election, the vote will be divided. There will be fierce disagreement. There will be no war of independence. Mujib is the winner. Geographical independence may come. You can't bring liberation. Then we are here. 'Note that for Maulana Bhasani, gaining independence was not the only issue. Political analysts and historians believed that he had always wanted to work for the liberation of the working-peasant-toiling masses and that he had been present in various political programs and demands accordingly.
So Maulana Bhasani prepared the ground for independence at that time. The student leaders got a chance to strengthen the independence movement. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the pioneer of the independence of the Bengali nation, declared on the racecourse ground, "This time the struggle is for our liberation, this time the struggle is for freedom." This is what he wanted in his mind for so long from different political parties especially Awami League and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. After Bangabandhu's speech on March 7, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani delivered another important speech in the history of Bangladesh's independence.He gave this speech on March 9, 1971 in Paltan. That is why, two days later, at a public meeting in the platoon, Maulana Bhasani said, "The son of the house has returned home." Pakistan will have the same relationship with Bangladesh as the British did with the independence of the Commonwealth. ' "La-kum dinikum olia deen" means your religion is yours, my religion is mine; Acknowledge the independence of East Bengal. No one will be able to suppress the struggle for the liberation and independence of seven and a half crore Bengalis. '
At the public meeting, Maulana Bhasani applauded loudly and said, "If nothing is done within the next 25 days as directed by Mujib, I will join hands with Sheikh Mujib to build a tumultuous movement like in 1952." He urged everyone to have confidence in Sheikh Mujib, saying, "Sheikh Mujib is like my son, he will not betray; The Bengalis put their trust in Mujib because I know him well. 'Through this statement, Maulana Bhasani expressed full confidence in the freedom struggle led by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. An example is set of two major leaders coming to the same conclusion. However, this example is missing in the pages of history. Although the foundation stone of Bangladesh's independence was laid soon after Bangabandhu's speech on March 7, when the two main leaders agreed to take the same decision together, there was no room for doubt about independence. This is exactly what happened in the life of Bengalis then.
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