The play Hamlet cannot be staged without the Prince of Denmark. Similarly Bangladesh and Awami League are not complete without Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
And his competent daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is well suited for the role of the ruler just as Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was for a different role -- the role of a creator of a nation. The Sheikhs -- the father and daughter -- have fortified Awami League, which helped create a sovereign and independent Bangladesh and has given it a status of a development role model.
There were quite a good number of heavyweight leaders in Awami League since its inception. But the leader of the common workers and supporters was only one – Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. All the big leaders were engaged in carrying on their political activities at their drawing rooms, but young Sheikh Mujib was relentlessly moving throughout the country organising Awami League as an emerging political party in new Pakistan.
Sheikh Mujib came in contact with the mass people of the country within a very short time and those grass-roots people developed a deep affection for Sheikh Mujib as he could feel the pulse of the common people. So before becoming the official leader of Awami League in the council, Sheikh Mujib became the real leader of the people of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) and because of his wide acceptability he was the insurmountable leader of his time. Without Sheikh Mujib, nobody could think of forming government or leadership of the party.
Awami League, created with a view to establishing rights of and respects for the Bengalis who were neglected and deprived of their rights from time immemorial, has been struggling for the cause of the mass people since its inception in June 23, 1949. Starting from the 42-point charter of demands to 21 points of the United Front led by Awami League, historic six-point demand by Sheikh Mujib, 11-points and finally the mass upsurge in 1969, which swept away the iron man of Pakistan General Ayub Khan, the election victory in 1970, the Liberation War, and the ignoble surrender of the Pakistan occupation force through Bangladesh’s victory on December 16, 1971 – all added now feather in the cap of Awami League under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib.
Young Sheikh Mujib was given the charge of a number of ministries in the AK Fazlul Huq’s cabinet after the 1954 election in which Awami League was the majority party in the coalition. The political height of Sheikh Mujib was so scary that Ayub Khan put him in jail before he captured the state power from his mentor General Iskander Mirza. Ayub Khan thought that it would not be wise to grab power keeping Sheikh Mujib outside jail. That means Awami League leader Sheikh Mujib was the only stumbling block before the enemy of the people. It had been clear in so many ways that without Sheikh Mujib the independent Bangladesh was not possible.
Similarly, Bangladesh is already a developing nation and has entered the development superhighway. It has been possible only because of Sheikh Hasina, the competent daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The way Bangabandhu was nursing and organising Awami League, Sheikh Hasina with her utmost competence has organised Awami League in the oddest situation after the political changeover in August 15, 1975, when Bangabandhu was assassinated along with most of his family members.
Breaking down all blocks and barriers before revitalising Awami League, Sheikh Hasina had started moving. She fought all odds, negatives and enemies – covert and overt opposition from inside and outside party, hidden and public enemy. She is also fighting longstanding corruption and wide-ranging terrorism in the society promoted by the past military rulers to save their illegally captured power.
Despite the devastating religious extremism and the adverse impact of the climate change, Sheikh Hasina has to carry on her development programmes. She is facing a multiple challenges, including the challenge of her very existence. On several occasions attempts were made on her life. Despite all these challenges of ‘viruses’, she is taking Bangladesh to the ultimate goal of development.
When Awami League is in power, the nation gets something and when the party is out of power, the country gets back to the era of tyranny and misdeed. Suffering multiplies. Awami League is still the vanguard in protection of the people and their rights.
Sharif Shahab Uddin is the editor-in-chief of Bangladesh Post
