Bangabandhu`s 7th March speech reshaped history of Bangladesh

Aminul Islam: The 7th March Speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a speech that reshaped the history of Bangladesh. Through the speech the people of the country had got the final directive and an indomitable inspiration to fight for the liberation war against the Pakistan junta.

The vigorous speech of Bangabandhu encouraged people of all walks of life to prepare for the war that the Pakistani regime would launch on the unarmed Bangalees on March 26 midnight, committing one of the worst genocides in the history of the world that occurred the next nine months.

Today is the historic March 7. On this day in 1971, shortly before his arrest on the black night of March 25, the Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujib in his fiery and confident speech called on the freedom-loving Bangalees to wage a decisive struggle against the Pakistan tyranny.

On this day, Bangabandhu proclaimed in a thunderous voice at a mammoth rally at the Racecourse Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan) in Dhaka that “Ebarer sangram amader muktir sangram, ebarer sangram swadhinatar sangram (This struggle is for our emancipation, this struggle is for independence)”.

Bangabandhu spoke at a time of increasing tensions between then East Pakistan and the powerful political and military establishment of West Pakistan. The Bangalee people were inspired to prepare for a potential war of independence, amid widespread reports of armed mobilization by West Pakistan.

During the speech, Sheikh Mujib also announced the civil disobedience movement in the province, calling for "every house to turn into a fortress".

Following the Bangabandhu`s declaration, people across the country- from the capital Dhaka to remote villages- continued to raise slogans like: `Sab Kother Shesh Koth Bangladesher Swadhinata` and `Bir Bangalee Astro Dhoro, Bangladesh Mukto Koro`.

Against this backdrop, President Yahya Khan came to Dhaka on 15 March to hold talks with Bangabandhu on the country`s political crisis. In fact, the events that followed made it clear that his move for talks was just a ploy to confuse the people and buy time to finalise preparations for launching a brutal assault on the Bangalees.

Mujib-Yahya meeting started the next day - March 16 and continued in several sessions. But the meeting failed to yield any positive outcome. And finally Bangalee nation took up arms for liberation as Bangabandhu had asked them to get prepared for.

The war eventually began 18 days later from the historic 7th March speech, when the Pakistan Army launched `Operation Searchlight` against Bengali civilians, intelligentsia, students, politicians and armed personnel.

It is worth to be mentioned here that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic March 7, 1971 speech that effectively declared Bangladesh’s independence has been selected as one of the most rousing and inspirational wartime speeches in the last 2,500 years.

rieingbd/Mar 07, 2015/Aminul