Interim govt couldn't uphold spirit of July Revolution, Sharmin Ahmad tells BSS

Renowned writer and researcher Sharmin Ahmad has expressed disappointment over the interim government's inability to embody the ideals of the July Revolution.

"Our martyrs and injured are the true VVIPs of our state. The government must act faster to rehabilitate their families and honour the spirit of the revolution," Sharmin, the daughter of Bangladesh's first prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad, told the national news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) on the eve of the Great Victory Day

She also talked about the Liberation War and her works.

Ayesha Pervin, who has been working as Deputy Chief News Editor (Bangla Service) in the organisation, has taken the interview.

How would you evaluate the post July Uprising time?

Answer: It has only been four months since the new government came into power. Four months is a very short time to say. However, some indicators are available. An overall assessment is not possible yet. It will be possible to say after another year. But 'Morning Shows the Day.' I don't think this interim government could effectively reflect the spirit of the July Revolution. This revolution would not have been successful without the sacrifice of so many martyrs. More than 20,000 of our people have become crippled. 50% of them have lost their eyesight. At the cost of their eyesight, we have regained our vision to see a new Bangladesh. But are we able to take care of them properly? They are the VVIPs of our state. The family members of the injured and martyrs need to be rehabilitated. The government is doing it, but very slowly. But here we have to work very fast. Our ministries have to work with the July spirit.

The market has become unbearable. But the market was tolerable in the first two weeks after the revolution was successful. Traffic on the roads was under control. At that time, students controlled all those. If the children and teenagers can do that, then what is our trained state machinery doing? Why can't they work to control traffic jams, price hikes of commodities, extortion, syndicates? Children, teenagers, and young people have done it.

However, one thing is positive that the interim government has spoken to India for the first time keeping eye on eye on the basis of equality. I find a similarity between this spirit and the spirit of 1971. Tajuddin Ahmad, in his first radio address as Prime Minister on April 10 and later, has repeatedly said and proven in action that relations with all other countries, including India, will be based on equality and fairness.

Why do you call the recent July Revolution a 'Mass Uprising' and the Liberation War a 'People's War'?

Answer: I consider July 36 as a combination of 'Mass Uprising' and Mass Revolution' both. It's a blend of two. The student-people uprising or mass uprising has taken place against a brutal autocratic system and discrimination. If the autocratic forces had won the fight, then that change would be limited within the frame of uprising only. But this mass uprising turned into a revolution through dislodging the autocratic regime from power. It can be seen as the first step of the revolution and it's successful culmination depends on achievement of the subsequent government to materialise the hopes and aspirations of the people and bring revolutionary changes in the state structure. It's time-consuming and implementation depends on the right leadership.

It is seen in the history that people's revolutions usually take place through armed rebellion where there is an armed force having training on military education and war under a political leadership. Independence war of the United States, Bangladesh Liberation War and Russia Revolution are some examples.

But, you see the mass revolution in Portugal, the Philippines, Tunisia, and Egypt many other places across the world. Revolution is those countries took place peacefully without any armed fight. People did not take up arms but brought down the dictatorship. The peaceful mass revolution of Bangladesh in 2024 has similarities to some extent with those upheavals. So, I contemplate it as a 'Mass Uprising'.

The students and people who took part in the uprising were unarmed. But the state illegally used its police force against its own people. But these revolutionaries were not trained and no central leadership guided them. It was a spontaneous. They were not afraid of sacrifice their lives. They moved ahead. That is why, the autocratic system has fallen. It's a revolutionary one. In the last 16 years, many political parties have talked a lot, but we have not seen any such change that they were able to bring about. What we saw in July-August. The general people stood beside the students. They believed them. They kept faith on youth folks. This is a matter of taking into notice. Most of them were non-partisan.

The two revolutions are synonymous as far as public expectations are concerned. During the Liberation War, the people desired to establish a people's government against a brutal anti-people, tyrannical and autocratic military system. This was a people's war as millions of workers, farmers, students, military personnel, and civilians joined. Out of them, only 1,01,000 were trained freedom fighters, but 7.50 crore people were also warrior.

The woman who cooked rice and lentils, secretly reached those food to the freedom fighters, feed them evading the sight of the Pak soldiers, are also freedom fighters. A father or mother who sent their only son to war to liberate the country is also a freedom fighter. People from all walks of life extended their wholehearted support to the freedom fighters by providing food and medicine, making the Liberation War a people's war.

However, the people's revolution of 2024 has a difference with the Liberation War in 1971 as the later happens only once in the life of a nation. The Liberation War is marked by achieving a new statehood through establishing the right to self-determination against subjugation or colonial rule. We have owned the components needed to create a new state as like demography, territory, government, sovereignty and recognition through our War of Liberation. That means Bangladesh has been created from the womb of the War of Independence. We would not have Bangladesh if the War of Independence didn't take place. We also call this as the Liberation War as people were inspired by the desire and belief that they would get socio-economic and political emancipation in the newborn state.

And what happened in 2024 was different from 1971. In 2024 people fought against another authoritarian ruler born within the very framework of Bangladesh state structure, who was working against the people of the country. That is why there is a difference between the two. And, the similarity is that in both cases, people felt that they were losing their civil rights, being deprived of the right to vote.

In the war of independence, people stood against discrimination for establishing social justice, human dignity and equality. The interesting thing is that even in 2024, the nation has fought for same rights, in quest of same aspiration. In this way, both are synonymous. There are some similarities and some differences.

What do you think should be done to make the spirit of the uprising successful?

Answer: Actually, a vision is needed. The vision is that in order to build the future Bangladesh, we have to transcend the spirit of revolution everywhere from education to justice and law, which will be like blood vessels. The spirit of revolution must be spread all over the state organs. For this, the people carrying the spirit of revolution must be picked up to carry forward the task. Age should not be a matter.

Let me give you an example of Singapore, when Singapore became independent in 1965, they were very poor. Poverty was everywhere. Children were hungry. But can we think about that now? Where is Singapore today? Their vision had three components- talent, realistic thinking, and honesty. We need such leadership to spread the philosophy of our revolution everywhere. And such leadership does not develop without preparation. For example, during the Liberation War, when the leadership was in the hands of Tajuddin Ahmad and Syed Nazrul Islam, they were then ready. If you read Tajuddin Ahmad's biography, you will see that from a young age he was grooming himself in education, talent, honesty, and compassion, much like a saint.
Therefore, to make this revolution successful, we must bring those in front who are carrying the spirit of the revolution. Competent people must be involved to reach the spirit to a wide space. This is not a normal government that should be limited to official duties.

Your book 'Tajuddin Ahmad: Leader and Father' has created quite a response. Considering the time of publication, do you think it was an adventurous work? If so, what was the inspiration behind it?

Answer: There was an urge to write it. Our Liberation War had a very big spectrum. It was not a negotiated issue. The partition of the country in 1947 was a negotiated issue. This settlement was made through negotiations with the British. But the Liberation War was established on a legal basis through the Declaration of Independence, which was an uncompromising struggle. Through this, we got independence. But about the formation of the first Bangladesh government, our children know nothing. For example, 30 March 1971, this day should be written in golden letters in our history. On that day, Tajuddin Ahmad thought of constituting a revolutionary government and conducting the Liberation War under that government. It was a very far-sighted thought. The stories of freedom fighters also remained mostly unpublicized. The overall picture of the Liberation War was not presented to the children. The fact this war was an united fight of military and civilian leadership. But it was not presented correctly before the nation. Considering all these, I started working on this book. My mother was very happy. She herself gave me a lot of information. But she could not see the publication of the book. In March 1913, the Oitijya Publishing House announced its publication. My mother died in December that year. The book was published in 2014. At that time, many called it a risky venture as it was very uncomfortable for ruling Sheikh Hasina. My book challenged the narratives they were promoting. But I did not retreat. I was inspired by a saying of Nelson Mandela. That is, 'The time to do something good is now, the time to tell the truth is now.' Besides, I also had in mind the words of the medieval saint Bruno, who was brutally killed for telling the truth. But he lived within that truth.

However, I had to suffer a lot of harassment after the book was published. I had to face many questions from the NSI (National Security Intelligence). Still, I did not stop talking about the book.

How do you, as the daughter of a freedom fighter, see the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by the Pakistani army on the night of 25 March 1971? What kind of impact do you think it had on the Liberation War?

Answer: It was decided after discussion that he would go into hiding with my father and other comrades. This was not my idea alone, if the nation knew the history, they would also be very surprised. Suppose, you are the head of a party or organization. You decided that we all will do this work together. Then suddenly you said, you will not do this work. Do it as you can. This will definitely have a huge impact on the party or the organization. And this is the fate of the country, the people of the country, and 7.5 crore million people. This has caused great damage to the country.

Many people knew about the crackdown on the night of March 25, 1971. My father also knew about this terrible crackdown. That night, my father went to No. 32, Dhanmondi to get Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's signature on the declaration of independence. It was said that after the signature, it would be given to a student (who was selected according to a secret decision). Whose responsibility was to deliver it to all the foreign journalists at the Hotel InterContinental. But he returned from there being upset as Mujib Bhai denied signing the document.

My father told, 'Mujib Bhai' has ruined our 23-year struggle. He will not sign, nor will he leave home.' At that time, my father also said that when he asked him (Mujib) to sign, Mujib Bhai said, no, it will be a document against me. I will be called as a traitor. But then we ready to be traitors. We are moving towards independence."

By doing this, Sheikh Saheb put his long-time comrades in terrible danger. My father said, 'Look, Mujib Bhai, Lenin, Mao Zedong, all those who led the struggle for freedom in the world were the main leaders and were with the people. They did not surrender. You did not tell us who would be the second man or third man after you?' He then said, 'Go, you people can do it.'

He did not give any instructions. It will not work simply saying 'the struggle of this time' is the struggle for freedom'. We later saw the horror of it. The formation of the government in exile was a revolutionary decision. But a young force opposed it. They were known as Mujib Bahini. They were Sheikh Saheb's trusted brothers. He sent them instructions secretly. This created a huge division. Under the leadership of Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni, the opposition to this group lasted until the end of the war. They also opened brushfire on the freedom fighters. But the issues had to be kept secret. On the other hand, Khondaker Mostaq was secretly collaborating with Pakistan and CIA. On the one hand, the government of that Liberation War had to deal with all these internal suicidal conspiracies and on the other hand the external enemies. If Sheikh Saheb had been in the Liberation War, then the issues would not have had to be faced. Such a situation would not have arisen and later the nation would not have had to pay the price of his deliberate absence in the independent Bangladesh.

In your book 'Tajuddin Ahmad: Leader and Father', you have mentioned that Sheikh Mujib was not very interested in knowing about the Liberation War, even though he was present spiritually but not physically. What is the reason behind your thinking?

Answer: It is not just my saying that he did not want to know. The freedom fighters also knew this. Most of the freedom fighters were from villages and ordinary families. But a great change had taken place in their psyche through the war. They were excited about the new country after liberating the country. Tajuddin Ahmad planned to use them to form the national militia for building the country. But Sheikh Saheb did not let him do that. He favoured Mujib Bahini to do this job. But they didn't hold arms during the war. He formed the Rakkhi Bahini with the Mujib Bahini loyal to his nephew Sheikh Moni. The result was not good.

I think a psychological problem arose in Sheikh Saheb, which is that the country became independent without me (Mujib). And the freedom fighters were loyal to Tajuddin and Nazrul Islam. He saw it in a very narrow perspective. The result of this was not good. He never wanted to hear about the Liberation War. Tajuddin Ahmad, Syed Nazrul Islam and others organized a dinner and wanted to tell him about the war. He fell asleep during the dinner. How sad it is. This is a cruel thing in our history. But later we saw that the Sheikh family hijacked the word Liberation War. They used it for their own interests.

Question: Recently, you have said in an event that the Awami League had built the Liberation War on a single pillar. Through this, was the party able to evaluate the Liberation War correctly? Would you please share your opinion?
Answer: Of course not. Look, a house is strong when it is built on many pillars. Democracy is a diversified matter. There are contributions of many people here. In the United States, we see George Washington's picture on the one-dollar denomination, Abraham Lincoln's picture on the five-dollar, Alexander Hamilton's picture on the ten-dollar, and Jackson's picture on the twenty-dollar denomination. This is how everyone has been honored. If you put them on a pillar, people will no longer consider it's their own. They think it's the story of another family, the story of one person. But when we talk about everyone, people will consider it's of their own.

A few days ago, when you were in the country, you ran from one hospital to another to see the injured persons in the July Revolution. What responsibility pursued you to do this? Was it merely from humanitarian ground?

Answer: I went to the CRP in Savar, the rehabilitation centre for the disabled, three times in 26 days while I was in the country. This was not only a humanitarian responsibility. We are indebted and deeply grateful to them. We are obliged to them. They are not the objects of our compassion. They are extraordinary people. They are one of the greatest people of my nation. I felt rather honoured to meet them. However, we are yet to give them due respect.

Besides, I was surprised that CRP is the only rehabilitation centre for the disabled in Bangladesh. As a result, there is a lot of pressure on them. We, on behalf of Sitara and Jagran organizations, are trying to do whatever we can for them. If everyone comes forward, then it is possible to rehabilitate all of them. So we urge you all to stand by them wherever you are. The new Bangladesh we have got today is because of their supreme sacrifice. Let us not forget this. They are our topmost priority.