The tragic tale of Sheikh Russel
Dhaka University wore a festive look before 15 August 1975 as the university was prepared to receive Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, an alumnus of the university, in a special convocation.
Gardeners made garlands for the greatest alumnus of the university but Bangabandhu disliked the waste of money. Yet there was no dearth of the exuberance of university teachers and students alike to give a grand welcome to their Chancellor, their leader who led the nation to independence.
Sheikh Russel, the youngest son of Bangabandhu and Bangamata Fazilatunnesa Mujib, was to extend floral reception to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with other students of the University Laboratory School. Russel was a fourth grader at the school at that time.
But history ordained otherwise.
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On 15 August 1975, Bangabandhu and most of his family members were assassinated. The bullets did not spare even Rusell.
Until he was seven, Russell hardly got to see his father who was leading the struggle for independence. Bangabandhu just started to enjoy some family time after independence and that is when Russel got to see him up close.
Despite being the son of the President, Rusell would go to school riding his bicycle and take meals in the kitchen along with housekeepers.
He loved feeding the pigeons and do focus on maths under the supervision of his tutor. Whenever the family visited their ancestral home at Gopalganj's Tungipara, Rusell would insist on taking some clothes for his friends there.
The bullets cut short this lively child who was beginning to display a heart as big as his great father.
Why did Rusell's life end so cruelly? Simple, one may say. He became a victim of a brutal game of revenge by the defeated forces of 1971, those who wanted a military-backed Islamist theocracy to rule Bangladesh rather than a secular democratic dispensation anchored in linguistic cultural nationalism that Bangabandhu espoused.
The world has witnessed many brutal political killings by conspirators over the ages. But none could match the brutality in the way Russel was killed. The blood-thirsty soldiers dragged the child next to the blood-drenched bodies of his family members and then shot him point blank to the cheer of some of those present.
Bangabandhu in his book "Karagarer Rojnamcha" wrote how Russell, then two and half years old in May 1967, chanted the slogans on the six-point movement with his sweet voice.
"I asked where did he learn it from? Renu (Begum Mujib) replied, the activists uttered these at a programme in the house and he learnt this."
Bangabandhu was incarcerated after he announced the six-point program and a mass movement erupted over his arrest. Awami League's top leadership would converge at Bangabandhu's house no. 677 in Dhanmondi 32. Many leaders advocated compromising the six-point demand in return for Bangabandhu's release, a proposal strongly opposed by Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa and leaders of Chhatra League. Bangamata was bent on ensuring that 6-point is not changed at all in absence of Bangabandhu. The vivacious woman also sent a message to Bangabandhu through their daughter Sheikh Hasina on the latest update of the political situation of the country and suggested he does not come out of jail on parole.
Bangabandhu was in jail for a long time in 1966, when Russel was one and a half years old. Russel grew up at a time of great political upheaval and awakening centring on the six-point movement and mass movement of 1969. Bangabandhu's house was the nerve-centre of the movement for 6-point demand in the late 1960s, the general election of 1970 and the non-cooperation movement in 1971. "Joy Bangla" reverberated in every nook and corner of the country. As the house of Bangabandhu became hub of all political activities, Russel would utter the slogans of independence at that tender age.
Russel might have become a patriot statesman like his father or an anti-nuclear advocate of peace like his namesake Bertrand Russel, a patriot soldier imbued with the spirit of the Liberation War or a scientist. But a possible great life was nipped in the bud by a bunch of killer thugs in soldiers' uniforms.
This political killing will forever remain an indelible stain in Bangladesh's history. Driven by the memory of brother Russel, Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina has been working relentlessly to make this country a safe place for children. The prime minister has ensured modern education, healthcare and all other amenities for every child in the country. So that Sheikh Russel's memory lives on.
Amina Rinky is an Assistant Professor of Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at University of Dhaka
