Rewriting History?
March 26, 1971 is the date that Bangladesh won its independence from then West Pakistan. So, many things had happened since 1948 when the two nations were erroneously separated from India into East Pakistan and West Pakistan, but in 1971 the one thing that was certain in then East Pakistan was that Bangabondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was its leader. Imagine the surprise and shock of the vast majority when the top two BNP leaders announced in public forums that rather Ziaur Rahman was the first President of Bangladesh and the first to proclaim Bangladesh’s independence.
While I may be a foreigner in this country, like most foreigners I have read several books on Bangladesh history and viewed countless websites. Nowhere is there any inference that Ziaur Rahman had claimed to be the leader or President in 1971, so it is strange that so many years later his wife and son have taken the liberty to claim it now. For those who missed the speeches:
Tarique Rahman on March 25th, 2014 in London:
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on March 26, 2014 in Bangladesh:
The citizens of the country have been thrown into mass confusion due this new misguidence being thrown at them and naturally this has upset the ruling party as well. In fact a few newspapers have carried the news that Tarique Rahman may be sued over his statements as they go against the constitution according to the ruling party spokesman: He said the country's independence was the fruit of a continuous movement, rather than a stray incident. "In the general elections of 1970, the AL, under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a massive majority. Bangabandhu called for the independence of Bangladesh on March 7, 1971," he added. Hanif said Bangabandhu had declared the independence of Bangladesh through the then EPR's wireless and asked the people to create resistance against the occupation force of the Pakistan army. "Zia did not proclaim the independence," he asserted. He said MA Hannan, a local AL leader, and Abul Kashem Sandeep, vice-president of Fatiksori College, had declared the country's independence on behalf of Bangabandhu on March 26. "On March 27, Maj. Ziaur Rahman announced the declaration of independence on behalf of Bangabandhu," he added. It is sad that these statements created a blight on an otherwise traditionally happy day in Bangladesh.