Birth of a Nation
Rafiqul Islam Rime, Agrabad, Chittagong
The genocide that was unleashed upon the peace loving Bengalis initiated on the darkest hours of the night of 25th March 1971 by the Pakistani forces ultimately ended up in the glorious emergence of the independent Bangladesh. It was the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that united the spirit of the Bengalis into a cemented whole to go fighting against the Pakistani forces with whatever they had at their disposal. It was the unconditional love for the land empowered by the vigour and patriotism of their leader Bangabandhu that engineered the nation to fight for establishing their national self esteem that eventually found its reward the victory at the cost of three millions lives to steer the land to the dawn of freedom and independence in 1971.The killing of the innocents at random that night prompted the movement for its independence from the cruel clutches of the Pakistani forces under the glorious and dynamic leadership of Bangabandhu. People heard the roaring words from their leader " In every village, every neighbourhood, set up Sangram Parishad under the leadership of Awami league. And be prepared with whatever you have. Remember: Having mastered the lesson of sacrifice, we shall give more blood. God willing, we shall free the people of this land. The struggle this time is struggle for emancipation. The struggle this time is a struggle for independence."Today, on the eve of celebrating the Independence Day if anyone happens to be self complacent, he will surely make a blunder since this independence did cost us three million lives. It was the end of a collective obsession; it was the end of a consistent suppression and violation of the human rights in the country by the dark forces that do not conform to the norms of humanity. And the sadder part of the story is that there had been the opposing forces from among us in the country in that period of time and the saddest is that they still remain in the society in an ever-expanding proportion posing danger to the nation. In upholding the spirit of this sacred saga we've to make some soul searching. We all should reassess our state of mind and shuffle things to set them on the correct path with a higher sense of a national esteem. Today, I urge all the politicians, the civil society and others to uphold the Holy Spirit of our independence.
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