Sheikh Hasina MP
month of august As my mother was born this August; Again Kamal, my brother, just two years younger than me, was also born this August. He was born on August 5. What a cruel irony of fate that on August 15 of this month, my mother had to give up her life due to the brutal bullet of an assassin. My father, father of our nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was martyred on August 15, my mother Fazilatunnesa, Kamal, Jamal, Russell, Kamal-Jamal's new bride, Sultana, Rozi, my only uncle Sheikh Abu Nasser, my brother-in-law Abdur Rab Serniabat. , his 13-year-old daughter Bebi, 10-year-old Arif, 4-year-old grandson Sukanth, Sukanth's mother are here. Colonel Jamil, my father's military secretary, who rushed to the rescue. Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani, his pregnant wife Arju Mani were killed at the same time on August 15. Thus about 18 members of the family and police officers on duty.
Why did this murder happen? There is only one reason, the father of the nation made the country independent. Responding to his call in the Great War of Liberation, millions of people took up arms and fought that war. I pay my respects to those who martyred in the great liberation war.
There are many unknown events in the history of the world. I remember the memory of my mother. Remember that today we have gained independence. independent nation But as my father fought for this freedom, and my mother by his side, my grandparents always supported me. My mother's father died soon after she was born. He was only three years old then. My Nana was very fond. He used to work in Jessore and always said he will make my two daughters pass BA. In those days it took 22 to 24 hours to travel from Dhaka to Ajparagaon like Tungipara. Think of this sitting in that place! It is a sign of greatness. In those days it was forbidden for girls to go to school.
However, he received his primary education in a missionary school. But then he could not go to school for a long time, because it was forbidden to go to school. And there was no school in that area. There was only one school, GT School. That is Gimadanga Tungipara School. That is what our ancestors did. About a little over a mile (about one and a half kilometers) from our house. In the distance, dirt road. Only go by dirt road or by boat, girls are strictly forbidden. Scholars were kept at home for study. Master was for studying Arabic. But my mother had an insatiable interest in studies. His father died when his mother was three years old. You know that at that time, if a son died in front of his father, according to Muslim law, the sons and daughters of the son did not get any property. My mother's grandfather then decided to marry his two granddaughters to his own cousin's sons and gave all the property to my grandfather by writing the names of the two granddaughters. A few days later, my grandmother also died. Since then my mother has become a person to my grandmother. Side by side house, same house, same yard. So my grandmother brought my mother. And my aunt stayed with my grandfather.
Married at a young age, he grew up with in-laws and in-laws from childhood. We used to hear many stories of his childhood. To my grandparents, uncles. Father is doing politics, he used to study in the city of Calcutta since then. And his work and desire to work for humanity, for which he took many risks in life. Helping people during the riots of '47. helping people when there is famine; He has been serving people in this way since his school life. We used to stay with grandparents. When father became Pakistan, he was admitted to Dhaka University. At that time he agitated for the fourth class employees. Arrested while doing language movement. First language movement in '48. A strike was called on March 11, and he was arrested as soon as the strike was called.
Then in 1959, Bhukha staged a hunger strike and was still arrested. In other words, he was arrested 3-4 times between 1947 and 1949. After that, when he was arrested in October 1949, he was not released. He was incarcerated till 1952 and carried out all kinds of language movement activities from prison. He used to sit secretly in the hospital and meet the leaders of the Chhatra League and the leaders of the Awami League.
Mother only heard the news that this was the case. So she rarely got close to her husband. If I look back at our life and if I look at my father's life, we never saw him for two consecutive years. So as a wife, my mother was deprived just like that. But he never complained. She always believed that her husband was working for the country, working for the people, doing the work he was doing for the welfare of the people. The property left by maternal grandfather is a lot of land. He was a landlord. All properties are in mother's name. My grandfather always gave the money that came from this to my mother. Mother did not spend a single penny for herself, she kept everything. Because he knew, my father is a politician, he needs a lot of money, my grandparents used to give it all the time. Grandfather always gave to his son, after that mother used to deprive herself of that part and always handed over the money to father. That's how he started collaborating. How old are you then? Later when the United Front elections were held in '54. Everyone is involved in election work starting from election campaign. My mother also worked at that time. Abba brought me after winning the election, Abba wanted to educate us well in school. After that he became a member of the cabinet. Again the cabinet was broken, I still remember, then we were very small, Kamal-Jamal just crawled. At that time we were at house number three of Minturod. One morning I woke up and saw my mother sitting on the bed quietly, her face serious. I am very young, I don't know anything. Police came to the house at night, arrested the father and took him away.
Mother sitting on the bed, two drops of tears in her eyes. I asked where father? He said, your father has been arrested. This first arrest in front of our eyes, kicked us out of our house with 14 days notice. Where do you go? Only came to Dhaka, mother knew very few people. When the minister was there, people used to throng that house, but that day everything was empty. My father's cousin, one of my great-grandparents came, trying to find a home. A house was found in Nazirabazar, he took us home. In this way, one after another, there has been a setback. But one thing I will say, I have never seen my mother break down. No matter how hard it is, I never told my father that you should leave politics or come back or start a family or pay the expenses of the family. never How the family would run he would do it himself. Never bothered my father for any need in life. Girls have many desires to get from their husbands. Saree, jewelry, house, car etc. He has suffered so much in his life, but he did not say anything openly, he did not want to.
Even after 1954, the father had to be arrested again and again. Then in '55 he became a minister again, he won election to the National Assembly, joined the cabinet. Then we came to Abdul Gani Road number 15. If we look at the history of Bangladesh, everyone leaves the party for the ministry, and I saw my father who left his ministry to strengthen the organization. He left and took responsibility as the general secretary of Awami League. Any ordinary woman in my mother's place would have immediately complained why her husband was leaving the ministry. He would never accept that he would lose all his houses and cars. There were quarrels and complaints about this; But he did not see my mother, he said a word about it. Rather, he supported the steps taken by Abba.
He packed everything and went to the small place. Then Suhrawardy Sahib made his father the chairman of T-Board. Then he was allowed to live in a house in Segunbagicha. Then came martial law. Abba was in Karachi the day Ayub Khan declared martial law. He left early and came back that night. Then on the night before the 11th i.e. on the 12th, Abba was arrested. My grandmother was with us. As soon as we were arrested, the cash in the house, our car - everything was seized and taken away.
I watched my mother handle the situation with great patience. They threw us out of the house with just six days' notice. We are little siblings on the road with goods. Rehana was very young then. One gave a house. We went to the two-room house. Searching for a house day and night and filing one case after another against my father, all these cases, going to court and searching for a house were done by my mother with great patience. Awami League and father had friends. My grandfather used to send rice, dal, money all the time. Maybe he wasn't suffering that much, and if he was ever suffering, he wouldn't say it openly. Then we went to a two-storied house in Segunbagicha. Helping an Awami League leader-worker when he is sick, visiting the families of those who are imprisoned, finding out whose house is not open and while doing these, mother sometimes sold jewelry.
My mother never said no. We had a fridge in our house, my father brought a fridge when he went to the US. He sold that fridge. He told us that drinking cold water causes cold cough, sore throat, it is not right to drink cold water. So sell it. But it never said, we lack money. Having to run the family, having to help the Awami League leaders. Who is sick has to pay. I never heard the lack from my mother. Couldn't market for days. But he never told us that I have no money, I could not do the market. Cooked khichuri with rice and dal, said with pickle, do you like rice every day? Today we will eat Garib Khichuri. It is very fun to eat. He gave us food like that.
A man can have the ability to face any situation if his character is strong. I have never heard my mother talk about scarcity, ha-hutash. I am his elder daughter. The age difference between me and my mother was not much. He has no mother, no father, no one. As the eldest daughter, I was the mother, I was the father, I was the friend. So no one else knew the facts as much as I did. I could understand. Siblings were small, they could not understand. He has strengthened the organization, the Awami League, at every post. But he did not come publicly.
Abba was arrested in '58, released on habeas corpus in December '59. Mr. Suhrawardy personally came and handled the case. He was then released on bail. But there is an embargo that he cannot go outside Dhaka. Can't do politics. All politics are off. In that situation, father took a job in insurance. To tell the truth, do you have money, good salary, car and everything? Mother has a chance to live a little better. So he often jokingly said, Ayub Khan brought me the best time of my life. He (father) is working, I can lead a stable life. At that time he built two rooms in the house in Dhanmondi. Then we moved to Dhanmondi in October 1961. While building this house, my mother used to water the walls and lay bricks with her own hands to save the labor cost. He used to work with us.
The house had everything. Dad was getting a good salary then. However, to have limitations in the path of life or to be limited, to be moderate in everything - this is what mother has always taught us. After that, day after day the situation escalated. Dad was arrested in '62, arrested again in '64, if I count I've never seen him stay out of jail for two years straight. If he is in jail, going there, seeing what his father needs, his clothes, eating and drinking, handling cases, but mother has done everything. Besides, he was always in touch with the organization. In particular, he built the Chhatra League with his own hands. He looked at the suggestions of BCL, whatever was needed.
There was a riot in '64. Abba used to risk his life to bring the Hindu families home, from there he arranged shelters for them in different places. Volunteered to stop the riot. My father has done all the risky things in life. There was a Bengali Bihari riot in Adamji, where he ran. Every time my mother did these things but she helped him like a shadow, never complained about it. He used to bring one family after another, cook for them, feed them, do all the responsibilities. He did everything himself. Then he gave 6 points. After giving 6 points, he traveled all over Bangladesh, where he gave speeches, cases were filed and he was arrested. He was released again, he went to another district, and Bangabandhu was arrested on May 8, 1966.
Then he was not released, he was taken from this prison and taken to the cantonment. 5 months we did not even know where he is? Are you alive? At that time, building the movement, observing the June 7 strike. I saw my mother, she used to go with us to my little aunt's house, because there was a flat there. Going there, he would change his sandals, change his clothes, wear a burqa, take my uncle on a scooter and meet with the student leaders, and give him advice on how to conduct the movement. At that time my uncle was studying in Dhaka.
Mother used to return home with us again. Because the people of the intelligence agency were always watching. So he used to work like this to escape from the surveillance of the detectives. He used to work on how to speed up the movement of the students, meeting with the leaders of Awami League and making this strike successful, the movement grows and succeeds. But he was never photographed in the newspaper or made a statement. A time came 6 points, or 8 points? Leaders came from West Pakistan. We also had many great leaders. Because Awami League is such a party that the workers of Awami League are always right but the leaders become a bit idle sometimes, I have seen this since my childhood. This time I saw 6 points, or 8 points? Big leaders came from Karachi. Then Shah Bagh Hotel, today is Bangabandhu Medical University. My mother used to send me sometimes saying, 'Wait a minute, the leaders are coming, their wives are coming, come and find out about them, and come and see who is with them. It means a little spying and what else! So I'd go with Russell, come over to Ma and let him brief (narrate) whatever. Besides, mother had a good network in Dhaka city.
All the news of what was happening under the leadership of Gazi Golam Mustafa of the Metropolitan Awami League used to reach my mother. Then he kept in touch with everyone like this. Leaders used to come from Mafswal too and kept in touch with them. I was fortunate to see how politically aware he was. So at that time it was his decision not to move a single hair from the 6 points. He told this to his father. But our leaders all got up and read 8 points very well. 8 points must be accepted, I have my own experience. I studied in college, then I went to university, at that time we had famous leaders, some people said that you don't understand anything. I used to say, there is no need to understand anything, Abba said 6 points. All 6 points are needed, not beyond that. My mother used to explain, 'You don't understand Bhabhi.' He used to say 'Brother, I don't know much about education, I just understand that the 6 points are the charter of liberation of the people of Bengal. This is what he has said, I do not know anything beyond that.' In this way they tried to explain, the three-day meeting of the working committee at our house. Cooking, then there was not so much decoration - there was not so much money for parties. My mother used to cook and feed herself, we used to make tea and drink by ourselves. Then study for the exam again. I will not read the exam, I will listen to the lecture. I would run back to read a little what's going on? Wondering if that will lead to the 8 points? But there I saw the determination of my mother, the resolution in the meeting was that 6 points will not be left out.
The leaders were annoyed and angry. I have seen many incidents. When he went to visit his father in prison, he told everything. My mother's memory was amazing, we used to say, you are the tape recorder. Mother never forgets what she once heard. How many rules taught us what to do in jail. Making a little fuss, giving all the outside reports to Abba and bringing Abba's instructions, then conveying it to the students. From the slogans to saying everything, she used to give instructions from the prison, but that's how mother used Chhatra League. On January 18, 1968, he was taken to the cantonment from Dhaka Central Jail. We have not received any news. Then the mother's anxiety and Agartala conspiracy case when she filed but also interrogated my mother, who knows about this conspiracy. He answered very well.
We need freedom. I remember, when Ayub Khan threw Bhutto out of the ministry, Bhutto rushed to the then East Pakistan to meet his mother at house number 32. The room below our living room used to be a drawing room, then a dining room, with a curtain in the middle. When the leaders of West Pakistan used to come, Ma used to pull the curtain and sit inside and talk, saying I do the curtain. They told us not to stay with them, why meet? My father who was a minister, an MP, an MLA used to go to Karachi. But my mother never went to Karachi in her life, never wanted to go. He knew, he himself knew long ago that this country will be independent. This self-indulgence in the spirit of independence was intense within the mother. There was a belief. Our first meeting with Abba was in July during the Agartala case. When the case started, we didn't even know until the first meeting in July after January. We have made that place a museum. The mess where Abba was kept in the cantonment and where the case took place is also a museum.
Then our leaders rose again. Ayub Khan called a round table meeting, he must go there, if he does not go there will be annihilation. Mother got the news. He sent me, said 'He should not make any decision without talking to me.' All our big leaders were there, they will take. My father knew, by my presence he would have understood that my mother had sent something. Mother had just said, father will never go on parole, he will go if released. I delivered that message, and for that our leaders came home and scolded - 'What kind of girl are you, you don't want your father to come out of jail?' He used to say to his mother, 'You will be a widow.' Mother just said, 'I am not alone, there are 34 accused here, don't you think that their wives will be widows? If you think about me alone? In the Agartala conspiracy case, 34 out of 35 people are married. He will not go if the case is not raised.' His foresight in politics has opened the way for our freedom. Because if he had gone on parole that day then Bangladesh would never have been independent again, this is the reality. After that, I saw the strong role of mother in every case, including the non-cooperation movement.
I keep talking about the March 7 speech. Great intellectuals have written that this should be said, that should be said. Some say 'This is what must be said, otherwise it will be destroyed.' Such a bag of paper and advice. But my mother used to tell my father to go to something important, 'You stay in your room for a while.' Taking him home, he said something that, 'Whatever comes to your mind, you speak. Because millions of people have rushed from all over Bangladesh - with bamboo sticks in hand, boat seats.' And meanwhile the Pakistani rulers are also sitting with arms and weapons saying that what Bangabandhu ordered. Then people will not be allowed to return home. will exhaust The taste of freedom will tell, this was Pakistan's decision. And there some of our leaders said that it should be said here that Bangladesh is independent from today. Some say, this must be said, that must be said.
Mother said to father that, 'all your life you have struggled, you have suffered imprisonment.' In that speech, he spoke about the dream of how to bring freedom to the people of the country. That speech is the best speech in the world today. In the history of two and a half thousand years, this speech has been ranked among the hundred best speeches that have inspired people. The speech that inspired the people of this country and then the declaration of independence on March 26 when he came, said on the phone 'the draft will go over the wireless of the EPR.' He had done all the arrangements. He knew that he could be arrested or killed at any time.
Mother was always involved with my father, never saw fear. The moment he declared independence, the army came and attacked the house, arrested him, came again the next day and attacked the house, my mother took refuge in the house next door. Then they were arrested and taken from house to house in Moghbazar. It was kept in a one-story house on road number 18. open house Nothing, no screen. We had to lie in the sun, day after day. But I have never seen my mother break down. There was always a confidence, I saw that courage. Then on the day the Pakistani army surrendered on December 16, we were not released that day, we got it a day later, that is, on December 17. Here is a picture showing mother standing on the field. Showing hands with people, but that is fake. The Pakistani invasion forces had bunkered underground in this house, so when the Indian Army came and surrendered to the Pakistan Army, thousands of people came there, standing on that bunker, Ma waving.
The sentry who was at the gate at the time of surrender, we are locked inside, we can't get out, mother is giving orders through the window. He also knew the Sepahita's name, saying 'Hatiaar Daldo'. The poor man who heard the 'weapon daldo' said 'ji, ma ji' and went to the bunker with the weapon. So his courage was there at that time too. They tried to kill us that day and night, but somehow we survived. We saw my mother's quick decision. After independence, she did not return to the luxurious life as the Prime Minister's wife, but stayed in that Dhanmondi house. He said 'No, if my children are in too much luxury, their eyesight will deteriorate, their habits will deteriorate.'
He is going on the same way as he used to go in his life, helping the girls who were abused after independence, visiting them in the hospital. Their rehabilitation is then arranged through the board. When those girls were married, mother herself was also present. He gave his jewelry, I also gave a lot of my jewelry. I used to say, you give what you need.
Averse to publicity, he told me one day that he was deeply upset by the way a 14-year-old girl had molested him. Thus stood by the oppressed, who came and gave what he asked with open arms; There was no hesitation. Always thought about the country. I talked about a lot of memories, because when I die many people may not know much. So people need to know these things. The motivation, strength and courage required when one does something, mother always gave motivation, never held back. What will happen to me, what will I get? He never wanted anything in his life, I can't say that he ever wanted anything.
But he has always thought about making the country independent, how the welfare of the people of the country will be. Many times after independence discussed with father, then a war-torn country is a terrible situation! Even in that state, he kept track. He used to tell the information to his father. He was by my side until the last moment of his life, when the assassins killed my father, he did not ask to be spared. He said, 'When you kill him, kill me too.' This is how he gave his life. He left with everyone. We remained two sisters, moved abroad only 15 days ago. Sometimes it seems that only those who lose their loved ones understand how hard it is to live like this.
I want prayers from everyone. The contribution of my mother for the freedom of the country and the deep love of the people of this country had the same dream with my father that the people of this country will have a beautiful life and live well. Garir will not be. He always had the belief that Abba could do it. But the killer team did not give it. So I have to do that unfinished business, I believe in that. I don't have anything else to ask for. But my mother's whole life was a life of sorrow, and at the same time she made great sacrifices. I ask everyone to pray for him. Prayers for all those who were martyred on August 15. May Allah Almighty grant him paradise.
Author: Hon'ble Prime Minister, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
Test News
