Part 1:

The history of Bengalis is not merely a story of turning calendar pages; it is an immortal epic of humiliation, deprivation, and blood-soaked sacrifice. Immediately following the partition in 1947, a new chain of subjugation was imposed upon the seven crore people of the then East Pakistan. The first blow to the nation's existence struck its mother tongue. In March 1948, when Urdu was declared the sole state language at the Racecourse Maidan and the Curzon Hall of Dhaka University, the student community—including the young Sheikh Mujib—voiced a strong protest. That conspiracy to paralyze a nation by robbing the language of the majority created deep wounds in the hearts of Bengalis.

Extreme discrimination began across all spheres of governance, trade, business, and public employment. This mindset of neglecting Bengalis and viewing them as a lower class angered and pained the visionary leaders of the time. To respond to that deprivation and re-establish the dignity of the deprived populace, the 'Awami League' was born on June 23, 1949, at the historic Rose Garden on K. M. Das Lane in Dhaka. The political journey that began through the hands of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, Ataur Rahman Khan, Shamsul Huq, and the young leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was essentially the crimson sun of Bengali self-determination.

In fighting against injustice, Sheikh Mujib surrendered his entire youth to prison cells. From his first imprisonment during the anti-British movement in 1938 to the Language Movement in 1948, the anti-famine movement in 1949, and the struggle for the rights of fourth-class employees—he was incarcerated at every step. Neither the military rule of Ayub Khan following the cancellation of the United Front government in 1954 nor the political oppression of 1964–65 could sway him from his goal.

In 1966, he presented the historic '6-Point Demand' as the life-and-death struggle of the Bengali people. It was not merely a political demand; it was the heartfelt yearning of 63.77% of the population of East Pakistan. Where the lion's share of revenue earned from East Pakistan's jute, leather, and tea was siphoned off to West Pakistan, the 6-Point Demand stood as the sole symbol of Bengali national unity against this disparity. For the "crime" of making this demand, he was repeatedly made to face the gallows through the Agartala Conspiracy Case. However, bowing to the overwhelming love of millions, the ruling regime was forced to release him.

On March 7, 1971, when he roared before an ocean of ten lakh people at the Racecourse Maidan—"The 23-year history is a history of staining the streets with blood... The struggle this time is the struggle for our emancipation, the struggle this time is the struggle for independence"—every Bengali turned their home into a fortress. Following the brutal genocide by Pakistani forces on the night of March 25, he declared independence even while facing death. Following the path he mapped out, through a 9-month bloody war and at the cost of the blood of 3 million martyrs and the sacrifice of two hundred thousand mothers and sisters, an independent 'Bangladesh' emerged on the world map.

Author: Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury, Politician, Mayor, Sylhet City Corporation.