From: dwright@metz.une.edu.au (Denis Wright)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
Subject: Bangladesh history
Keywords: liberation,autonomy,independence,Mujib
Date: 10 Oct 92 01:30:07 GMT


[ Dear SCB Netters,

[ Ho!  You have flushed out the old warhorse (well, 
[ cart-horse then!) with your comments on 
[ Bangladesh history.  I have been out of circulation, 
[ which must have been obvious to most, and have 
[ captured the majority of the recent postings and 
[ am replying to them as a group.  Sincere apologies 
[ to those who are not properly identified, but this is 
[ the quickest way for me to respond.  My comments 
[ appear thus:

=====================================
[ Wright stuff....
=====================================

From: hossain@sol.cs.wmich.edu (Moazzem)

Subject: Re: The word "liberation"
Date: 2 Oct 92 17:59:12 GMT

>On the airport dias set up to receive Sheikh Mujib, (on his truimphant
>return to freedom and free Bangladesh in 1972), one of the first words that
>Sheikh Mujib uttered were to the then Prime Minsister Tajul Islam. He said,
>"A tomrA ki korlay? Desh takey bhengay dilay?" [ What have you done? You broke
>up the country?]. This is based on a first hand account from someone who was
>standing next to Sheikh Mujib at that time. I have no doubts as to the
>veracity of the quote; though the actual wordings might have been slightly
>different.

=====================================
[ Naturally I know nothing of this, but Sheikh Mujib 
[ did have quite a sense of humour, and it just 
[ occurred to me that in a jovial and jubilant frame of 
[ mind, he may have made such a comment as a 
[ kind of joke.  One would need to have been able to 
[ read his face as he said it, and to Tajul Islam's face 
[ in reply.

[ Just a thought, nothing more....
=====================================


I would say, it was a liberation movement started with the 6-point movement.

I would request Denis Wright also to write on this.

=====================================
[ OK.  It seems to me that the beginning point for 
[ the liberation movement cannot be pin-pointed.  
[ You might say it was 15 August, 1947!  Or with the 
[ language movement, or Martyr's Day.  The 6 point 
[ programme gave concrete expression to the 
[ dissatisfaction of East Pakistanis but it was not then 
[ a programme for independence.  (And don't forget 
[ its precedents with Bhashani's  14 point 
[ programme).  It was about autonomy, especially in 
[ regional matters.  Given the spectre of India, 
[ Bengalis believed they could not afford to think in 
[ terms of independence at that time (1965 I mean).  
[ The assumption then was that India would be 
[ hostile to them and that they would be defenceless 
[ if India chose to start something.
[ 
[ To understand this period, you really have to put 
[ yourself in the place of a person living at the time.  
[ For many who are on the net, Bangladesh must 
[ seem to have been virtually inevitable.  It wasn't 
[ inevitable until March 1971.  Before that, Pakistan 
[ seemed like the only viable option for most people.  
[ (From the political point of view, I mean - a 
[ Pakistan in which each wing had maximum 
[ autonomy.)  
=====================================

>But events unfolded too quickly. Even though Sheikh Mujib and the Awami League
>would have balked at outright secession (inspite of the speeches; "Ebarer
>shongram, shadhinotar shongram"), to many, autonomy was one step shy from
>the actual goal. This was especially true of the students, who would stop
>at nothing but outright independance.
>
Autonomy does not mean shadhinota.

=====================================
[ Concerning the students, this depends entirely on 
[ *when* you mean.  If you mean in 1965, I don't 
[ think that the majority of students were thinking in 
[ terms of secession.  From 1970 onwards, maybe.  
[ While Sheikh Mujib appeared to have the 
[ opportunity to form an outright government over 
[ all Pakistan (after his historic election win) no-one 
[ really wanted to rock the boat.  It was only after East 
[ Pakistanis realised that they were going to be 
[ denied their legitimate rights that secession really 
[ came on the agenda.
=====================================

I doubt whether this was a visionary act by the Awami League. While there
was always a concurrent nascent nationalism running in Bangladesh's body
politic while under Pakistan's yoke, I do not think that the AL's main
intention when they started out the whole movement was outright independence.
I believe autonomy was the initial goal, but succeeding events made absolute
independence the only acceptable goal.

=====================================
[ There is no doubt that Zunaid is right on this point.
=====================================

'bye from Oz

Denis.

(Hoping to be a more active contributor in the coming months!)

PS Dipen knows a lot about this period and I have great respect for
his judgment - let's shanghai him into the discussion too!