The debate on declaration of independence

There are reasons to doubt if it was so vested with the authority. This is because the publication by MLWA has led to a writ petition in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court. The aggrieved party is said to be Haqqani Publication, which claims the copyright of 15-volume anthology on our War of Liberation, the work of which started way back in 1982.

Certain facts of history remain immutable not only because facts are facts and not fictions, but also because of the widespread acceptance of such facts by all and sundry. Denial of facts as facts amounts to indulging in travesty of truth; more so when settled and accepted facts are overlooked and attempts are made to twist facts for narrow political ends. Additionally, such distortions take place after a lapse of three decades or more.

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This is exactly what the eminent jurist Dr. Kamal Hossain has said (Prothom Alo, July 11, 2004). Expressing his personal view, Dr. Hossain is reported to have said that the declaration of independence, as part of the constitution, is the main basis of our constitution.

As if to add fuel to the fire, a senior Minister of the government claimed that he has in his personal possession one original copy of the declaration of independence, which does not contain any reference to the declaration of independence on March 26, 1971. This claim has been rejected by another leading lawyer who was closely associated with War of Liberation and also served in the Cabinet of the then government.

Informed sources dismiss the idea of any original copy being in anybody's personal possession. According to this view, it is more a fiction than a fact primarily because this is in the nature of an afterthought. If it were true, what prevented the Minister from making it public way back in 1975-1981 when he was in the Cabinet. In fact, during Ziaur Rahman era, no such claims were made by anybody, let alone Ziaur Rahman himself.

On the other hand, it is also a fact that Ziaur Rahman did make a radio broadcast in Chittagong. A senior citizen, in his late seventies during his daily morning walk told his fellow walkers that he heard this himself but part of the statement also referred to the fact that "Sheikh Mujib is with us." The gentleman further asserts that immediately on the following morning after the announcement of Ziaur Rahman, Sheikh Mujib was shown under the custody of Pakistan Government in Karachi airport. This was evidently done to show that Sheikh Mujib was not in the then Bangladesh.

Questions have also been raised by some quarters that Sheikh Mujib, instead of joining the War of Liberation, allowed himself to be arrested and wanted a political settlement. These are wild and imaginary ramblings of distorted minds. The best way to look at it is to say that Sheikh Mujib, in doing what he did, behaved more like a leader than anything else. He had deep and abiding faith in the independence of Bangladesh, which is reflected first by his six point programme and later by his historic declaration of March 7, 1971. This was his finest hour and his declaration on that day galvanised the whole of Bangladesh and started the process of people's war against occupation forces.

Views of authentication body members

The distorted version presently inserted has been opposed by an eminent member of the Committee Professor Emajuddin Ahmed. Majority of the members of the authentication body of the first edition of the history of liberation also castigated the attempt to distort facts.

Other views from independent sources

Borhanuddin Ahmed, in his book, The Generals of Pakistan and Bangladesh, provides details of the validity of declaration of independence by Sheikh Mujib. He quotes not only independent academics like Professor Rounaq Jahan but also freedom fighters. In addition, Ahmed quotes from Holiday (May 5, 1989), which ranks Ziaur Rahman as the fourth announcer. Further, Ahmed rests his argument in favour of Sheikh Mujib, providing quotations from the banner headlines of both the Times and the Guardian of London dated March 27, 1971. Part of the quoted text reads:

"Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the acknowledged leader of Bengali nationalism responded heroically to the Pakistan Army's intervention with a call for resistance and a declaration of independence…

There is good evidence that most members of the Bengali Regiments will accept his orders."

"Shortly before his arrest, Mujib had issued a proclamation to his people, which informed them: You are citizens of a free country… Today the West Pakistan's military force is engaged in a genocide in Bangladesh… Our struggle is most rewarding. Certain is our victory. Allah is with us. The world public opinion is with us. Joy Bangla [Victory to Bengal]."

Taufiq Imam, in his recently published book Bangladesh Government, 1971 also provides adequate information about the authenticity of declaration of independence by Sheikh Mujib. Taufiq Imam was the Cabinet Secretary of the exile government and also later till August, 1975.

There are many facts not so much about declaration of independence but about announcements by such well-respected personalities like Maulana Bhasani and other student leaders of 1971. A discerning reader of history must be able to distinguish between a formal declaration of independence by a political leader who commands respect of the people and has countrywide public acceptance as well as international acceptance and others who make either broadcast or other forms of announcement.

The declaration of independence by Sheikh Mujib, later built into the Proclamation of Independence, is what matters. It is on the basis of Proclamation of Independence on April 10, 1971, that the people's struggle for independence took definite shape followed by international support that eventually led to the birth of Bangladesh. All said and done, it seems a terrible waste of time to pull the undisputed leader down and push another leader up in this controversial and meaningless debate. At the end of the day, one must realise that declaration of independence is too serious a business to be left to anybody other than a highly popular leader of public opinion which, doubtless, Sheikh Mujib was.

A M M Shawkat Ali, PhD is former Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture.