Victory Day -- thirty-five years later

The victory was achieved through an effective combination of the valiant fight that our Muktijodhas (Freedom Fighters) put up against the Pakistani forces, the resistance that our patriotic citizens built against the Pakistani occupation, the military and humanitarian aid provided by India, the diplomatic help given by the then Soviet Union through its veto power in the UN Security Council, and, of course, the moral support offered by millions of people worldwide.

During the nine-month long independence war millions of our people lost their lives, and millions more suffered indescribable atrocities and humiliation such as torture, rape, arson, loss of property and harassment of extreme nature in the hands of barbaric Pakistani military.

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What was the compelling reason behind all the sacrifices that our people had to make for achieving independence? How did it all come about? If we do not understand the root causes of our independence movement from a historical perspective, and then use them as the guiding principles in shaping our present and future political agenda and state policies, the people's dreams and hopes that they had fought and died for will never be realised in independent Bangladesh.

The people of the then East Pakistan, now a sovereign state of Bangladesh, genuinely felt that they were deprived of their legitimate rights as citizens and subjected to discrimination, undue bias and prejudice by the Pakistani central government in almost all matters. Therefore, spearheaded by Awami League and joined by many other parties, the people of East Pakistan started a mass movement in 1969 to remove the disparity among the citizens of the two wings of Pakistan -- East and West. Like every other movement, this one also resulted in the loss of life of many innocent Bangladeshi sons and daughters, but caused the ousting of Pakistan's central government through martial law by generals of West Pakistani origin -- not a good outcome at all.

In the spirit of the mass movement of 1969, the people of East Pakistan rallied behind, and voted for Awami League to help them win majority seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan in the general elections at the end of 1970. The result of that election reflected nothing less or more than the people's mandate for justice and equality for the citizens of the then East Pakistan, and the rule of law in a parliamentary form of government for the whole of Pakistan.

But, not too surprisingly, the Pakistani generals refused to hand over power to the democratically elected government, showing utter disrespect to the people's will in a democracy, just because the majority of the parliament members were elected from East Pakistan. But the people of East Pakistan were determined not to have their electoral results thrown out by the military generals and started massive protests and strikes, with closures of all offices, schools and colleges, for an indefinite period starting on March 07 of 1971. Consequently, the Pakistani government unleashed their military forces with extreme brutality on the innocent, unarmed people of East Pakistan on the night between March 25 and 26 in 1971, and started indiscriminate killing, rape, arson and looting which continued for nine months until the victory day.

This completely unnecessary, irrational and barbaric military action by the Pakistani military left the citizens of East Pakistan with no other option but to fight for independence.

In brief, this is why and how the nine-month long independence war started on March 26 and ended with a hard-earned victory on December 16 of 1971, through immeasurable sacrifices that are unparalleled in modern history.

Now, let's analyze the current situation in our country and see whether the common people have achieved what they had fought and died for, in an independent Bangladesh.

First, Bangladesh is fortunately an independent state now, and all patriotic citizens are overwhelmingly happy about this achievement of the highest order that any nation can ever have.

Second, even after the independence of Bangladesh, unfortunately, it took so many years, so many coups, so many dictatorships and so much bloodshed to establish a democratic form of government which the people had fought and died for during the Pakistani rule, and afterwards. However, lately there has been a parliamentary form of government and the people can vote every five years on the basis of adult franchise. This is good in face value, although whether the democracy in our country in its current shape is functional or dysfunctional is a matter of anybody's guess.

It is obvious from the prevailing political situation in Dhaka that our political parties have no concept of true democratic values. To our politicians, democracy is only a vehicle for their ascent to power, so that they can plunder (apparently) the public resources and dispose of public matters any way they desire, without any accountability whatsoever. They have abused public trust time and again, and shown utter disrespect to all the sacrifices that people had made for independence.

In reality, neither our government nor the opposition actually cares about the people's will and desire or establishment of rule of law, as required by democracy. That's the reason why we recently experienced so much wrangling, life-paralyzing nationwide blockades, hartals and unnecessary street killings over the issue of Election Commission and the CEC -- mentioned here as just one of many such examples -- as if there is nothing more important in our national agenda, or people's life, than keeping or removing one individual.

How much rule of law people enjoys on a day-to-day basis is a measure of how democracy is functioning for the benefit of the people in a society. In that respect, too, we are performing very poorly, maybe even worse than many nations without democracy. Both the government and the opposition parties are to be blamed equally for the miserable plight of the people today due to the unbearable law and order situation.

Third, our right to justice, equity, equal opportunity and security for all citizens that the people aspired to achieve after independence still remain a far cry. In fact, in our society today, might is always right and the weak are never afforded any protection of law under the constitution. Moreover, nepotism, favouritism, corruption, cronyism and violence have taken over our society to the point that the life and liberty of the common people are at the mercy of the corrupt politicians and their hoodlums. There is always a tendency among our politicians and the powerful elite to bend the constitution and law of the land to suit their selfish interests only, without any consideration to, or respect for, the needs and wishes of the people. Will our politicians ever try to realise why people fought and died for democracy and rule of law before and after independence?

Fourth, the economic prosperity expected by the people in independent Bangladesh is also largely unachieved for the ordinary citizens. It is only the privileged groups who have, by hook or by crook, amassed huge fortunes by depriving the common people of their legitimate share in the national economy. By many estimates a large chunk of our national resources is now in the possession of a handful of individuals, without any lawful disclosure or explanation of the sources of their wealth.

In conclusion, it appears that our politicians have totally forgotten the reasons for the sacrifices that our people had made for achieving independence from the Pakistani rulers. And, it is also apparent that our corrupt politicians and their cronies have robbed the people of their dream of true national independence, hijacked people's hopes and aspirations about a democratic society with justice and equity for all, and turned the people's victory into their own selfish gains. So, it is no wonder today that, thirty-five years after the victory, people in our country still have not seen the results that they had fought and died for.

Therefore, we now need our new generations to regain the lost independence and victory from the clutches of the corrupt politicians through a democratic movement so vigorous that it shakes the ground under the feet of the evil ones. The proposed movement will take honest people and visionary leaders with intellectual resources, democratic values and creative ideas to overcome the obstacles created by the current band of selfish politicians with vested interests and ulterior motives. It may be a long and hard road ahead, but a determined people with patience and persistence will definitely reach the end.

Dr Matiur Rahman is Professor, Austin Community College, Austin, Texas, USA.