Editorial
November 3, 1975 and our brave leaders
Their ideals must be held aloft
THE nation observes today the 33rd anniversary of the assassination of four national leaders in Dhaka central jail. It is indeed an irony that these illustrious men -- Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, M.Mansoor Ali, A.H.M. Quamruzzaman -- who provided singular and determined leadership to the armed struggle for liberation through forming the provisional Bangladesh government in Mujibnagar in 1971 should have met such a tragic end in the land that is part of the legacy they have shaped for us. It is also a matter of shame that they were all killed in the secure confines of jail, where they had been lodged after the violent coup d'etat of August 15, 1971. This morning, as on any other morning, we pay our silent, sincere tribute to these sons of the soil.
As we recall the contributions of these four leaders, we are assailed by the question of why they were murdered. The answer is not hard to come by. The intention was clearly to deprive Bangladesh, barely three months after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, of the leadership that could have kept it steady and ready to move on. In the years since November 1975, though, we have observed with a deepening sense of gloom that efforts have always been made to chip away at the legacy these leading spirits of the War of Liberation forged for us. Today questions are being raised about the 1970 general elections, a seminal event in the history of this country, by elements who not only lost those polls but also assisted the occupation Pakistan army in its genocide in 1971. Earlier, we went through a systematic campaign by a quarter to distort the history of the struggle for freedom by raising the issue of who may or may not have declared Bangladesh's independence. Indeed, since the murder of Bangabandhu and the Mujibnagar government leaders, downright lies and motivated politics have undermined the spirit of the War of Liberation. Only a few days ago, the removal of the Baul sculpture from the entry point of the airport, on the misplaced argument that it violated the injunctions of our religion, demonstrated the relentless manner in which some people continue to assault the principles these four murdered leaders stood for. Last but not least, the shameful attempt the other day to set up a false mazar at Ramna Batamul, a significant cultural symbol for us, speaks of the difficult but necessary job we have before us if we mean to hold on to our nationalist ethos.
This morning, we pray for the souls of our murdered national leaders. As we do so, we remind ourselves of the legacy we are heir to, tradition that we must uphold despite the odds.
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