DR. A. K. ABDUL MOMEN, MP,
FOREIGN MINISTER OF BANGLADESH
DHAKA : This particular month of March marks a confluence of three major events in our national context: The high point of the birth centenary celebration of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the golden jubilee of our independence and the conclusive decision by the UN for Bangladesh’s eventual graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status. This is indeed a celebratory moment for our relatively young nation, but also one for reflection and conversations. This is the juncture where we must contemplate what our founding father had envisaged for an independent Bangladesh and how far have we moved along his desired direction as a nation.
Bangabandhu’s vision of a ‘Sonar Bangla’ was not just an aspirational utopia that he borrowed from Rabindranath Tagore in a display of his admiration for the bard and thinker. What is however remarkable is that this notion of ‘Sonar Bangla’ was not derived from the thoughts of eminent political economists since the European enlightenment, but instead got crystallized through Bangabandhu’s own life-long political struggles and close interactions with the people across the land. In the process, an idea of a service-oriented, inclusive and egalitarian state system emerged in his mindscape with a distinctly local cultural and environmental flavour. That is perhaps why the idea struck a chord with the masses in the quasi-colonial political and economic reality of East Pakistan, and helped mobilize people from all walks of life to take up arms to bring their freedom struggle to its logical conclusion through independence.
We are indeed fortunate that we now have an opportunity to trace the evolution of Bangabandhu’s thought process from his own accounts as captured in his Unfinished Memoirs, Prison Diaries and The New China as I Saw. There are numerous anecdotes, observations and policy statements across the pages of these writings that demonstrate the way a promising, young politician formulates his political vision that gets translated into the historic six-points in 1966, the groundbreaking speech of 7 March 1971, and then the four fundamental state principles in the Constitution of 1972.
In the words of Dr. Fakhrul Alam, the English translator of the three publications, “Bangabandu realized early that the real enemies of our country are those who exploit ordinary men and women … These books reveal amply his democratic and secular frame of mind and his attraction for socialism as well as his emerging vision of nationalism. Whether outside prison or inside it, we see him in the books as someone incapable of being cowed down by the intimidatory tactics deployed by arrogant politicians, hardened bureaucrats, sadistic police personnel or vicious military men.”
It was, therefore, quite evident why Bangabandhu embraced nationalism, democracy, socialism and secularism as the four pillars of the State he envisioned and led to its independence. In his political frame, they moved beyond their traditional definitions or confines and became representative of the notions of freedom and equality that he propagated through his formative and ascending political career. That also explains why the notion of democracy could easily coexist with socialism in his thought without contradicting or neutralizing each other. Likewise, his nationalism had drawn strength from Bengal’s linguistic and cultural heritage, but also stood for asserting the rights and identities of all the people across ethnic diversities that fought for their emancipation from the colonizing or occupying forces. In a similar vein, his notion of secularism embraced and accommodated all religions and represented his belief in the freedom to choose one’s own God and in the respect for all faiths and value systems.
It was rather tragic for Bangladesh that Bangabandhu had a very limited amount of time to put his beliefs and visions into practice. He took over responsibility of a war-ravaged country with no foreign exchange reserve, dilapidated infrastructure, widespread poverty and an acute administrative and intellectual void. Even then, he commenced the arduous task of nation building through careful planning towards recovering economic growth and increasing food production, while rehabilitating the returnee refugees and internally displaced people as well as freedom fighters including the women and girls subjected to crimes against humanity in 1971.
Bangabandhu instilled dynamism amongst his people by saying, “We can rebuild the country through hard work. Let us work together so that Sonar Bangla shines again.” It was Bangabandhu who waived the debts of one million farmers, ensured seed and agricultural equipment supply at concessional rates, and introduced fair prices and rations for farmers. Despite having to nationalize the abandoned industries, it was Bangabandhu who had lifted the limit of private investments and favoured de-regulation by handing over some factories in private ownership. It was also during Bangabandhu’s time in office that the non-government organisations (NGOs) started their operations in the country, mostly in order to fill the spaces left behind by international organisations following the relief efforts in the immediate aftermath of the War of Liberation in 1971.
In view of the recurrent insurrection activities by certain disruptive forces, endemic corruption and black marketing, Bangabandhu made a clarion call for a ‘Second Revolution’ to further stabilize a post-conflict nation that could potentially drift apart in a severely resource-constrained setting. The brutal assassination of Bangabandhu brought this project to a halt, leading to much misinformation and misunderstanding about its constituent elements that did not even have a chance to get materialized.
It was, no doubt, a course correction by history that Bangabandhu’s able daughter, our Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina got elected for subsequent terms to build on the foundation he had laid down. The political freedom that Bangabandhu had ushered is now being matched by economic emancipation as we envisage taking Bangladesh to a higher-middle income status by 2031 and a developed one by 2041. In this trajectory, we remain engaged in a continued social and cultural endeavour through a whole-of-society approach to defeat the forces of communalism, extremism and obscurantism that remain active, including in the cybersphere.
In the domain of international affairs, our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continues to pursue our Founding Father’s dictum of “Friendship to all, malice towards none.” It may be assumed through Bangabandhu’s professed desire to turn Bangladesh into a “Switzerland of the East” that he found merit in the Swiss notions of “neutrality” in the conduct of international relations. In the context of Bangladesh’s own geo-political realities in the backdrop of the Cold War, he opted for non-alignment with a clear bias for (in his words) “solidarity of the progressive forces of the world – that is for those who are oppressed and those who stand by them in their just struggles for liberation from oppression.” In his first and only address to the UN General Assembly in September 1974, he observed, “They [developed world] should recognise that they have a common interest in reversing the process which threatens to turn the world into one where a few islands of prosperity are surrounded by oceans of misery.”
It is in light of many of Bangabandhu’s near-prophetic pronouncements that we continue to engage with the world in addressing the emerging global challenges. The immediate, pressing concerns over pandemics, rising inequality, climate change, violent extremism and terrorism, and digital divide and cybercrimes can only be effectively tackled if all nations, big or small, commit to pull our collective resources and expertise for the common cause of humanity. Bangladesh has been doing its part by traditionally speaking out for upholding the interest of LDCs, by contributing to international peace by deploying her men and women in distant parts of the world, and by marshalling the voices of the climate vulnerable countries in favour of enhanced climate ambitions.
It was again Bangabandhu who had inspired us to think “as a human, what concerns humankind concerns me.” This same conviction motivated our Hon’ble Prime Minister in her conduct of affairs of the state in international settings.
In conclusion, I would like to remind ourselves of Bangabandhu’s words at the Fourth NAM Summit in September 1973, and I quote, “Our total commitment to peace is born of the realization that only an environment of peace would enable us to enjoy the fruits of our hard-won independence and to mobilize and concentrate all our energies and resources in combating the scourges of poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy and unemployment.” It was as usual Bangabandhu who had given us the answer in our determination to forge ahead, and I quote, “Our ultimate resource is our people. We have seen in our times how a determined people can achieve its goal against what appears to be impossible odds.”
*adopted from the statement delivered as the Chief Guest at the Mujib Barsha Lecture Session on 14 March 2021 at the Foreign Service Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
