Know Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, Bangladesh's father of the nation

New Delhi: Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the hero of Bangladesh war of independence in 1971, was a believer in non-violence and democracy. He led the people of his nation in a grim struggle for independence from Pakistan, which culminated in the birth of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971."Joy Bangla" was the slogan of freedom fighters, and soon after Bangladesh freed itself from the yoke of Pakistani represession, it adopted Rabindranath Tagore's song "Aamar Sonar Bangla, Ami Tomay Bhalobashi" as its national anthem. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was born in Tungipara, a village in Gopalganj district of then British Bengal on March 17, 1920. His father Sheikh Lutfur Rehman was a serestadar (records keeper) in Gopalganj civil court. He was the third child in a family of four daughters and two sons. During childhood, he underwent eye surgery and returned to Madaripur Islamia High School. At the age of 18, Mujib married Sheikh Fazilatunnisa and had two daughters - Sheikh Hasina (presently Bangaldesh prime minister) and Sheikh Rehana, and three sons - Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Rasel. As a student, he joined the All India Muslim Students Federation in 1940 while studying in Islamia College (now Maulana Azad College), affiliated to Calcutta University to study law. Mujib joined the Bengal Muslim League in 1943 and was part of the faction led by Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, known as the Tiger of Bengal. He and Suhrawardy worked for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan. When East Pakistan was created, Mujib studied law in Dhaka University and joined East Pakistan Muslim Students League. When Pakistan imposed Urdu as the state language, Mujib opposed it, and sat on a hunger strike for 13 days. Mujib left Muslim League to join Suhrawardy and Maulana Bhashani to form the Awami Muslim League, the predecessor of Awami League. He was elected MLA in 1953 and served briefly as Agriculture Minister in A. K. Fazlul Haq's government.Mujib was elected to the second Constituent Assembly of Pakistan and served from 1955 to 1958. In 1956, East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan, and it was opposed by the Awami League. In 1956, Mujib became Industries and Commerce Minister in the second coalition government. After Field Marshal Ayub Khan suspended the Pakistani constitution in 1958, Mujib ws arrested and put in jail till 1961. He then organised an underground outfit named Swadhin Bangla Biplobi Parishad. After Suhrawardy's death in 1963, Mujib headed the Awami League, which emerged as one of the largest political parties in Pakistan. In 1964, Mujiv was arrested an d jailed for a year on sedition charge. During this period, Pakistani army committed atrocities on Bengalis. In 1966, Mujib proclaimed a six-point plan called Our Charter of Survival at a conference of opposition parties in Lahore, demanding self-government and autonomy. Mujib was arrested by the army and after two years in jail, a sedition trial began against him in a military court, widely known as the Agartala Conspiracy Case. Mujib and 34 Bengali army officers were accused by the Pakistani government of colluding with Indian agents to divide Pakistan. There were largescale protests in East Pakistan, after which the government dropped the sedition charge and unconditionally released Mujib. He returned to East Pakistan as a hero. In 1969, at an all-parties conference convened by Field Marshal Ayub Khan, Mujib demanded self-government, On December 5, 1969, Mujib declared at a public meeting that East Pakistan would henceforth be called "Bangladesh".The Pakistani army and top establishment declared Mujib as a separatist, while the people of East Bengal gave him the nomenclature "Bangabandhu".In the November 1970 cyclone in Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of people died and millions were rendered homeless, but the Pakistani authorities failed to provide adequate relief and rehabilitation. There was dissastisfaction and divisions within the civil services, police and Pakistani army. Pakistan went to general elections on December 7, 1970, in which the Awami League led by Mujibur Rehman won a massive majority in the state assembly, and a clear majority in the National Assembly. However, the largest party in West Pakistan, the Pakistan People's Party led by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was opposed to Mujib's demand for greater autonomy. Bhutto threatened to boycott the National Assembly if President Gen Yahya Khan invited Mujib to form a government. Simultaneously, Bhutto sent a secret emissary to Mujib offering him the post of Prime Minister and Bhutto as President, without taking the army into confidence. Gen. Yahya Khan delayed the convening of National Assembly, and on March 7, 1971, Mujib addressing a huge gathering at Race Course Ground in Dhaka called for independence and civil disobedience. Soon after, Yahya Khan declared martial law, banned the Awami League and ordered the army to arrest Mujib and other Bengali leaders. In a massive crackdown on March 26, 1971, the Pakistan Army attacked and disarmed East Pakistan Rifles and East Bengal Police and whisked away Mujib in a Pakistan Air Force flight to Pakistan after midnight. Mujib was imprisoned in Faisalabad, even as senior Awami League leaders fled to neighbouring India and sought exile. Nearly one crore Bengali Hindus and Muslims fled from East Bengal, as the Pakistani soldiers indulged in loot, pillage and mass rapes. A large number of Bengali intellectuals and their family members were slaughtered by Pakistani soldiers.The Bengali resistance fighters set up the Mukti Bahini led by General Osmani, and the eight-month guerilla war culminated in independence on December 16, 1971 during the India-Pakistan war. Pakistan's Lt Gen A A K Niyazi surrendered to Indian Army's Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, alongwith nearly 90,000 soldiers, the largest in world history, and a new nation was born. A defeated Pakistani army released Mujibur Rehman, who returned to a hero's welcome in his nation, and assumed the office of prime minister. A constitution was framed by a provisional parliament, and in 1973 elections were held in which the Awami League led by Mujib retained power with an absolute majority. In 1974, after a severe famine in which several lakhs of people died, unrest grew against Mujib and his ministers. On January 25, 1975, Mujib declared a state of emergency and all opposition political parties were banned. Mujib assumed presidency and acquired extraordinary powers. On August 15, 1975, a group of disgruntled junior army officers forcibly entered the presidential mansion with tanks, and shot Mujibur Rehman dead. Mujib's family members and personal staff were also killed. Only two daughters Sheikh Hasina Wajed and Sheikh Rehana, who were visiting West Germany, escaped the massacre. They were banned from returning to Bangladesh. In a coup, Mujib's former associate Khondaker Mushtaque Ahmed took over as acting president. There were media reports that the CIA was behind this plot. Mujib's assassination plunged the newborn nation into political turmoil. The coup leaders were soon overthrown and after a series of counter-coups and political assassinations, army chief Gen Ziaur Rehman took over power in 1977 in an armed coup. He signed an Indemnity Ordinance, giving immunity from persecution to those whole Mujib's assassination.