Rahman dreamt of independence for the Bengali nation; he organised the people for that dream, and under his leadership, Bangladesh achieved freedom. He even gave the country its name, “Bangladesh”. Thus, the history of Bangladesh is the history of the Awami League.Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s legacy
After independence, Rahman dedicated himself to rebuilding a war-torn Bangladesh. He envisioned a hunger-free, poverty-free, secular, democratic, and dignified “Sonar Bangla” (Golden Bengal). However, his assassination along with his family on 15 August 1975 did not just destroy a family; it was an assault on the spirit of Bangladesh’s independence, democracy, the constitution, and the very identity of the Bengalis.For a long time thereafter, attempts were made to drag Bangladesh backwards. Through military rule, conspiracies, coups, the distortion of history, the rehabilitation of fundamentalist forces, and anti-democratic politics, efforts were made to weaken the core spirit of independence. Yet, the Awami League never stopped. Imprisonment, disappearances, killings, torture, fabricated cases, and bans could not steer the Awami League away from the people.Under the leadership of the Awami League, Bangladesh has stood tall time and again. During the Awami League’s tenure, Bangladesh became self-sufficient in food, poverty decreased, we moved toward 100 per cent electrification, and new horizons of infrastructure development were opened. Bangladesh became a safe haven for its people, freed from the grasp of terrorism and militancy. The Padma Bridge, Metrorail, Karnaphuli Tunnel, Expressways, Digital Bangladesh, Community Clinics, the Ashrayan Project, social safety nets, women’s empowerment, and advancements in education and health are not just slogans or promises; they are tangible examples of Bangladesh’s development. We established Bangladesh on the global stage with dignity. We proved that if given the opportunity, a peaceful environment, and honest leadership, the Bengali nation can stand tall through its own strength.However, today, Bangladesh is in a deep crisis once again. The path of hatred, division, vengeance, mob violence, the use of the judiciary as a political weapon, fabricated cases, and state repression initiated by the unelected and unconstitutional interim government led by Yunus continues under the current BNP government, formed through a stage-managed election.The farce of an election held on 12 February, which kept the country’s largest political party and the organisation that led the struggle for independence away from the ballot, did not reflect the people’s mandate. The Awami League was not defeated in the election; rather, knowing they would certainly be defeated, anti-state forces removed the party from the electoral process entirely. This is not just an attack on the Awami League; it is an attack on the voting, political, and constitutional rights of the people of Bangladesh.
