Burying the immortal corpse

CHILE'S Salvador Allende was assassinated two years before Bangladesh's Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Allende died in a US-backed coup. Sheikh Mujib died at the hands of renegade army officers, whose superiors either knew nothing of the conspiracy or played along under false pretense. On November 19 we brought Mujib's killers to justice. We might never know the masterminds who backed the killers.

Analysts and commentators have often drawn parallels between Allende and Mujib. They both were champions of socialism. They both had stoked the ire of an imperialist power. They both had enemies within their ranks. In the end, they both had to pay with their lives.

There are also contrasts. Allende was elected president of Chile on his fourth attempt. Mujib led his country to independence. Mujib was killed with most members of his family. Allende's family was spared and sent to exile in Brazil. Allende's doctor believed that his president under siege had taken his own life. Allende's family never disputed it. Bloodthirsty blowhards shot Mujib at close range. They did the same thing to his family members.

Then the people of Chile did something, which could be a lesson for us. After Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet stepped down in 1990, Allende's body lying in an unmarked grave was buried in a ceremony at which there were calls for national reconciliation. The Chileans used it as an opportunity to bury their hatchet.

Now that the execution of Mujib's killers looks certain, what is next? In months, if not sooner, Mujib's killers will meet their fate. Let us hope that the rest of the killers, who are on the lam, will be captured and executed as well.

But should we be able to unwind? Are we going to be able to put the past behind us? Will it heal the wound and pave the way for national reconciliation? Now that this nation has atoned for the most heinous crimes in its history, will it finally get a grip on its anger?

Of course, still there will be other loose ends dangling from other unresolved tragedies. The trial of the war criminals will still rankle public imagination. Then the grenade attack of August 21. Before that the bomb attack in Ramna and similar incidents. Incriminations and recriminations are likely to continue in the foreseeable future.

In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth says that even the ocean can't wash his hands clean of Duncan's blood. Lady Macbeth, who scorns him for saying it, later finds that the blood had dyed into her conscience. Shakespeare skillfully crafted the plot to demonstrate natural justice. No amount of physical actions can root out psychological demons. Eventually, crime makes its own correction, either in court or in the conscience of the perpetrator.

The blood of its progenitor has dyed the conscience of this nation. All said and done, the ruthless killing of Mujib and his family was blight on us. It was our original sin, the mother of all other sins invoked on us. Perhaps it was the curse of a patriarch. An ungrateful nation liquidated its liberator. It had to do its penance.

For thirty-five years this nation did its penance. It struggled with psychological demons spawned from Mujib's blood. It never found peace. It shed more blood. It suffered more upheavals.

Then, it wasn't mere coincidence that history should come full circle after all these years. Mujib's daughter should return to power and the final verdict should be reached on her father's killers, each of them sentenced to death. This irony has an element of destiny to it.

The question is whether this nation should sustain the inertia of rage. For too long our minds have been marinated in the juice of retribution. Should we not look for a closure? Should we not want to reverse course on our divisive politics?

After all, the vindication of a leader's dream is a far greater tribute than avenging his death. Mujib's dream was Bangladesh. He wished to build a nation for his people. Once his death is avenged, should we not concentrate on his dream?

The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who served under Allende as his country's ambassador to France, described Allende as an "immortal corpse." Mujib has been the same for us for all these years. Despite many conspiracies to obliterate his memories, he couldn't be buried even after his burial. His memories haunted us, because we had his blood on our hands.

Henry Kissinger once said that amongst all the leaders in the region, Allende was the most inimical to American interests. Then he added that the issues were much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves. The people were cut off from their leader.

Others have been deciding for us since we lost our leader. Time to have a new start.

Mohammad Badrul Ahsan is a columnist for The Daily Star. email: badrul151@yahoo.com