The historic HC ruling
A High Court ruling has upheld the truth that it was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, not Major Ziaur Rahman, who proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh on March 26, 1971. This should put an end to a controversy whipped up to distort history for over three decades. The irony though, is that we are among the very few countries in the world where a seminal historical landmark had to be settled through a court ruling.
We welcome the vindication of the self-evident truth through the HC ruling. Even Zia's announcement came in the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which itself was a milestone in the saga of our liberation war and for which the nation will remember him.
But the travesty of truth was when the supreme leader was pitted against a government functionary relating to a context in which the former was leading the nation from the front and there was no question of such a proclamation being made by anyone of those following his instructions. The proclamation came from the supreme leader and that is what mattered to the nation and the international community at that point in time. We cannot ever be oblivious of this fact.
It was a momentous event admitting of no misrepresentation whatsoever as many of those who participated in or were witness to it are still alive and they must have been utterly disgusted by the attempts made by the BNP leadership to manipulate a historical truth to its advantage.
Unfortunately, it became an obsession with BNP governments in the past to assign Zia a position that he himself didn't lay a claim to. The consequences of such attempts to distort history or undermine the role of the political leadership in 1971 have been disastrous, with the new generation being left totally confused as to what really happened on March 26, 1971.
It is our firm belief that Ziaur Rahman remains highly regarded for his signal contribution to our liberation struggle. And BNP would do a world of good to itself if it bases its image on the achievements of the party rather than tinkering with history.
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