Bangabandhu’s policies: a chapter less explored than deserved

For a history worm, 45 years may appear as the blink of an eye, with the vast time-space of human heritage taken into account, since they can time-travel any crucial juncture of socio-political evolution and pen that down with a flair for history-telling. But, for a man with the syndrome of historical amnesia, traveling down 45 years may be tantamount to slipping back into the last ice age and our country is most likely to be diagnosed with that syndrome. If you inquire youths, or even people in their sixties, about what stepping stones the Father of the Nation laid to advance the country's economy and growth following the independence, you will realize the kind of historical amnesia that we as a nation collectively put ourselves into. To make it worse, some don't even keep mum but carry forward the twisted lies churned out by the very assassins of Bangabandhu, claiming that what he did till the independence was a masterstroke but what he did in the post-independence period was a fiasco. But, reality puts it the other way round and a closer look at that time reveals that Mujib channelized as much effort towards hoisting the red and green flag before the independence as much towards feeding 7 crore people, rebuilding a war-ravaged country, changing the lives of peasants and workers, and giving the entire nation a roadmap for progress in the post-independence time.

You may wonder why that decades-old content should still be revisited. The answer can be given through a quote by Uruguayan poet Eduardo Galeano, published years ago by The Guardian, "History never really says goodbye. History says, see you later." Taking a cue from that quote, we can reiterate that some of the founding principles still shape the country's vision, some of the plans spelled out by the Father of the Nation springboard today's development, some of the innovations chalked out at his time inspire today's growth. Let us reflect on why those threads weave the present tapestry of development or how they are still relevant today.

Before venturing to figure out how much has been done economically and strategically between 1972 and August of 1975, we must mark the point Bangabandhu had to start from. The previous Pakistani regime from which Bangladesh earned freedom through an armed struggle left no nail un-hammered to the coffin of our country. They bombed down our infrastructure, ripped apart our economy, took 3 million lives through one of history's worst genocides, and killed the selected intellectuals who could rebuild the nation.

In the recently published first issue of the policy-based magazine WhiteBoard, development expert Julian Francis noted down from what he had witnessed at that period to what extent the war rattled the country and to what level the country had to reorganize. The war snapped the entire transport network – bridges, roads, culverts, railways, and waterways. The transport and communication sector alone suffered damage worth 160 million US dollars while the loss to public assets amounted to 350 million US dollars. Millions of refugees back from India needed support. Mujib had to co-manage 130 million US dollars channeled into Bangladesh for relief and rehabilitation purposes. He directed the procurement of three truck-carrying ferries that, even after more than four decades, cross the Padma river and ferry trucks and cars. When today's youths avail that service, they hardly link that back to his vision.

On the energy landscape, Bangabandhu reached another milestone on August 9, 1975, only six days before his assassination at the hands of some disgruntled army officers, when he purchased five gas fields from a multinational oil drilling company, Shell Oil Company, paying very little. Only 4.5 million pounds sterling (17-18 crore taka of that period) was paid to get Bakhrabad, Titas, Rashidpur, Kailashtila, and Habiganj gas fields state-owned. History records no other example of purchasing such a huge reserve of gas for so cheap. Even after four decades of fulfilling the ever-increasing demands, these gas fields dole out a staggering 31.44% of the country's total production today. What Bangabandhu planned 45 years ago is now the means of energy security as well as industrialization or development of the country and helped the country less depend on imports from foreign countries.

Amid all the herculean tasks Bangabandhu had to carry out, one must be building and mending foreign relations, symbolized by his policy styled as 'friendship to all, malice towards none', which was too difficult a job at the time of the cold war sweeping through the world. It is mostly unknown to this generation what it took to gain recognition of Bangladesh as a sovereign country in 1974 by the very country Pakistan, which had, in 1971, killed millions of people just to deny Bangladesh as a sovereign country in the world map. When an Islamic delegation requested Bangabandhu to join OIC Conference to be held in Pakistan's Lahore, he issued a condition, which was the recognition of Bangladesh. Pakistan's Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto obliged and Mujib was greeted ornately the day he stepped on the land of Pakistan. The anthems of Bangladesh and Pakistan were played back to back and it was during that visit that the announcement to recognize Bangladesh came. To thaw out the frozen relationship with the USA, he met then US President Gerald Ford in 1974. His strategic approach revitalized the country's relation with China and ensured Bangladesh's entry to the United Nations and the World Bank.

While war-torn Bangladesh was dubbed as a bottomless basket, Bangabandhu left no stone unturned to build everything from the scratch. When Bangabandhu satellite orbits our planet, we hardly link it back to the vision of the Father of the Nation who even acquired land in Betbunia to receive satellite signal – too futuristic for that time and context.

As the killers of Bangabandhu and their allies kept spinning yarns and their unchecked versions were well fed, youths must dive deep into history with an unbiased mind, pick up the seashells of facts, debunk the myths and pass the torch lighted up by the founder of the nation.

Subir Das is a freelance writer.