The unfinished fight for people’s freedom

The fight for people's freedom in Bangladesh neither began nor ended in 1971. It has been going on for many years, and 1971 was a major phase of it. It was not only major, but it was also enormous, glorious, and horrific all at the same time.

The basis of the Liberation War of 1971 was built through numerous movements that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. New thoughts and new demands sprouted, and through the sacrifice of many lives, people became organised. A vision for the future was developed in the minds of the people. The main point of this vision was that a state must be established that would not be built in the model of Pakistan.

Throughout the unrest of the 1950s and 1960s, the mass uprising of 1969 and eventually the Liberation War, the people developed an idea of a set of characteristics of the Pakistani state that they wanted to avoid for their own state. Firstly, all the protests featured the rhetoric that it was a fight against the "22 families". At that time, there was a centralisation of wealth in Pakistan surrounding a group of families known as the "22 families". They held sway over the politics and economics of Pakistan. The abolition of this type of centralisation of wealth was a major objective of the movements during that time.

The second objective was the eradication of all sorts of discrimination that was rife in Pakistan. Discrimination between the East and the West, the existence of two economies in one country, discrimination based on regional origin, nationality, religion – these are the things that were being fought against. The goal was to get to a stage where people were ruled by the democratic process, where groups like the "22 families" and their military and civilian accomplices don't have authority, where the country belongs to the people, where public rights can be established. The centrepiece of all of this was democracy.

During these movements, another central factor that strongly came to the fore was jute. Jute was produced in massive amounts in Bangladesh, an industry existed based on jute, but the profits earned from it went entirely to West Pakistan. A desire to make jute the centre of future industrialisation materialised at that time. A desire materialised for the people of this region to reach a place of prosperity with jute as the main driver.

Other than these, there was a desire in the cultural sphere that all people, no matter their ethnic or linguistic identity, would be able to practise and celebrate their own cultures without anything being forced on them. Even though it didn't appear directly among the six-point demands, it was made clear in the eleven-point demands as well as during the mass uprising of 1969 that this region would not bow its head to imperialism or any sort of domination. This region wanted to exist freely as a strong entity among other nations of the world.

The centralisation of wealth that occurred with the "22 families" in Pakistan can be seen occurring in an even more intense way in Bangladesh. In Pakistan, the criticism was that it had two economies. Similarly in Bangladesh, because of the centralisation of wealth in the hands of a select few, a huge majority of people's lives are full of struggle and suffering. On the other hand, the select few that own this wealth have lives and prospects for the future that are disproportionately different from the rest. This discrimination was exactly what we fought against.

These desires encapsulate what the people rejected about the state of Pakistan and the thoughts that were taking hold in their mind for the model of a new state. The desire grew louder during the Liberation War of 1971, and a sense of achieving this new state through this war became prevalent. The rejection of Pakistan started to become clear from the beginning of March, and once the Pakistani army initiated a genocide on the night of March 25, the people of Bangladesh were in no way going to stay with Pakistan afterwards.

No matter the exact date of the declaration of independence, starting from the night of March 25, people from all walks of life, regardless of profession, gender, religious beliefs and ethnicity, fought with the goal of achieving that desired state.

Over 50 years have passed since, and we can now take a look at the things about the Pakistan model that people had rejected, fought against, and died in the process of doing so. This is a major question, a place to evaluate and self-reflect. It is our responsibility as citizens of Bangladesh to pose these questions.

The centralisation of wealth that occurred with the "22 families" in Pakistan can be seen occurring in an even more intense way in Bangladesh. In Pakistan, the criticism was that it had two economies. Similarly in Bangladesh, because of the centralisation of wealth in the hands of a select few, a huge majority of people's lives are full of struggle and suffering. On the other hand, the select few that own this wealth have lives and prospects for the future that are disproportionately different from the rest. This discrimination was exactly what we fought against.

In every movement for education in the 1960s, the main point was that the state would take the responsibility for universal education. The demand was that everyone would receive the same education that was aligned towards the same goals, that the responsibility for it should be taken by the state and that education would not become commercialised. Similar things were said about healthcare too. But since independence, we have moved towards the opposite direction on these matters.

In the 50-odd years since independence, Bangladesh has become immensely wealthy. We have prospered in the agricultural and industrial sectors, we have way more roads and buildings than we used to. But we have moved towards the opposite direction from the desire and the spirit that drove the Liberation War, the ways in which our state was supposed to be different from the Pakistani model.

We have seen the flourishing of a capitalist system here, but at its core are three main characteristics. First is the centralisation of wealth, second is the increase in all sorts of discrimination, and third is the brutal destruction of nature. Rivers, streams, canals, lakes, forests, our air, and the biodiversity of our nature have all been under constant attack. A scope has been created to generate profit at all costs, even at the cost of our nature.

The central desire was that this new state will be for the people, that the people will have agency. The people here include the environment in which they live, where their power resides. The institutions and the democratic process should have been for the people and run by the people. Democracy is not an abstract concept. It can be thought of clearly and in a concrete manner as a system where the people have the power. This is written down in the Constitution, but Bangladesh today is still far from that reality. Bangladesh was supposed to be a country run by its people, but we are dangerously moving towards a country being run by a coterie.

The reason we don't lose hope and courage after making such evaluations is that a country where the Liberation War of 1971 can take place, where the people can fight against such a terrifying military power, where the people don't take a step back from sacrificing everything in their fight, where the scope is created to realise the people's desire to establish a new state, is not a country where there is any reason for the situation to remain this way. That is also the reason why this evaluation is necessary.

We were shown an illusion of development during the time of Ayub Khan, like the Kaptai Hydroelectric Power Plant that displaced hundreds of thousands of people, a development project that was the source of decades of conflict in that region. The plan for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant was also initiated during that time, which is now being implemented on a much bigger scale. Are there any lessons for us here?

So, on Independence Day or when we are talking about independence in general, it is important to pose these questions and make these evaluations so that we can make sure we are not covered in the shroud of illusory development once more. By posing these important questions, we can explore our long history of protest, of fighting for our rights, of the desire to make our dreams come true. This history provides us with the inner strength that personally makes me believe that the situation will change.

The goals and the desires that have empowered people to fight this fight, have turned each of them into strong individuals with an indomitable spirit. This inner strength will carry Bangladesh to a place where we can make the necessary changes for people.

Anu Muhammad is a professor of economics at Jahangirnagar University.

Transcribed and translated by Azmin Azran.