The generation that actively fought the liberation war in 1971 or was witness to its barbaric ferocity on the one hand and humanity at its noblest on the other is depleting fast with many already taking leave of this mortal world. It is time to make an assessment of the legacy of the spirit that brought together the people --- barring the collaborators --- to forge a strong unity for their liberation from an oppressive and jungle rule. Did a stream of consciousness flow to influence the people irrespective of class, creed and political leanings?
True, the country has become officially liberated on December 16, 1971. But has it been able to live the spirit and the ultimate dream of liberty where every citizen can hold his/her head high and is socially and economically emancipated? The next step such a liberated people takes is to earn the right to free thought and expression which in fact lets go a burst of creative energy. On the cusp of an epochal transition, the nation saw its journey halted and its dream snapped by local anti-liberation forces egged on by international forces inimical to the country's independence.
When a young nation needed international support most, it was left in the lurch in order to create a fertile ground for a backlash by the defeated forces so that the nation could be redirected on the road to retrogression. Successive military and authoritarian rule created conditions for the collaborators in the war of independence to even rise to ministerial positions. Political expediency carried forward this tainted legacy even during the reign of an elected government. All this was the ultimate desecration of the spirit of liberation war in the independent Bangladesh. Although some of them were tried and hanged for their war crimes later, others embraced natural death.
Sure enough, the execution of the collaborators followed as natural justice but it could not compensate for their political rehabilitation and elevation to state power. Not only was the liberation spirit undermined in this way but also distorted to the extent that makes the young generations of this country confused about the guiding force of the nation.
It is exactly at this point Vietnam, a Southeast Asian nation that earned, like Bangladesh, at an enormous cost of life and property, its independence differs so much from this South Asian nation's dilemma. The socio-political divisiveness is so entrenched here that the intrinsic values and moral principles have been sacrificed at the altar of partisanship and biased tunnel view. This allowed the four pillars of the constitution to be mutilated with little regard for the value system and the binding principles fostered by deep love for the country.
It is because of this, rifts in society in the form of classes poles apart are deepening notwithstanding enviable wealth creation. Disproportionate concentration of wealth in a few hands has driven the principle of socio-economic justice into distant horizon. This provides for a breeding ground of all kinds of vices including violent crimes and moral and sexual aberrations. Gender discriminations like those of social classes have hidden in them the seeds of self annihilation.
Extreme forms of selfishness and avarice have thus created a privileged class that have assembled under some kind of umbrellas including political to milk the milch cow. No trace of patriotism is expected of people who launder money out of the country either to have a second home abroad or simply to stash into banks in countries known as tax havens. Big loan defaulters get scot-free or are pampered by allowing them repeated reschedules while farmers are jailed for not timely repayment or even after clearing all dues. A lack of patriotic commitment thus encourages talented scholars to go abroad for higher studies but not to return back.
The two years' pandemic has broken the resilience of many of the people who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. Psychologically they have become vulnerable too, the students of families belonging to this class only more so. Desperate youths who remain unemployed then embark on illegal and uncertain journeys to Europe and other continents and countries in the hope of landing lucrative jobs. Others' desperation takes a turn for anti-social activities including so-called religious extremism and, in case of mounted frustration, for ending their own lives. This largely explains the rising number of suicides among students in the post-Covid time. To people of lower classes the country is a hostile place where some people are born with silver spoons in their mouths.
It is the middle class in almost every country that really upholds the best tradition, values and moral principles. In Bangladesh, the middle class is a minuscule entity and like its intellectual class is now overwhelmed by people boasting filthy riches. Thus quality of head and heart hardly gets respected or rewarded in this country. So the cultural vein and enlightened minds could not flourish desirably and take the country along for realisation of the sweet dream of a just and egalitarian society.
If the flame of patriotism cannot be kept burning eternally, the nation will soon find itself in a tumultuous equation of nasty international politics. The liberation war of 1971 taught this nation an enduring lesson. It is this that the people who stand united to risk everything for the love of land can do the impossible.
