Bangabandhu and Visions of Bangladesh

Abstract

opportunity of remembering him during the celebrations of the centenary of his birth. Other than paying tribute to this wonderful human being and the great leader that he was, I want to say a few words on why his ideas remain so very important today. Bangabandhu has been taken from us, but no one can rob us of his clear-headed visions, which, I will argue, can make a real difference to the lives we can lead. The subcontinent— India included—is going through a challenging period of ideological confusion right now, and we have reason to turn to Bangabandhu for guidance as well as inspiration. Among the many distinct ways in which Sheikh Mujib’s thoughts and analyses have powerful relevance today, let me choose a short-list of a few. First, Sheikh Mujib was one of the clearest exponents of secularism, from which all countries can learn. This included India, the largest country in the subcontinent, which has, right now, a particular need to learn from Bangabandhu’s insights. However, looking more broadly, all the countries in the subcontinent need Bangabandhu’s ideas. Bangladesh itself has gone through ups and downs on secularism, but since Bangabandhu spoke very clearly on what kind of a Bangladesh he wanted, we can easily read from his exposition what form he would have liked to have given to secularism (for an illuminating discussion of Bangabandhu’s analysis of secularism, see Rounaq Jahan, “Bangabandhu’s Vision of Secularism for BANGABANDHU AND VISIONS OF BANGLADESH