The Unforgettable History - Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
The Unforgettable History
Look at the photograp of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman giving the
7 March 1971 Historic speech. Ask and answer the questions in pairs.
*What do you
know about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman?
*Where is he giving the speech? What was the time.
*What is the significance of the speech?
*Have you ever heard the speech? Where?
02 . Now read the speech below.
My brothers,
I stand before you today with a heart overflowing with
grief. You are fully aware of the events that are going on and understand their
import. We have been trying to do our best ot cope with the situation. And yet,
unfortunately, the streets of Dhada,
Chittagoing, Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur are awash with the blood of our
brothers. The people of Bengal now want to be free, the people of now want to
live, and the people of Bengal now want their rights.
What have we done that was wrong? After the elections,
the people of Bangladesh voted as one
for me, for the Awami League. We were to sit in the National Assembly, draft a
constitution for ourselves there, and build our country; the people of this land would thereby get economic,
political, and cultural freedom. But it is with regret that I have to report to
you today that we have passed through twenty-three tragic years; Bengal’s
history of those years is full of stories of torture inflicted on our people,
of blood shed by them repeatedly. Twenty-three years of a history of men and
women in agony!
The history of Bengal is the history of a people who
have repeatedly made their highways crimson with their blood. We shed blood in
1952; even though we were the victors in the elections of 1954 we could not
form a government then. In 1958 Ayub khan declared Martial Law to enslave us
for the next ten years. In 1966 when we launched the six point movement our
boys were shot dead on 7 June. When after the movement of 1969 Ayub khan fell
from power and Yahya khan assumed the reins of the government he declared that
he would give us a constitution and restore democracy, we listened to hun then.
A lot has happened since and elections have taken place.
I’ve met President Yahya khan. I’ve made a request to
him not only on behalf of Bengal but
also as the leader of the party which has. The majority in Pakistan; I said to
him: “You must hold the session of the National Assembly on 15 January,” But he
did no listen to me, He listened to Mr. Bhutto instead. At first he said that
the meeting would take place in the first week of Marc. We said, “Fine, we will
be taking our seats in the Assembly then.” I said we will carry out our
discussions in the Assembly, I went so far as to say that if anyone came up
with an offer that was just, even though we were in the majority we would agree
to that offer.
Mr. Bhutto came here; he carried out discussions with us; he had said that the doors of negotiations had talks with other leaders; I said to them, "Come and sit down with us; let's create a constitution for ourselves came here the Assembly would end up as a slaughterhouse, He claimed that whoever came here would be slaughtered. He said that if anyone showed up here all shops from Peshawar to Karachi would be shut down.
Mr. Bhutto came here; he carried out discussions with us; he had said that the doors of negotiations had talks with other leaders; I said to them, "Come and sit down with us; let's create a constitution for ourselves came here the Assembly would end up as a slaughterhouse, He claimed that whoever came here would be slaughtered. He said that if anyone showed up here all shops from Peshawar to Karachi would be shut down.
Remember: since we have already had to shed blood,
we’ll have to shed a lot more of it; by the Grace of God, however, we’ll be
able to liberate the people of this land.
The struggle this time is a struggle for freedom-the
struggle this time is a struggle for emancipation.
Long live Bengal!
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