Since fascist Sheikh fled to India facing mass uprising in last year’s July-August, the term ‘independence 2.0’ or ‘second independence’ has become quite popular in Bangladesh.
Awami League (AL) oppositions are explaining the end to AL regime in the student-led upsurge as a renewal of our great Liberation War.
However, some are reluctant to term the uprising as the ‘independence 2.0’, mentioning the great Liberation War in their arguments.
In a recent interview with Khaled Muhiuddin on his platform ‘Thikanay Khaled Muhiuddin’, cultural adviser to interim government Mostofa Sarwar Farooki explained the matter while answering a question.
“Second independence cannot be taken literally,” he said, terming it as poetry, allegory (in a metaphorical sense).”
Highlighting the objectives of our great Liberation War especially sovereignty of the country, the adviser said, “In the last 15 years, people have been asking in various ways whether the country is being run by Bangladesh (government and people) or someone else is.”
Mentioning former Indian ambassador to Bangladesh Sujata Singh’s interruption in bringing Jatiya Party to the 10th parliamentary election, the adviser asked, “Why did she tell Ershad (Hussain Muhammad Ershad) to come to election?”
“Do we go from Bangladesh and tell Rahul Gandhi— ‘You have to come to the elections’? Not a single foreign minister has ever deliberated such a speech.”
Farooki explains the act, saying, “It (interruption) means you (the then government) exposed the country, you completely surrendered.”
He hinted AL general secretary and former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader’s speech relating a request to Narendra Modi to help AL remain in power and said, “It means that you are not running the government. The country was run by another country.”
He termed the act as ‘breach of Liberation War’s spirit’. He said, “You (AL) compromised the spirit of Liberation War but were selling the pills of Liberation War. It denotes that you did the act with an evil intention.”
The cultural adviser said that he also said the nation has renewed its independence through last year’s upsurge. He explained why he said so, saying, “The inevitable result of the Liberation War the state and its sovereignty.”
Explaining sovereignty, he said, “When it became a gone case, Abrar Fahad was beaten to death by ruling party’s student wing for status relating to water? Understand the situation, he criticized another country not even Sheikh Hasina. And Hasina’s Chhatra League reacts to the post and beat him to the death.”
Adviser said, “I mean, the context... the country was like this… When Hasina fled on August 5, most people in Bangladesh believed that - through this we reclaimed our independence. And which is why people are saying, this is a renewal of the liberation war.”
Translated by AM
