Victims & Martyrs

By February 1948 Dacca University had [unclear: spear] headed the Movement for the rightful place of Bengali language in Pakistan. The movement led to agitation in which a number of students were killed in police firing on 21 February 1952. As soon as the news spread, all over the country the entire life in the country came to a halt. 21 February has ever since remained a day for solemn observance, and is now one of the 4 national days of Bangladesh. Shaheed Minar (Memorial to the martyrs) at Dacca University is a national monument (it has replicas everywhere).

Without blaming anyone the academics re-opened the issue and regional autonomy became a much discussed topic in the Dacca University campus by 1950, before some League members from Bangladesh began putting demand for it in November 1950 in the Constituent Assembly. This demand for regional autonomy in the future constitution of Pakistan formed one of the 21 points of the United Front in the provincial elections of 1954. By then the demand had gained such wide support that the United Front secured nearly 97per cent of the votes cast, and the Muslim League, which was born in 1906 at Dacca, finally met its end again at Dacca in 1954. Dacca University academics finally reformulated the same thing into six points which the Awami League carried over to the political platform and carried the day in the General Election of 1970.

Not without reason did Yahya Khan make Dacca University his first target of military assault in the midnight of 25 March 1971. Yahya killed more Dacca University academics than Awami League legislators.

If the academics gave the idea, the students carried the idea into execution. This explains his vengeance against the students as well. The flag under which the liberation forces fought the Pakistanis last year was hastily devised by a student in one of the Halls of Dacca University and was universally accepted as the national symbol. (Only the map part of the flag has now been omitted for the sake of convenience.)

It is doubtful if the country would have reacted in the manner it did if there were no attacks on Dacca University. (Previous to 25 March there were more killings in Chittagong and in Rangpur, but there was hardly any extra-ordinary reaction to that.) Yahya's severe steps in Dacca were merely precautionary to prevent any disagreeable situation arising out of attack on Dacca University.

If there is any doubt about the significance of the attack on Dacca University, one may perhaps refer to the first stamps issued by Bangladesh Government in June 1971, when the government itself was in exile. One of the stamps refers to the "Massacre at Dacca University on 25-26 March 1971", while others refer to the country, the declaration of independence, and to the grounds of legitimacy of the claim to independence, and to the new head of Bangladesh, Shaikh Mujibir Rahman.

That Mr Abu Sayed Choudhuri is now the first President of Bangladesh is not because he has been a senior Judge of the High Court, but because of his 2 year association with Dacca University as its Vice-Chancellor (he was educated at Calcutta and appointed Vice-Chancellor by Yahya Khan's government.) Vice-Chancellor Choudhuri had overshadowed his other self as Senior Judge of the High Court.

History has linked Dacca University with Bangladesh in an inseparable manner. As in the past Dacca University assisted by all the other universities which it has helped develop, will be required to guide the future destiny of Bangladesh, which in its present showing is not rosy. Their most urgent problem now is physical survival.