Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's cult of personality

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Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's sculpture at the Mrityunjayee Prangan in Bijoy Sarani, Dhaka. This sculpture was demolished by the protesters after the Student-People's uprising in August 2024. Mrityunjayee Prangan.jpg
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's sculpture at the Mrityunjayee Prangan in Bijoy Sarani, Dhaka. This sculpture was demolished by the protesters after the Student–People's uprising in August 2024.
Mritunjoyi Mujib at Islamic University in Kushtia. It was also demolished after the uprising. Mritunjoyi Mujib Mural, Islamic University, Bangladesh.jpg
Mritunjoyi Mujib at Islamic University in Kushtia. It was also demolished after the uprising.

The cult of personality around Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, first president of Bangladesh, was started during the premiership of Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government. [1] [2] [3] Mujibism initially began as the political ideology of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which was gradually converted into a cult of personality around him during the tenure of his daughter Sheikh Hasina, prime minister of Bangladesh. [4] [5] [6] After her fall in the Student–People's uprising, his cult of personality is being dismantled gradually. [7] [8]

Contents

Overview

A cult of personality was created around Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during his tenure, where his supporters venerate him. [9] [10] After being pushed to the sidelines by the successive military rulers Ziaur Rahman (who founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party) and Hussain Muhammad Ershad (who founded the Jatiya Party), Mujib came back to dominate public consciousness from 2008 under the Awami League government led by Hasina. [11] Hasina was criticised for overemphasising the role of her father and the Awami League in securing Bangladeshi independence at the cost of sidelining other prominent figures and political parties of the time. [12]

Bust of Mujib in East London Sheikh Mujib statue London 02.jpg
Bust of Mujib in East London
Mujib on a 2021 postage stamp of India Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 2020 stamp of India.jpg
Mujib on a 2021 postage stamp of India
Mujib and Mahatma Gandhi at Kolkata mhaatmaa gaandhii o shekh mujibur rhmaan.jpg
Mujib and Mahatma Gandhi at Kolkata

During her tenure, Hasina amended the constitution to make the presence of Mujib's portrait mandatory in every school, government office & diplomatic missions of the country and made it illegal to criticise Mujib, his ideals & his deeds, especially the one-party BAKSAL regime headed by him, through writing, speech or electronic media. [13] [14] Many events commemorating the birth-centenary of Mujib in his lifetime were launched by the Hasina administration, including an official biopic in collaboration with the Indian government. The Hasina government converted Mujib's residence in the capital city of Dhaka, where he & his family was assassinated by military personnel in 1975, into a memorial museum. Hasina designated the day of Mujib's assassination as the National Day of Mourning. [15] [16] The Hasina government also made the birthdays of Mujib, his wife Sheikh Fazilatunessa, eldest son Sheikh Kamal & youngest son Sheikh Russel as official government holidays, alongside March 7 (on that day in 1971, Mujib declared Bangladesh's seccession at a speech in Dhaka). Under Hasina's rule, the country was doted with numerous statues of Mujib alongside several roads & prominent institutions named after him. [17] Critics state that Hasina utilises the personality cult around her father to justify her own authoritarianism, crackdown on political dissent & democratic backsliding of the country. [18] [19]

Following the violent overthrow of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, the cult of personality around Mujib is being systematically dismantled. [20] [21] Many places named after Mujib was changed. [22] [23] Biographies of Sheikh Mujib or his family members were replaced by the biographies of Kazi Nazrul Islam, Rabindranath Tagore, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and four national leaders from the elementary textbooks. [24] The Bangladeshi government also decided to remove the portrait of Sheikh Mujib from the banknotes of Bangladeshi taka. [25]

On 17 January 2025, the Advisory Council of the Interim Government of Bangladesh approved the name change of 13 public universities, agreeing to the proposal of the Ministry of Education. [26] [27] As a result, the names of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other members of the Sheikh family were removed from the names of these universities. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Bangladesh</span> Politics in Bangladesh

Politics of Bangladesh takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Bangladesh is the head of government and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Constitution of Bangladesh was written in 1972 and has undergone seventeen amendments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheikh Mujibur Rahman</span> Bangladeshi revolutionary and statesman (1920–1975)

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman, activist and diarist, who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As one of the founding leaders of Bangladesh, he had held continuous positions, Initially he served as the president of the Awami League, later as the president of Bangladesh, and then as the prime minister of Bangladesh until his assassination in August 1975. His nationalist ideology, socio-political theories, and political doctrines are collectively known as Mujibism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziaur Rahman</span> President of Bangladesh from 1977 to 1981

Ziaur RahmanBU HJ HOR was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth President of Bangladesh from 1977 until his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of country's independence war, he broadcast the Bangladeshi declaration of independence in March 1971 from Chittagong. He was the founder of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). He previously served as the third chief of army staff from 1975 to 1978 with a minor break.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheikh Hasina</span> Prime Minister of Bangladesh (1996–2001, 2009–2024)

Sheikh Hasina is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh. She served in the position of prime minister for over 20 years, making her the longest-serving prime minister in history of Bangladesh. Thus, she became the world's longest-serving female head of government. Her authoritarian regime ended in self-imposed exile following an uprising in 2024.

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Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad was a Bangladeshi politician. He was the Minister of Commerce in the third Mujib Rahman ministry under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and assumed the presidency of Bangladesh after the Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15, 1975. He praised the assassins as "sons of the sun" and put cabinet ministers loyal to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in jail. He was himself deposed by another coup, less than three months later on November 3, 1975.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman</span> 1975 murder in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh, was assassinated along with most of his family members during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his residence as part of a coup d'état. The Minister of Commerce, Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, immediately took control and proclaimed himself head of an interim government from 15 August to 6 November 1975; he was in turn succeeded by Chief Justice Abu Sayem. The assassination marked the first direct military intervention in Bangladesh's civilian administration. Lawrence Lifschultz characterized this incident as an outcome of the Cold War between the United States-influenced Pakistan and the Soviet Union-influenced India. 15 August was annually observed as National Mourning Day under Sheikh Hasina regime.

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Sheikh Jamal was the second son of Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh.

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The Bangladesh Freedom Party, also known as Freedom Party is a political party founded by Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman, Khandakar Abdur Rashid and Bazlul Huda who were the chief organisers of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August 1975.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">15 August 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état</span> First military coup in Bangladesh

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheikh Lutfar Rahman</span> Bangladeshi court officer (1881–1975)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheikh Mujibur Rahman statue destruction</span> 2024 Bangladeshi political event

On 5 August 2024, after the resignation of the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following the Student–People's uprising, a large golden statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, country's first president and Hasina's father, at the Mrityunjayee Prangan in Bijoy Sarani, Dhaka was destroyed and toppled down by the protesters. The event received global media coverage and live broadcast, wherein it came to symbolise the end of Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule and Sheikh Mujib's cult of personality in Bangladesh.

References

  1. ↑ "Ode to the father: Bangladesh's political personality cult". France 24 . 4 January 2024. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Bangladesh Unrest: Mujibur's Statues Demolished, What Happens To Founding Father's Legacy With Hasina's Exit?". News18. 6 August 2024.
  3. ↑ "Bangladesh Renames Six Medical Colleges, Dropping Honors to Sheikh Mujib and Hasina". Sentinel Assam. 1 November 2024.
  4. ↑ "Bangladesh's growing political personality cult around 'Father of the Nation'". The Hindu . 5 January 2024. Archived from the original on May 18, 2024.
  5. ↑ Bay, Badiuzzaman (15 August 2024). "The new age demands a re-reading of Bangabandhu". The Daily Star .
  6. ↑ BALACHANDRAN, P. K. (16 August 2024). "Rise And Fall Of Dictators".
  7. ↑ "1,500 sculptures and murals vandalised all over country". Prothom Alo . 21 August 2024.
  8. ↑ "She Thought Her Grip Was Unbreakable. Bangladeshis Would Prove Otherwise". The New York Times . 5 August 2024.
  9. ↑ "Bangladesh unrest: Protestors bring down iconic statue of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka". The Economic Times . 6 August 2024.
  10. ↑ "Bangladesh's power vacuum". Financial Times . 6 August 2024.
  11. ↑ "PROFILE - Sheikh Hasina: Iron lady whose reign has fallen after student protests in Bangladesh". Anadolu Agency . 5 August 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  12. ↑ Chowdhury, Jennifer (15 August 2024). "In Bangladesh, a Personality Cult Gives Way After Student Protests". New Lines Magazine. Archived from the original on September 21, 2024.
  13. ↑ "SHEIK MUJIB GETS TOTAL AUTHORITY OVER BANGLADESH". The New York Times . 26 January 1975. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  14. ↑ "Transition from autocracy". New Age . 10 October 2024.
  15. ↑ "Lessons from the fall of Bangladeshi icons Hasina and Mujib". Daily Mirror . 20 August 2024. Archived from the original on September 22, 2024.
  16. ↑ "By Revoking Some National Holidays, Bangladesh Signals Shift Away from Cult Worship of Sheikh Mujib". The Wire . 20 October 2024.
  17. ↑ "Bangabandhu to toppled statue: Mujibur Rahman's contested legacy post Bangladesh upheaval". The Economic Times . 26 August 2024.
  18. ↑ AFP (5 January 2024). "Bangladesh's growing political personality cult around 'Father of the Nation'". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  19. ↑ "An Old Bangladeshi Reflex Threatens Its Revolution". The New York Times . 24 August 2024.
  20. ↑ "Bangladesh government cancels national holidays introduced by Hasina regime". The Hindu. 16 October 2024. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  21. ↑ Campbell, Charlie (25 July 2024). "How Mass Protests Challenge Bangladesh's Past—and Threaten to Rewrite Its Future". Time . Archived from the original on July 28, 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024. In lieu of a true popular mandate—the U.S. deemed January's election, which returned the Awami League for a fourth straight term but was boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), as neither free nor fair—Hasina increasingly leans upon the cult of personality she's constructed around her father.
  22. ↑ "14 govt hospitals renamed by removing names of Sheikh Mujib, Hasina, family". The Business Standard . 4 November 2024.
  23. ↑ "Bangladesh has ousted an autocrat. Now for the hard part". The Economist . 8 August 2024.
  24. ↑ "প্রাথমিকের পাঠ্যবইয়ে যা বাদ পড়ছে, যা যুক্ত হচ্ছে". Ittefaq. 6 December 2024.
  25. ↑ "Govt approves new banknote designs, featuring heritage monuments". The Business Standard. 8 November 2024.
  26. ↑ "Govt renames 13 universities, removes Sheikh family honorifics". The Business Standard . 16 January 2025.
  27. ↑ "Interim govt renames 13 public universities, says Asif Mahmud". The Daily Star. 16 January 2025. Archived from the original on 16 January 2025.
  28. ↑ "13 univs renamed, dropping names of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina -". The Daily Observer. 16 January 2025.


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