Bangabandhu and Shaheed Zia

I regret my inability to agree with Mr. Kabir's acceptance of the requirement to bow down our heads and pay homage to either of the two leaders mentioned above, which both the AL and the BNP would like us to do.

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are well known figures in American history and students in school there are taught about their contributions to building of the country that America is today. But nobody in America is expected to pay homage to these leaders. Nelson Mandela is loved and respected by the whole world. But nobody in South Africa is expected to bow and chant "Hail Mandela" when he appears in public.

There are certain things in history which should be recollected to have a better understanding of it. As Gorbachev was assigned the task of dismembering the Soviet Union, so was Bhutto given the task of dismembering Pakistan. It is true, though many of us may not like it, that the decision that any eventual Pakistan should be split up was taken by the Indian Congress in 1946; ref: Badruddin Umar's recent writings in the Holiday on the events leading to partition of India .That East Bengal, eventually Bangladesh, was to become a captive market was decided then, and there was nothing that the Muslim leadership could do about it, they were totally outmanoeuvred by the Congress and outflanked by the events of time.

The Pakistani bureaucracy, dominated by immigrants from India and Punjabis, took a decision to split Pakistan at an appropriate time. Therefore it was only necessary to continue to loot the then East Pakistan until this happened. It is indeed very surprising that the Bengalis did not know or understand this.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman loved the land that produced him and nurtured him to manhood, and he did try his best. Above all, he was the pivot round whom the Bengali nation rallied in its hour of greatest need. Ziaur Rahman gained the admiration of the whole nation. Massive was the outpouring of public grief at his death. What we need to understand, above all else, is the common factor in the two deaths: they were killed because they both were patriots who loved this land and tried desperately to do something for it. This of course was not part of the grand plan of the powers that be and therefore could not be permitted. Thus exited both Mujib and Zia.

It is most unfortunate that the present AL and BNP are only using the names of these two patriots to further their own interests, for neither the AL nor the BNP is taking any further interest in the welfare of the people. Perhaps, I am being too harsh in my judgement; perhaps what they are really guilty of is apathy, of resigning themselves to what they consider to be inevitable. Perhaps, the problem lies with idealists like me who wishfully believe that something was yet possible in spite of the severe limitations within which our leaders need to work. But I do not believe that I am being unjust when I accuse our political leaders of both the parties of cowardice, and cowardice is a grave sin.

Both these leaders deserve our respect but not to the point where such respect crosses over to veneration verging on worship as demanded by the two political parties, for only the Almighty is so worthy.