Before Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman emerged in Bangladesh’s political arena, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was the most beloved leader of the Bengalis. He dreamt of independence and spread his dream to others. He inspired the people of the British-colonised India to lay down their lives to fulfil this dream of freedom. Netaji couldn’t see his country freed in his lifetime. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman could.
Bangabandhu can be compared with another great leader of the 20th century, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela. Both of them spent much of their lives behind bars, and never for a moment wavered in their resolve. And in their lifetime they saw the materialisation of their dreams for a free and independent country.
I assume Bangabandhu never came face-to-face Subhas Chandra Bose, who was 23 years older than him. He went to Kolkata in 1942 to study at Islamia College. Just a year before that, Netaji had left India to lead the Azad Hind Fauj. Bangabandhu was still a child when Netaji was politically active as the mayor of Kolkata and a leader of the Congress in the thirties.
Bangabandhu hadn’t met Mandela either. They were both around the same age, Mandela having been born in 1918 and Bangabandhu in 1920. They probably knew about each other but their paths never crossed. When Bangabandhu was assassinated in 1975 along with his family, Mandela was in prison.
The three may not have ever met, but Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib and Nelson Mandela seem to have been connected by an invisible thread. All three of them were the architects of their respective countries’ independence. They have come to be symbols of hope for all downtrodden people the world over. Freedom does not come easily. It calls for personal sacrifice. The three of them proved that sacrifice did not go in vain.
I recently received a book, Bangabandhu, Epitome of a Nation. Edited by Enayetullah Khan and published by Cosmos Books, this pictorial book is dedicated to Bangabandhu. It contains a message written by Bangabandhu in his own handwriting: “Great things are achieved through great sacrifices.” Mandela had said the same thing when released from prison: “Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be won.” About half a century before Mandela uttered those words, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose said, “We will achieve freedom through sacrifice and protect it with our own power.”