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Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Quotes

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , shortened as Sheikh Mujib or just Mujib, was a Bangladeshi politician and statesman. He is often called the father of Bengali nation. He served as the first President of Bangladesh and later as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 17 April 1971 until his assassination on 15 August 1975. He is considered to be the driving force behind the independence of Bangladesh. He is popularly dubbed with the title of "Bangabandhu" by the people of Bangladesh. He became a leading figure in and eventually the leader of the Awami League, founded in 1949 as an East Pakistan-based political party in Pakistan. Mujib is credited as an important figure in efforts to gain political autonomy for East Pakistan and later as the central figure behind the Bangladesh Liberation Movement and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Thus, he is regarded "Jatir Janak" or "Jatir Pita" of Bangladesh. His daughter Sheikh Hasina is the current leader of the Awami League and also the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

An advocate of democracy and socialism, Mujib rose to the ranks of the Awami League and East Pakistani politics as a charismatic and forceful orator. He became popular for his opposition to the ethnic and institutional discrimination of Bengalis in Pakistan, who comprised the majority of the state's population. At the heightening of sectional tensions, he outlined a 6-point autonomy plan and was jailed by the regime of Field Marshal Ayub Khan for treason. Mujib led the Awami League to win the first democratic election of Pakistan in 1970. Despite gaining a majority, the League was not invited by the ruling military junta to form a government. As civil disobedience erupted across East Pakistan, Mujib indirectly announced independence of Bangladesh during a landmark speech on 7 March 1971. On 26 March 1971, the Pakistan Army responded to the mass protests with Operation Searchlight, in which Prime Minister-elect Mujib was arrested and flown to solitary confinement in West Pakistan, while Bengali civilians, students, intellectuals, politicians and military defectors were murdered as part of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. During Mujib's absence, many Bengalis joined the Mukti Bahini and, helped by the Indian Armed Forces, defeated the Pakistan Armed Forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War. After Bangladesh's independence, Mujib was released from Pakistani custody due to international pressure and returned to Dhaka in January 1972 after a short visit to Britain and India.

Sheikh Mujib became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh under a parliamentary system adopted by the new country. He charged the provisional parliament to write a new constitution proclaiming the four fundamental principles of "nationalism, secularism, democracy, and socialism," which reflect his political views collectively known as Mujibism. The Awami League won a huge mandate in the country's first general election in 1973. However, Mujib faced challenges of rampant unemployment, poverty and corruption, as well as the Bangladesh famine of 1974. The government was criticized for denying constitutional recognition to indigenous minorities and human rights violations by its security forces, notably the National Defence Force para militia. Amid rising political agitation, Mujib initiated one party socialist rule in January 1975. Six months later, he and most of his family were assassinated by renegade army officers during a coup. A martial law government was subsequently established. In a 2004 BBC poll, Mujib was voted the Greatest Bengali of all time. Wikipedia  

✵ 17. March 1920 – 15. August 1975
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman photo
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: 17   quotes 65   likes

Famous Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Quotes

“My greatest strength is the love for my people, my greatest weakness is that I love them too much.”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Interview with Sir David Frost on the BBC, 1972.
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“This time the struggle is for our freedom, this time the struggle is for our independence! Joy bangla!”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Quote, This time the struggle is for our freedom (1971)

“If we had remained in Pakistan, it would be a strong country. Again, if India had not been divided in 1947, it would be an even stronger country. But, then, Mr. President, in life do we always get what we desire?”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Speaking about the break up of Pakistan with Nigerian leader Yakubu Gowon. http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2009/08/02/tribute.htm
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“We gave blood in 1952, we won a mandate in 1954. But we were not allowed to take up the reins of this country.”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Quote, This time the struggle is for our freedom (1971)
Context: We gave blood in 1952, we won a mandate in 1954. But we were not allowed to take up the reins of this country. In 1958, Ayub Khan clamped Martial Law on our people and enslaved us for the next 10 years. In 1966, our people fought for the Six points but the lives of our our young men and women were stilled by government bullets.

“Yes, but there is a difference. You see, I am a very poor sheikh.”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

While being cheered with UAE ruler Sheikh Zayed Al Nahiyan as both men had the name Sheikh. http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2009/08/02/tribute.htm
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“As we have already shed blood, we are ready to shed more blood!”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Source: Quote, This time the struggle is for our freedom (1971)

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Quotes about people

“Sir, you will see that they want to place the word ‘East Pakistan’ instead of ‘East Bengal’. We have demanded so many times that you should use Bengal instead of Pakistan. The world Bengal has a history, has a tradition of its own. You can change it only after the people have been consulted. If you want to change it, then we have to go back to Bengal and see whether Bengalis will accept it.”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Speaking to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in Karachi in 1955 during a debate on whether to adopt the One Unit scheme in Pakistan and divide the country into two provinces- East and West Pakistan. http://www.albd.org/autoalbd/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=111&Itemid=44
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“This may be my last message. From today Bangladesh is independent. I call upon the people of Bangladesh wherever you are and with whatever you have, to resist the occupation army. Our fight will go on till the last soldier of the Pakistan Occupation Army is expelled from the soil of independent Bangladesh. Final victory is ours. Joy Bangla!”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

The Declaration of Independence on the night of 26th March, 1971. The declaration was made minutes before his arrest by the Pakistan Army. http://www.albd.org/autoalbd/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=111&Itemid=44 http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=93650 http://web.archive.org/web/20110719125113/http://www.albd.org/autoalbd/images/stories/compile/2006/dia/dia_letter.jpg
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“There shall be no transaction between East and West Pakistan. All communications, telegraph and telephone, will be confined within Bangladesh. The people of this land are facing elimination. If need be, we will bring everything to a total standstill. Collect your salaries on time. If the salaries are held up, if a single bullet is fired upon us henceforth, if the murder of my people does not cease, I call upon you to turn every home into a fortress against their onslaught. Use whatever you can put your hands on to confront this enemy. Every last road must be blocked.”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Quote, This time the struggle is for our freedom (1971)

“The people of East Pakistan will owe it to the million who have died in the cyclone to make the supreme sacrifice of another million lives, if need be, so that we can live as a free people.”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Addressing a rally before the 1970 general elections in Pakistan. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878408,00.html
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“I had said, Mr. Yahya Khan, you are the President of this country. Come to Dhaka, come and see how our poor Bengali people have been mown down by your bullets, how the laps of our mothers and sisters have been robbed and left empty and bereft, how my helpless people have been slaughtered. Come, I said, come and see for yourself and then be the judge and decide. That is what I told him.”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Quote, This time the struggle is for our freedom (1971)

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Quotes

“Anyone who wishes to stay in Bangladesh will have to talk to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Shouting out aloud during proceedings of the Agartala conspiracy trial. It was in response to a journalist, to whom he was whispering, who told him that it was inappropriate to talk under the watch of undercover officers. http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2008/08/04/chintito.htm
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“Nor did they succeed in hanging me on the gallows, for you rescued me with your blood from the infamous conspiracy case. That day, right here on this racecourse, I had pledged to you that I would pay this debt with my own blood. Do you remember? I am ready today to fulfill that promise!”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Quote, This time the struggle is for our freedom (1971)

“As we have already learned how to sacrifice our own lives, now no one can stop us!”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Quote, This time the struggle is for our freedom (1971)

Learning

“I am happy with my Bangladesh.”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Replying to a question on whether he contemplated the Indian state of West Bengal joining his country and creating a "Greater Bangladesh". He was speaking to reporters at a press conference in London in January, 1972 after his release from prision in Pakistan. http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2009/08/02/tribute.htm
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Happiness

“You know, they can't keep me here for more than six months.”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

While speaking with a western journalist during proceedings of the Agartala conspiracy trial. Mujib was released within in seven months of his arrest as a result of mass agitation and wide scale civil disobedience in East Pakistan. http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2008/08/04/chintito.htm
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“I have given you independence, now go and preserve it.”

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

While speaking to Awami League leaders a few hours before his arrest on the night of 25th March, 1971. Mujib:Triumph and Tragedy by S A Karim
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