Mujibur Rahman
President of Bangladesh
Died when: 55 years 151 days (664 months)Star Sign: Pisces
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Bengali: শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning Friend of Bengal), was a Bengali politician, parliamentarian, diarist, and the founding leader of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
He first served as the titular President of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh between April 1971 and January 1972.He then served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh from the Awami League between January 1972 and January 1975.
He finally served as President again during BAKSAL from January 1975 till his assassination in August 1975.In 2011, the 15th constitutional amendment in Bangladesh referred to Sheikh Mujib as the Father of the Nation who declared independence; these references were enshrined in the fifth, sixth, and seventh schedules of the constitution.
Mujib emerged as a student activist in Bengal during the final years of the British Raj.He rose within the ranks of the Awami League as a fiery and charismatic orator.
He became popular for his opposition to the ethnic and institutional discrimination of Bengalis in Pakistan, who comprised the largest ethnic group in the federation.
He was elected to public office for the first time in 1954 and championed Bengali identity in Pakistan's constitution making process between 1955 and 1956.
Mujib worked in the insurance industry on the sidelines of politics.At the heightening of tensions between East and West Pakistan, he outlined a six-point autonomy plan.
He was often jailed for his protests against the Pakistani government.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 edged towards declaring the independence of Bangladesh in a historic speech on 7 March 1971.
On 26 March 1971, Mujib declared Bangladesh's independence after 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 the Bengali population suffered genocide.
A nine-month war was fought in his name, which culminated in Pakistan's surrender on 16 December 1971.Mujib was released from Pakistani custody due to international pressure and returned home on 10 January 1972.
The jubilation of Bangladeshis over the war's victory and Mujib's homecoming was tempered by the devastation and challenges faced by the new country.
Sheikh Mujib was a major populist leader of the 20th century.In governance, Mujib's legacies include the Constitution of Bangladesh, which was enacted within a year of Bangladesh's liberation; as well as the transformation of East Pakistan's state apparatus, bureaucracy, armed forces, and judiciary into an independent Bangladeshi state.
He delivered the first Bengali speech to the UN General Assembly in 1974.Mujib's five year regime was the only socialist period in Bangladesh's history.
In 1975, Mujib installed a one party state which lasted for seven months until his assassination.His legacy remains divisive among Bangladeshis due to his economic management, the Bangladesh famine of 1974, human rights violations, and authoritarianism.
Most Bangladeshis credit him for leading the country to independence in 1971.Many within and outside Bangladesh call him Bangabandhu out of respect.
In a 2004 BBC opinion poll, Mujib was voted as the Greatest Bengali of all time and ranked first on the list followed by Asia's first Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (2nd) and Bangladeshi national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam (3rd).
Mujib's diaries and travelogues were published many years after his death and have been translated into several languages.
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President of Bangladesh
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