Govt doesn’t consider Sheikh Mujib Father of the Nation: Nahid

The interim government does not recognise Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the Father of the Nation, said Nahid Islam, adviser to the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology, yesterday.

“Bangabandhu has been made controversial by the Awami League. He has become a part of their ‘fascist ideology’,” he said in response to a question from journalists at the Secretariat.

When asked if he personally considers Bangabandhu the Father of the Nation, Nahid replied, “The Awami League held power in a fascist manner. They stayed in power by suppressing people’s voting rights, through enforced disappearances, killings, and even genocide. Therefore, whatever they declared — whether calling someone the Father of the Nation or designating a national day — such continuities will not remain in the new Bangladesh.”

When asked if the government considers anything done by the Awami League to be of national importance, the adviser responded, “A government without a mandate has no legitimacy. Many actions were taken during that period, but all of them will be restructured and reassessed.”

In response to a question about whether the current interim government considers Bangabandhu the Father of the Nation, he replied, “Certainly not.”

Sheikh Mujib is a political figure, and of course, there will be criticism and analysis of his role, but attempts to erase history will not be tolerated.

He further explained, “If we did, then we wouldn’t have a Father of the Nation at all. Many people have contributed to the struggles of this land. Our history didn’t start in 1952 alone. We have the anti-British struggle, the movements of 1947 and 1971, as well as those of 1990 and 2024. We have many founding fathers. It is through their struggles that we achieved independence.”

The information adviser also commented on the cancellation of certain national days, saying, “The national days being cancelled were imposed by the Awami League. This was fascist behaviour. The government considers them unimportant, which is why they are being cancelled.”

He said a new national day might be established to commemorate the mass uprisings.

In another development, Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, adviser to the Ministries of Youth and Sports and Labour and Employment, wrote in a personal Facebook post yesterday that it is the people of a country who will determine who their Father of the Nation is, not any fascist political party.

“If the people of the country truly considered Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the Father of the Nation, the revolutionary students and masses would not have destroyed his statue on August 5. Sheikh Mujib is not the Father of the Nation; rather, he is a symbolic tool for establishing Awami fascism,” he wrote.

However, in an immediate reaction to the cancellation of March 7 as a national day, prominent economist Prof Anu Muhammad said March 7 does not belong to the Awami League, nor is the historic speech of that day a personal matter of Sheikh Mujib.

“March 7 is undoubtedly a significant part of our history. Sheikh Mujib is a political figure, and of course, there will be criticism and analysis of his role, but attempts to erase history will not be tolerated,” Prof Anu Muhammad said.