7th March Speech: The Beginning of The End

On March the 7th, 1971 Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered an epoch making speech on the Racecourse Field of Ramana, Dhaka to a gathering of over two million people that shaped the birth of a nation called Bangladesh – our motherland. Bangabandhu spoke for about 18 minutes but the speech moved the countrymen to snatch their long desired independence. A speech that can move 75 million people towards a 9 months bloodshed struggle for freedom from the usurping the then West Pakistan can surely be named as a historical speech of all-time. The speech is not only significant for its appeal towards the war of independence of Bangladesh, but also for the everlasting interest for mankind, peacemaking, absolute democracy and strong diplomatic structure. When we talk about this speech, we must not forget the incidents and legitimate reasons behind such a historical event.

Long Term Background: From the division of British India, Pakistan had two wings – one to the West of India; known popularly as the then West Pakistan and the other – the then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, with about 1600 kilometers of distance between. The Western wing had constantly been suppressing the East in many aspects. From economy to cultural disparity had been a constant in the two winged nation. The West would take the lion’s share of the revenue arned, ____% whereas only ___% of the whole population lived there. Again, discrimination in the job sectors even including military and other professional forces were dominant. A tendency of suppression in culture and dismissal of promotiong Bengali tradition in the national media was also a vital reason for the people of Eastern wing to be enraged upon the Western wing usurping leaders.

Immediate Background : Amidst social, cultural and economic racism of the West Pakistan administration, the election of 1970 was the final and crucial-most reason for a combusting protest against West Pakistan that gets reflected in the 7th March’s speech of Bangabandhu.

In 1970, General Yahya Khan erected as the president of Pakistan and announced for a general election under a Legal Framework Order (LFO), which directed that upon the formation of the parliament it would have to draft a constitution for Pakistan within 120 days based on the ideology of Pakistan, acknowledging its theocratic nature. It also said that if General Yahya was not satisfied with the contents of the constitution he would trash the draft.

AL fought the election on its Six-Point programme and announced that the constitution would be framed incorporating the programme that promised maximum autonomy for all the provinces of Pakistan. Many, including Maulana Bhashani, the chief of National Awami Party (NAP), questioned the propriety of participating in such an election under LFO. But Mujib was no revolutionary and believed in universally practiced democratic norms and that elections were the only means of going to power. The Bangalis did not make a mistake in choosing their leader and the party.

Under a democratic system it is the majority party that is called to form the government. But, on February 28, 1971, Bhutto announced that the 120 days’ time frame under LFO must be removed, and if Yahya Khan postponed the sitting of Parliament, which was scheduled to sit in Dhaka on March 3, 1971, he was willing to discuss the matters relating to Mujib's Six-Point programme and framing of the constitution. Unexpectedly, on March 1, 1971 it was announced that Yahya had decided to unilaterally postpone the sitting of the parliament. He was dancing to Bhutto's tune. Bhutto was the lynchpin in the conspiracy against the people of East Pakistan.

The postponement of the sitting of the parliament was the last nail in the coffin of a united Pakistan. Syed Shahid Husain, a civil bureaucrat from the then West Pakistan serving in Dhaka and witness to many events leading to March 25-26, 1971, writes in his memoir, What Was Once East Pakistan: “The decision to postpone the session of National Assembly triggered an immensely negative response. Dhaka Radio Station broadcast Mujib's call for public protest in the province against the postponement. But people were unable to restrain themselves and showed spontaneous and forceful resentment by coming out on the streets within half an hour of the announcement….About 150 people showed up in my office and respectfully asked me to order the closure of the office because their democratic rights had been violated. I ordered accordingly.”

On March 3, Bangabandhu addressed a huge gathering at Paltan Maidan organised by Purbo Pakistan Chhatra League where a national flag of Bangladesh was formally hoisted and a manifesto of the proposed independent new nation was announced. The national anthem of the would-be new country was also declared. Bangabandhu announced that on March 7, 1971 he would give the formal directives to the nation at Ramna Race Course (present day Suhrawardy Uddayan) about the future course of action.

The time was filled with unrest and people in general were anxious. Will Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declare the independence? Would it be a unilateral declaration of independence or would he announce some sort of compromise?

The Speech: Bangabandhu gave everyone a patient hearing but said very little. He knew exactly what his options were and their possible outcomes. By midday the vast Ramna Race course was teeming with millions to hear from the 'Poet of Politics,' a title given to him earlier by Newsweek. Syed Shahid Husain writes: “I had noted in my diary that Sheikh Mujib was likely to declare independence on March 7. As a matter of fact I had heard this on the BBC. On March 7, Mujib addressed a mammoth really but did not declare independence. Yahya must have been disappointed as he had probably hoped that Mujib would proclaim independence and thus provide him the justification to arrest the East Pakistan leader.”

Bangabandhu arrived at the venue at 2.45 in the afternoon and spoke for only 19 minutes. It was electrifying 19 minutes. Not only the people of entire Pakistan and East Bengal were glued to their radios but the world was holding its breath. However, on orders from the central government, both the radio and the TV had to abstain from broadcasting the historic speech. In protest, the staff of the radio and TV walked out of their broadcasting stations. The speech was extempore, and became one of the memorable speeches ever given by a politician.

Bangabandhu started with the lines, "Today, I appeared before you with a heavy heart. You know everything and understand as well. We tried with our lives, but the painful matter is that today, in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur, the streets are dyed red with the blood of our brethren. Today the people of Bengal want freedom, the people of Bengal want to survive, the people of Bengal want to have their rights. What wrong did we do?"

He mentioned four conditions for joining the National Assembly on 25 March:

⦁ The immediate lifting of martial law;

⦁ The immediate withdrawal of all military personnel to their barracks;

⦁ A proper inquiry into the loss of life during the conflict.

⦁ The immediate transfer of power to elected representatives of the people;

He also gave several directives for a civil disobedience movement, instructing that:

⦁ People should not pay taxes;

⦁ Government servants should take orders only from him;

⦁ The secretariat, government and semi-government offices, and courts in East Pakistan should observe strikes, with necessary exemptions announced from time to time;

⦁ Only local and inter-district telephone lines should function;

⦁ Railways and ports could continue to function, but their workers should not co-operate if they were used to repress the people of East Pakistan.

While Bangabandhu was speaking the Dhaka, Garrison was preparing for an assault on the unarmed civilians in case there was a declaration of independence. Bangabandhu did not disappoint the waiting millions, but said what he had to in an intelligent and statesman-like way. He ended his speech saying: “The struggle this time is for emancipation, the struggle this time is for independence.” A straight declaration would have branded him a secessionist and he would have losst world sympathy.

Bangabandhu declared a programme of non-cooperation unless their demands were met, which included handing over power to the majority party (AL) in the parliament, lifting of martial law, pulling the army to the barracks, holding impartial enquiry for the killing of innocent civilians by the army. He directed the people not pay any taxes, and to observe complete shutdown. All transport vehicles would run, banks would remain open till 2 p.m. and all buildings would fly black flags. As a matter of fact it was Bangabandhu who was running the civil administration of East Bengal and not Yahya Khan. By all definition East Pakistan was lost and the world was witnessing the slow emergence of a new independent nation.

On March 15, 1971, Yahya arrived in Dhaka to talk to Bangabandhu. But it was too late. The die was cast. It was just part of the conspiracy to reinforce the Pakistan army to annihilate the Bengali nation. On March 25, 1969, when General Ayub Khan abdicated power in the face of massive student uprising in both wings of Pakistan, he made a speech saying that he could not preside over the destruction of Pakistan. He handed over power to General Yahya who did exactly that because that was the pre-determined destiny of Pakistan, a country created with a flawed ideology. Bangabandhu's speech on that afternoon has become synonymous with the history of Bangladesh. Long live the spirit of March 7, 1971.

Analysis: The speech continued for about 19 minutes, or 18 minutes and 59 seconds. During this 19 minute the population of 75 million people was looking upon the father of the nation for hope of directions. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, prior to giving that speech had talked to various ambassadors in Dhaka and knew if he declared immediate independence some of those countries which befriends Pakistan will not support the newly formed Bangladesh, this included The United States of America too. On the other hand on 7th March of 1971, the two million people were being guarded by of a force of 10,000 Pakistani army personnel. Bangabandhu also knew that if anything wrong takes place, the lives of these 2 million will be at stake. So it was necessary yet challenging to proclaim the path to the upcoming War of Freedom. On occasion of that, he said “The history of Bangla is the history of killing and oppression of 23 years. You cannot keep suppressed the 7.5 crore people.” – denotes the whole population of East Pakistan has turned against West Pakistan, leading them towards the dream of independence is a matter of time.

“Build fortresses in every house. In every village, every locality, every union and every sub-division establish ‘Resistant Council’ under the leadership of the Awami League.” – which clearly sends the message that this nation is about to fight, and disobey until and unless achieve what is cherished. He also said “Be prepared with whatever you have” – indicating the war is near and the people in general need to fight with all that courage and hope they can gain in the name of freedom.

”Bear in mind since we have given blood, we will give more. By the grace of Allah, we will surely liberate the people of this country.” – implying we have learnt to shed blood, the country is aroused to the taste of liberty at ultimate cost and it has become irrevocable to resist them now.

And finally , “The struggle this time is the struggle for our emancipation. The struggle this time is the struggle for our independence.” – in a fabricated tone he declared that Bangladesh from onwards whatever happens is considered independent and so he calls upon the countrymen to confront the military junta and bring their rightful country to birth.

Significance: On 31 October 2017, UNESCO added the speech in its the Memory of the World Register as a “documentary heritage”. A documentary heritage according to UESCO is any document, written, scripted, printed, audible or visible is a document that understands humanity, has historical value for the mankind and represents the world for future as we live in today. According to United Nations this speech bears value that serves for not only immediate wartime directions but also directs any human kind to the right of his own and stand his point. This speech goes beyond the timeline of history and stands for forever nationalism and freedom.

Upon the breakout of War of Liberation, this speech was regularly broadcast from the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra (Independent Radio Station of Bengal), as it was the cultural spokesman of our liberation war.

Ziaur Rahman (later President of Bangladesh) wrote in the magazine Bichittra on 26 March 1974 that the speech had inspired him to take part in the 1971 Liberation War.

Jacob F. Field, in his book “We Shall Fight on the Beaches: The Speeches That Inspired History” includes this speech and says it is one of the most contemporary speech for any freedom seeking nation.

The speech of 7th March has inspired the 200,000 people who were present on the Ramana Race Course and also the whole nation to take part in liberation war and free our country from the enemy. This speech has touched the soul of every Bangladeshi and even after 1971, this speech has encouraged all other movements. The speech of 7th March was an eye-opening declaration for the nation that we should stand together and free our country from West Pakistan. This speech stands as an oratory version of our declaration of independence. It also inspires the world today to seek for every individual’s rights. It is so much moving that only after 18 days of the event when Operation Searchlight began, the people of the country stood against the militia without any fear and without any immediate indications. We must acknowledge the fact that though the declaration of independence came later on, but this speech is the one that represented as the declaration for the 75 million people in general. We are proud that Bangladesh’s Father of Nation had driven us with such a speech that we can hold dear to and gather strength defying the barriers of time and space. It is, our Declaration of Independence.