Reverberations of March 7

Ziauddin Choudhury

March 7 always brings to my mind a bundle of conflicting emotions. The emotions are both of
exhilaration and pride that Bangabandhu’s speech gave us, but also of a deep sense of anxiety that the
speech carried with it. It was a message of courage and hope for a people yearning for greater control
over of their fate, and show of strength to the power that wanted to keep the people under subjugation.
But the speech also had this sense of an outcome of confrontation and the possibility of a protracted
battle with an arrogant junta that sat over the country. However, no one knew at that time that only
two and half weeks later all hell would be let loose on a people who were only expecting a happy
outcome of the political strife. A peaceful solution that would never happen.

March 7 came with a sense of disquiet since only a few days before President Yahiya had reneged on his
pledge to convene the newly elected National Assembly earlier in the month. The week had started with
heavy speculations on a possible show of muscle power by the Pakistan Army should Bangabandhu and
his party take to the street with violent protests. But events would prove otherwise. Instead of a street
protest, the day was declared to be of a historic meeting where Bangabandhu would announce to his
people his plan of action.

Speculations had been rife well before the meeting regarding Bangabandhu’s speech. Many thought he
would announce unilateral declaration of independence, or some such action that would lead the
country to a civil war. Others speculated that Bangabandhu would be prevented by the Army from
holding such meeting and incite people to violence. In fact some even suggested that such a strong-arm
plan was in the Army’s inventory, but it was shelved when millions turned up to attend the meeting
from all parts of Bangladesh. What turned out eventually is history now. Bangabandhu’s speech before
millions that day is now in World History archives as one of the most effective, inspirational and moving
oration ever delivered. He did not read from a script, but from his heart. He did not take any dictation
from any of his advisors, but only his own guided by a vision, vision of a free Bangladesh.

The most important part of the speech was his cautious approach to the subject of independence. He
asked people to be vigilant against attacks, but did not ask them to attack anyone. He framed his speech
as a struggle for independence but not inciting people to take up arms. His approach was to fight for
freedom through civil disobedience, by refusing to cooperate with Pakistan Government and its
Army, by denying them quarters.

Bangabandhu had given them directions on how to respond to the adamant Pakistan Government with
civil disobedience and had warned them of reactions of Pakistan Army to the non-cooperation
movement, but he probably did not imagine how ruthless and cruel these reactions could be.

On that historic day I was on my way to my place in Munshiganj where I had just been posted as Sub-
divisional Office after attending a weekly meeting in Dhaka. Before I boarded my launch, I had listened
to the entire speech from one distant corner of the Race Course. I only heard the voice, but did not see
the man who was delivering it from a stage separated from me by millions of eager listeners. I was
thrilled, I was overwhelmed, and I was enthused like the millions there. But I was also afraid, afraid of
the unknown. What if the Pakistan Army were to attack in full force? What if the threat did not work?
Will we be back to the cruel reality of a more punishing Martial Law?

My anxiety would morph into nightmare only eighteen days later when instead of a political settlement
that Bangabandhu had dared to hope for, the Pakistan Junta responded in one of the most brutal
assaults in human history over civilians. In the name of preserving the integrity of Pakistan, they decided
to attack, murder, and brutalize unarmed civilians in the darkness of night after week long of a charade
of negotiations with Bangabandhu and his associates. The planner and executor of this infamous assault
and his cohorts left Dhaka under the cover of night and probably watched with glee the sights of a
burning city from the safety of their aircraft in the sky.

A looming question from that fateful night and days following, from some analysts of the March 7 event
complain why a call for independence and freedom struggle was made with little preparation to face an
angry response from Pakistan Army. Was Bangabandhu too hopeful that a political negotiation would
still be possible given the arrogance and hostility of Pakistan Army Junta and its political acolytes? Was
it not possible to build some amount of armed resistance in the meanwhile should Pakistan Army decide
to retaliate? The questions and people who raised these before (and even now) forget to consider the
following.

In his heart and by training, Sheikh Mujib was a politician and not a guerilla leader. He had spent his
entire life negotiating with people and had tried to solve problems by engaging his opponents politically.
He was no Che Guevara or Fidel Castro. He did not come from the Army as some political leaders in
South America or South East Asia had emerged from. He was out and out a politician who until his
incarceration by Pakistan Army believed in solving problems through negotiations. His call for making
“every home a fortress” did not mean he wanted very civilian to turn into a soldier. Rather, he meant
figuratively every Bengali to resist Pakistan Government with non-violent non-cooperation. “Do not pay
taxes, suspend transactions with the central government, stop supplies to the Army. “ These were
instructions not to turn to violence, but of passive resistance. Had Bangabandhu planned for raising a
militia to resist Pakistan Army he would have chosen a different route, that of guerilla warfare (which
ironically would happen during the liberation war),and not the path he asked his people to follow on
March 7.

There have been umpteen number of analyses of March 7 speech, and I do not want to add another to
the list. But suffice it to say that the historic speech is the genesis of our later liberation movement. It
may not have stopped the Pakistan Army from perpetrating the murderous events of March 25 and
thereafter, but it was enough to ignite the spirit of Bangladeshi nationalism and quest for independence
that we ultimately achieved. This is the biggest reverberation of March 7 speech.