Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered an address at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan on the 26th of March, 1975. The advertisement for the speech published in newspapers called it an ‘Explication of the Program for Bangabandhu’s Second Revolution’. In this speech, Bangabandhu gave instructions for temporarily restructuring the political and economic system, with the goal of building a new Bangladesh. This significant speech in Bangladesh’ political history was sadly Bangabandhu’s last speech commemorating the National Independence Day. On 15th August of the same year, Bangabandhu was brutally murdered in his own home, along with his entire family.
The full description of this historic speech was found in the 27th March, 1975 issue of the newspaper Dainik Sambad. The full transcript of the speech taken from this publication, translated into English, is presented below.
My brothers and sisters,
Today is the 26th of March. On the night of 25th March, 1971, the invading Pakistani army had attacked the people of Bengal. Thousands and thousands, lakhs and lakhs of men were murdered. They attacked the BDR camps, police camps, my home, the university and surrounding regions, and descended on unarmed, defenceless people with animal-like force.
I had called to the people of Bengal. On the 7th of March, I had already prepared the people for what was to come. When I saw that the attack had started, I called to them again saying, no more, face the fight now – the people of Bengal, wherever you are, with whatever you have, fight the enemies now. We must uproot the enemy from Bengali soil. We must free the people of Bangladesh. You cannot subjugate the 7.5 crore people of Bangladesh.
I appealed for help from the people of the world. I called to the Bengalis in my army, my Bangladesh Rifles, my police, my students, youth, and peasants. The people of Bengal resisted with their blood. 30 lakh people died as martyrs. Lakhs and lakhs of mothers and sisters were robbed of their modesty. Hundreds and hundreds of intellectuals were murdered. The world’s most disgraceful history was written by Pakistan’s oppressing class. In the history of the world, no other nation has paid in blood for their independence as much as the people of Bangladesh have had to. Not only this, but the dirty politics of the enemy also started destroying everything there was. A crore of my people found refuge in India, for which I must convey my gratefulness. I remember and ask the Lord for forgiveness for all those who gave their lives and sacrificed everything for the independence of Bengal. I remember the boys of the Muktibahini, the mothers and sisters, my army of workers, who sacrificed their lives and became martyrs of the freedom struggle. This country remembers them with hearts full of respect. I remember the people of the Indian army who gave their lives on Bengali soil. I remember them too.
You remember that before they left, on the 13th, 14th and 15th, and before 16th December, they imposed a curfew and murdered my intellectuals in Dhaka and elsewhere. Their aim was: we will murder intellectuals and destroy property to make it so that even if the Bengali people gain independence, they will not be able to keep it. By God’s grace, the independence of Bengal has been preserved. The Bengali people are free. The flag of Bengal now waves in the world. Bangladesh is today a member of the United Nations. Bangladesh is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, a member of the Commonwealth, a member of the Islamic Summit. Bangladesh has made her entry in the world, Bangladesh will stay, nobody can destroy her.
My brothers and sisters,
Even though we tried, there is one promise I was not able to keep. I have kept every promise I have ever made, even at the risk of my life. We want friendship with all the states of the world. We believe in the principle of non-alignment, in coexistence, in world peace. We had thought that the Pakistanis would surely show remorse, return what is ours. I had promised to bring them to justice. This promise I didn’t keep, I did not bring them to justice. I let them go because I wanted friendship in Asia and in the world. The sad thing is, the Pakistanis did not return a single paisa of my property to me, did not give me any part of my foreign exchange. They did not give me any part of my gold reserves. They did not give me even one ship. Not even one plane. They did not give me a paisa of the central government’s property. Rather, as they were leaving, they destroyed ports, roads and railways and sunk ships. In the end they even tried to burn currency notes to destroy Bangladesh. The Pakistanis thought that if they could economically cripple Bangladesh, her people could be taught a lesson about the consequence of their actions.
Mr. Bhutto delivered a speech. I welcomed him because I was welcomed in Lahore. Mr Bhutto asked me, what is the state of Bangladesh? I asked Mr. Bhutto in return, what is the state of the Pathans at the Frontier? You are murdering people by shooting at them from planes. What is the state of the people in Sindh? Mind your own house friend, mind your own house. Worry about yourself, you don’t have to worry about others. It is easy to use big words after you have profited from looting someone else’s property. Till you return what is mine, we cannot be friends. What have you done for me? I wish for friendship among all. I have nothing to say against the people of Pakistan. But they must return my property. I want to build friendship with all states of the world, I wish for enmity with no one. Through friendship with all, we want peace. My people are suffering, my people starve. When I got the government after I came out of jail, I got the 7.5 crore people of Bengal as my only possession. We had no foreign currency in our banks, no gold reserves. With just pieces of paper, we started a government of 7.5 crore people. We had no food in our warehouses. In the last three to four years, Bangladesh has had to bring at least 22 crore kgs of food from abroad. We have received about 2200 crores rupees as help from foreign countries. That is why, I thank all those friendly states who have helped us. Many people ask, what have we done? When we came to power and took the responsibility of the country, we tried to repair the roads of the country from their dismal state. We had no army, they had almost completely destroyed everything; burned the Rajarbagh police lines. What haven’t we done to recover from these miserable conditions? We built a national government. We did not previously have a national government here, no defence department, no foreign department, no planning department. There was nothing here. In these conditions we had to build a national government. The people who just talk, let them place their hand over their hearts, think about it, and then attest to what we have or have not done. To feed the people of the state, we have had to bring food from foreign countries. We have had to rebuild our ports. We have had to save the people of Bengal by bringing 22 crore kgs of food from various places of the world and distributing it from village to village.
This is why we have things to talk about today. When I asked people- my brothers, the boys of the Muktibahini, to hand in their weapons, they did so. However, another group, who were given weapons by Pakistan on their way out, did not hand in their weapons. They started using these weapons to murder innocent people. They even killed five members of the parliament. In spite of this, I conducted constitutional elections. Now, it is not my fault that the citizens of Bengal chose to vote for me in these elections. They gave me 307 out of the 315 seats. Still, a group of people ask, why did the people give me power? No country has ever seized power through an armed revolt, and then given any one person this right. However, the people who ask this, forget that to enjoy rights, there are responsibilities one must fulfil. I invited them to form an opposition, and they did. They started delivering speeches. They started killing people in the dark. We received the threat of arms. From murdering people to destroying railway lines, destroying fertilizer factories and sinking ships, their actions created opportunities for foreign agents operating in this country. It is our duty to protect human beings. There are cries of despair everywhere; right after we gained independence, the prices of everything started increasing slowly. Today, we have to buy from all over the world. We have to buy food, clothing, medicine, oil. For two hundred years we were a colony of the English, for 25 years we were a colony of Pakistan. We have to buy everything from foreign countries. Despite this, the people of Bengal made peace with the suffering and started work. But they don’t let us progress, they don’t let us work. Another faction of foreign interests found an opportunity- they brought money from abroad and wreaked chaos on Bengali soil. They tried to nullify our independence. Why am I saying this today? I have said a lot, maybe it was not necessary to say so much. But the faces of people swim in front of my eyes, the blood of my country’s people swims in front of my eyes. The souls of my very own people are in front of my eyes. My brothers who lost their lives, became martyrs, they swim before my eyes. On the day of resurrection, how will I defend myself when they say, “We freed the country with our blood, but you are nullifying that independence, you have failed to protect it”?
Why did I change the system? I changed the system to bring smiles to the faces of suffering people. I have changed the system to bring back order. A situation has been created where people go to office and take away money from banks, make people sign anything, freestyle. They go to factories but demand money without working. It is as if there is no government in the country. A slogan arose: “Bangabandhu, be iron-handed”.
Bangabandhu will be iron-handed. He was always iron-handed, and he still is. I was merely trying to see if a peaceful resolution was possible. With so much blood, so much pain and suffering in our history, I wanted to see if it was possible to reason with them, before resorting to drastic measures. I have requested, pleaded, wished and implored, but they have not listened to me. Stories of honour fall deaf on the ears of thieves.
My brothers and sisters,
Even before I instituted this system, Bangabandhu’s power was not less by any means. I do not believe that power stems from the barrel of a gun. I believe that the power resides in the people of Bengal. The day the people say, “Bangabandhu, leave”, not for a single more day will I be President or Prime Minister. Bangabandhu did not engage in politics for the sake of power. Bangabandhu engaged in politics because of his love for his people, who are suffering. Bangabandhu engaged in politics to establish a society free from exploitation.
Sadly, they have murdered five members of the parliament in the dark of night, murdered three to four thousand workers. Another faction of corrupt people is going crazy for money. However, where there was only corruption, Inshallah, the situation has started to improve a bit in the last two months. Something has been done today to stop corruption. Yes, I have instituted a Presidential form of government. The people will elect the President. There will be a parliament. By the parliament’s recommendation, one, two or three people will be nominated for President, and then the people will choose who is good and who is bad. To be clear, we want a democracy of the oppressed, not a democracy of the oppressor.
I have proposed a program. Today what is the work in front of us? There is much to do. I will appeal to everybody. Please do not mind, but I have to say what is right. I never did politics for power. I am in the habit of speaking the truth and not lies, even if what I have to say is unpopular. There was a flood: people suffered because of hunger; thousands of people died of starvation. I brought food by begging the world. I opened 5700 langarkhanas (community kitchens) to save people. I have only accepted help to save people. I had asked for independence, but is this truly independence? If you remember, my demands were two-fold: without economic independence, political independence cannot triumph. If the masses of people are hungry, if they cannot clothe themselves, if unemployment is not eradicated, then no peace can return to people’s lives. Who is corrupt in today’s world? The one who cheats is corrupt. The one who accepts bribes is corrupt. Smugglers are corrupt. Black marketeers are corrupt. Hoarders are corrupt. People who do not perform their duties, they are corrupt. People who act against their conscience, they too are corrupt. People who sell their country to foreign interests are also corrupt. We must begin a fight against these corrupt people today. Why have I sounded the call? This worm-eaten system of governance, a remnant of the English and Pakistani eras, cannot be allowed to continue. We have to build it anew. Only then can the welfare of this country be a reality. I have watched for three years and everything that I have seen has made me arrive at this unwavering conviction. To achieve this, the essence of our constitution has to be conveyed to the people.
I know that you are suffering today. I know you are hungry. Who can know better than me? Which police station in Bengal have I not made rounds of, which place in Bengal have I not been to, who knows the Bengali people as well as me?
You people suffer, you are hungry, you do not have clothes to cover your nakedness. I am not being able to provide you with education. However, the biggest concern is food.
Destroy the corrupt
Let me say one thing to you – it is never possible to suppress the corrupt simply by making governmental laws, without also having the support of the people. This is what I am requesting of you today. I had once asked you to build a fort in every home and wage jihad, to fight the enemy. Today I will say, the number one priority of the people of Bengal must be to uproot the corrupt from Bengali soil. I need your help. How is it to be done? We will enforce the law. We will not forgive. We will not let the people we catch escape. You have to do one thing: start a mass movement. I will go from village to village. The mass movement must be such that the bribe takers, the corrupt, the profiteers, the ones who smuggle my things abroad- all these people are socially boycotted. You must remember this. Through meetings in every village, we have to identify the thieves, the black-marketeers, the bribe takers. Do not fear, there is nothing to fear, I am with you. Inshallah, I will not let anyone harm or torture you. But you have to mobilize in the villages. Who can mobilize? My students brothers can, the youth can, intellectuals can, the People can. Get organized. You have to build a fort in every home. This fort has to be built to eliminate the corrupt, to alleviate the misery of the suffering people of Bengal. If you can eliminate the corrupt, 25 to 30 percent of Bangladesh’ misery will be gone. There are too many thieves, and no one knows where they came from. Pakistan has taken everything away, but they have left behind these thieves. Some middlemen (dalaal) have left; I would be relieved if these thieves had left with them too.
Increase the produce of the land.
Secondly, you know that the harvest from 1 acre of land in Japan is three times the harvest from 1 acre of land in my country. But my land is the richest land in the world. Why can I not have `double’ harvest on this land? If I can double the produce, I will not have to buy food, I will not have to beg!
My brothers and sisters,
The lot of beggars have no respect. You may give to a man a rupee or fifty paisa in alms, but how do you look at him? You say, “Go beggar, take these fifty paisa and begone”. When a people become beggars, when they beg for food and money from other people, they cannot have any respect. I do not want to be a leader of a people that have to beg.
I want to ask every Bangladeshi peasant, who does the real work, as well as every well-dressed gentleman: go to the land and double its harvest. Promise that from today onwards, in the memory of our martyrs, we have to double our harvest. If we can indeed double our harvest, Inshallah, we will not be needy anymore. We will not have to beg. I go crazy thinking about this. This year alone (1975), I have to bring 6 crore kgs of food. How will I save the people? How will I buy other things? We are surviving because some friendly states are helping us. But it cannot go on like this. We have to become self-reliant and stand on our own feet as a people.
We have to control our population
My brothers,
We should not forget that every year, our population increases by 30 lakh people. Our country has 55 thousand square miles of land. If every year we grow by 30 lakhs, then within 25-30 years there will be no land to farm. The people of Bengal will feed on the flesh of their fellow countrymen. That is why today we must engage in population control and family planning. This is the third task at hand. The first is to end corruption, the second is to increase production in our factories and farms, the third is population planning, and the fourth is national unity. We have formed a team to build national unity. Anyone who loves Bengal, believes in these ideals, and follows an honest path in life dedicated to these four national ideals, can be a member of this team. Those that are agents of foreign interests, who take money from our external enemies – they have no place in it. Government workers can also be a member of this team because they too are a part of this nation. They too will have the right to be a member of this team. Everyone, no matter where they are, must unite and work together for this country.
Branches of the national team.
My brothers and sisters,
This national team will have 5 branches to begin with. One branch will be for our labourer brothers, one for our peasant brothers, one for the youth, one for students, and one for women. These 5 branches will make up the Krishak Shramik Awami League (KSAL). Many people ask me, what is it to us that the KSAL has been formed? I say, awami means ‘of the people’. Students, youth, educated society, government workers, everyone together make up the KSAL.
I will ask the educated society, what percentage among us is educated? Only 20% of us are educated. Within this 25%, only 5% is educated in the true sense. I ask the educated, when I talk about corruption, is my peasant the one who is corrupt? No. My labourer? No. Then who are the people that take bribes? Who are the black-marketeers? Who are the foreign agents? Who smuggles our money abroad? Who are the hoarders? It is us, the 5% who are educated. Among us, are the bribe-takers and the corrupt. We have to reform our characters, we have to cleanse ourselves. The corrupt are among this 5%, not outside it. I will tell the educated class one thing: your characters have not been reformed. When a peasant comes, in a lungi and without a shirt on his back, we say “You! Where have you come from? Get out, get out!”. When a labourer comes, we tell him where to stand. We tell rikshawalas how to speak and what to say. Always there is the tone of condescension. They are belittled. We have to change this mentality. You have a job, but your salary comes from those poor labourers. You run your house with this money. We ride in cars with this money. Honour them when you speak to them, respect them. They are the masters – it is due to them that you can run your house. I tell the government workers, remember, this is an independent country. It is not a colony of the British. It is not a colony of Pakistan. The people whose faces resemble your father’s face, your brother’s face – the money is a fruit of their labour, and they must be given greater respect. They work hard to earn the money, to feed themselves. Please do not mind, but I have to ask, who taught us to read and write? We say our mothers and fathers. But who really afforded us this education? Who made us doctors? Who made us engineers? Who made it possible for us to study science? Who made us scientists? Who made us officers, whose money was it?
It is the money of the suffering people of Bengal. Becoming a doctor takes about 2.5 lakh rupees. Becoming an engineer takes from 1 to 2.5 lakh rupees. The Bengali people are poor. But they are the ones who provide the money to make engineers, and in part for doctors. I say this to you my educated brothers: the people who gave this money did not intend for it to be used just for the upkeep of your household. It is not just for the upkeep of your children. They have given this money so that you work for them, so you provide them with your service. What have you given to them? What have you returned, how much? It is with their money that engineers, doctors, officers, politicians etc. have become such big people. What are you giving back? Criticize yourself instead of delivering long speeches. In the dead of night, if you sell the paper on which newspapers are printed in the black-market, there is no merit in writing big words in the morning. There is no merit in talking about unscrupulousness after you have been drinking at the Hotel Intercontinental. Criticize yourself, cleanse yourself, only then will you be truly human. What has happened to our society? Social systems are rotting. I want to deal a severe blow to this society, like I did to the Pakistanis. I want to deal a severe blow to this rotting social system. I want your support. I know I have your support. Under this new system I am trying to move towards, we will set up multi-faceted cooperatives in every village. Do not misunderstand me, I will not take your land. Do not fear that your land will be taken away. In this 5-year plan, a cooperative will be set up in every one of the 65 thousand villages in Bangladesh. The land on which these cooperatives will be built will continue to belong to its owner. Every unemployed person who can work will be a part of the cooperative. These cooperatives will be multi-faceted. They will be sent money, fertilizer and test relief. Workers programs will be instituted. Slowly the unions, the councils, the touters have to be bid goodbye, or else we cannot save this country. This is the purpose of the village cooperatives. Today I declare that within this 5-year plan, compulsory cooperatives will be instituted in every village, consisting of 500 to 1000 families. You will keep the harvest from your land, a part will go to the cooperative, a part to the government. Secondly, every police station will have a council. This council will have a chairman, who could be a political worker or a government employee. In this police council there will be government workers from different departments. Among them will be a representative of our KSAL, a youth representative, a representative of peasants – they are the ones who will run the police station. There will be no districts, all subdivisions will function as districts. Every subdivision will have one administrative council, which will have a chairman. All workers will unitedly compose this body. It will have people’s representatives. It will have party representation. They will administer governance. This is the system I am thinking of and Inshallah, plan to establish. I want your help and your sympathy.
My brothers and sisters,
Let me say one thing today. My labourer brothers, I know that you are suffering a lot. I cannot stop thinking about it. In particular, the suffering of fixed-income groups knows no bounds. But what can we do? We cannot just print more money and expect that to set the nation free. That will lead to inflation. Only by increasing production can we prosper, not otherwise. This is our bad fortune, we are a poor country after all. Our jute (paat) is not valued high, our tea is not valued high. When we want to sell something, we have to do so at a low cost. When we have to buy, big countries increase the price of their goods. We cannot survive this way. That is why we say to them, please stop this warring mentality. Stop the armament race. Use that wealth to save the suffering millions of the world. Only then can peace return to the world. You think we are poor,
You insult my unfortunate country,
One day, driven by these insults, they will make you equal to them.
You think that we are poor, that we will have to sell things at the price you set. But this day will not last forever. We the people of Bangladesh – we have land, we have Shonar Bangla (Golden Bengal), we have jute, we have gas, we have tea, we have forests, we have fish, we have livestock. If we can develop these resources, Inshallah, this day will not last. Today, you seize the opportunity and increase ship fares. You increase the price of goods. Despite this, we have no choice but to buy from you. We die here of starvation, there is inflation, we cannot live like human beings. We beg in front of you, and you laugh while you give us some little thing in charity. You can Laugh. We have fallen into suffering and have had to sell ourselves. Since we have to beg in front of you, of course, you will laugh. Many others have laughed at us for ages. Today you can laugh. Our Arab brothers were poor too. We have declared solidarity with our Arab brothers. Bangladesh supports the just demands of our Arab brothers in Palestine. We will stand behind the efforts of our Arab brothers to free Palestine. This too is our policy. Wherever humanity is oppressed and suffering, there we will be.
My labourer brothers, I have established labour institutions. Your representatives, the representatives of the industry and labour departments, must sit together to chalk out a plan. According to this plan, we have to make arrangements for our survival. My student brothers, devote yourself to your education. I am happy to see that cheating in exams is decreasing. However, I see in the newspapers that this time 1% has passed, 2% has passed, 3% has passed. I entreat our teachers, do not fail students. I have stopped them from cheating in exams. You too have a duty. You can say that by only making 2% of the students pass, you have done that duty. But your real duty is to make human beings out of these boys. Failing them in exams is not a big achievement. If you can make them pass, now that would be an achievement. Perform your duty. You cannot get applause by simply failing students. Make them into human beings. I will give a salary to teachers. I will also extract from them every last bit of the work that is their duty. Teach them, make them into human beings. Bring back discipline, be less political about it. Try to make them good human beings. Increase the numbers, do not just try to win applause by showing how strict you are and passing only 1%, 2% or 3% students. I want you to be strict, do not let them cheat. I request you, kindly fulfil your duties. Try to increase the percentage of students that pass. Make men out of our boys. That is the main thing. Do not be angry. You feel anger towards me. I do not say anything to intellectuals. I only respect them. I only say, devote your intellect to the service of the people. Nothing more. God, would I dare? Immediately, someone will write a book about it. Only criticizing will get you nowhere.
My young brothers (youth), the lives of Bengali people depend on the cooperatives I am going to establish in every village. Your full-length pants have to be shortened to half-length. You have to swap the pajama with the loongi. And you have to go from village to village and work to make these cooperatives a success. I need the youth, I need the students, I need everyone.
I want to say another thing. Justice. Justice for Bangladesh, justice for the British era. By God’s wish, if a case goes to civil court, it takes 20 years to resolve it. If I am a lawyer, I make my son-in-law a lawyer too, and leave it in his hands. The case is never resolved. If it is a criminal case, it doesn’t get resolved before 3-4 years. The justice system needs to be rehauled. I am trying to institute tribunals in police stations, with arrangements such that people can be served justice from 1 to 1.5 years. I hope this will materialize. That is why I want to know one thing from you. This four-point program I have outlined, the cooperatives I will institute, the police councils, the sub-divisional councils, the double production from our land and factories – do you support it? My brothers who are government workers, you have gotten used to a discipline, you go to the office, you work. I know you are suffering. I understand, you are unhappy. But there are people who go hungry, I cannot tax them for your upkeep. If production increases, you will benefit just as they will. If you support me, if you have faith in me, raise both your hands to show your support.
My brothers, we will meet again, Inshallah. You have made this difficult journey from extremely far, return to your villages now. When you reach, tell everyone, corruption must be eliminated. Productions in farms and factories must be increased. My brothers in government service, you too will be a part of the KSAL. Give your lives to this work. Inshallah, Bangladesh has arrived, and it is here to stay. Shout the slogan with me:
Jay Bangla! Jay Bangla!
I take my leave. Khoda Hafiz.
Avant-Garde: A Journal of Peace, Democracy, and Science 
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