Sheikh Mujib should be given the respect he received: Shahadat Hossain

BD Digest Report

Chittagong City Corporation Mayor Shahadat Hossain has commented that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ‘must be given the respect he deserves’.

He made these remarks at the Chittagong City Corporation Independence Medal and Literary Honor Medal distribution ceremony at the gymnasium ground of the District Stadium on Saturday evening.

The BNP leader said, “Today we are recognizing highly deserving individuals and deserving institutions. We are happy and proud of this.”

“Noor Ahmed Chairman’s contribution to the education system of Chittagong is outstanding. I don’t know why we could not recognize him for so many years. I am giving posthumous honors to the late public leader Abdullah Al Noman as the organizer of the independence movement.”

Claiming that impartiality has been ensured in giving medals and honors, the mayor said, “There has been a lot of talk about Zahed Motaleb in every place, even in literature. Someone told me that he wrote a poem about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.”

“So I said, it’s not like you can’t get it just by writing poetry about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He is well-respected as a literary figure in Chittagong. You can’t deny that.”

He said, “In this place, we thought, we tried to maintain neutrality as much as we could. I might form a nationalist party. We have fought a lot of struggles for BNP. But in this place, we have analyzed every medal meticulously.”

“Today, there is talk about the Liberation War here. Some will say that Shahadat Saheb is probably doing it for BNP, repeatedly mentioning the name of martyred President Ziaur Rahman. But this too, that declaration was heard in his own voice on the radio from Chittagong. You cannot deny this.”

Shahadat Hossain said, “You cannot deny history. You cannot erase the names of sector commanders from the pages of history. Who fought in which sector, can you forget this history? Can you not write it down? Ziaur Rahman’s name also appears there. Where will you leave him out?

“A person should be respected beyond being a politician or the founder of a party. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman should also be respected in his place; he should definitely be respected. I think it is never possible to change any history in this place.”

He said, “We must respect whoever is in whose place, Suhrawardy in place of Suhrawardy, Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque in place of Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque, Maulana Bhashani in place of Maulana Bhashani. This is history.”

“I cannot change history just because I am in government today. I think our statesman Tarique Rahman is determined in this regard. He does not want to distort any kind of history.”

He said, “We don’t want to cover up history with any propaganda. We want history to proceed at the pace of history. History will be written by historians.”

The ‘guest of honor’ at the event was Chittagong-9 MP Mohammad Abu Sufian.

Among others, Divisional Commissioner Dr. Md. Ziauddin, Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Hasan Md. Shawkat Ali, Chittagong Range DIG Md. Moniruzzaman, Premier University Vice-Chancellor S. M. Nosrul Kadir and freedom fighter Mahfuzur Rahman were present.

This time, a total of eight individuals and three institutions were nominated for the Independence Memorial Award.

The list includes – late politician Abdullah Alam Noman (posthumously) for his contribution to the independence movement, Md. Ekramul Karim for his contribution to the Liberation War, Noor Ahmed Chairman, the first chairman of Chittagong Municipality, for education, M. A. Fayez for medicine, and M. Ramiz Uddin Chowdhury, editor of the Daily Purbukone, for journalism.

In addition, former Bangladesh national cricket team captain Akram Khan received the Independence Medal for sports, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society for social service, Chittagong Mother and Child Hospital for healthcare, Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangstri Sangstha (JASAS) for cultural work, artist Abdul Mannan Rana for music, and artist Bulbul Akhtar for his contribution to the regional languages ​​of Chittagong.

On the other hand, Dr. Abdullah Al Mamun was awarded in lyric poetry, Syed Khaledul Anwar in children’s literature, Harun Rashid in essays and research, Shahid Hasan in poetry, and Zahed Motaleb in fiction.