Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj, a former state minister for home affairs and son of the country鈥檚 founding prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad, said on Sunday that the Awami League wrote the history of the War of Independence for its interest.
鈥楾he party [AL] which led the War of Independence did not portray the history correctly. The war was fought with collective efforts and not led by a single person. But the party made the war a history for itself. The complete history of the War of Independence was not presented during the Awami League period,鈥� said Sohel Taj at Hotel Intercontinental junction before handing over a memorandum containing a three-point demand to the chief adviser on the occasion of Jail Killing Day.
He said that the great War of Independence of 1971 and the Student Movement Against Discrimination in 2024 were built on the same formula.
He said that the War of Independence was not led by a single leader and as Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was in jail, the contribution of the four national leaders was important.
Mentioning that the history of the 2024鈥檚 uprising and the war should be highlighted and preserved, he said, adding, 鈥楩orty-nine years have passed since Jail Killing Day, but till now the four heroes of the nation, under whose leadership the great War of Independence was successfully conducted, under whose leadership we got an independent-sovereign state called Bangladesh, have not been recognised by the state until today.鈥�
After that, Sohel Taj gave a memorandum containing three demands to the chief adviser.
The first demand is declaring April 10 day as the Republic Day because of the formation of the People鈥檚 Republic of Bangladesh through the Declaration of Independence on April 10, 1971 and the formation of the revolutionary first government of Bangladesh.
The second demand is incorporating the contributions and biographies of the founding fathers of Bangladesh incluidng four leaders 鈥� Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, Captain M Mansur Ali and AHM Quamruzzaman 鈥� and martyrs and freedom fighters of the war in the textbooks and syllabus of all levels.
The third demand is announcing jail killing day as a national day.
On November 3, 1975, four top Awami League leaders 鈥� Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, Captain M Mansur Ali and AHM Quamruzzaman 鈥� were assassinated inside Dhaka Central Jail.
Though the AL called the party leaders and activists to observe the day with respects, no activity was visible in this regard on Sunday.