Bangabandhu’s ideals remained ‘exiled’ even in mid-90s, says Prof Zafar Iqbal

Writer Mohammed Zafar Iqbal says he could not bear to see attempts made to erase Bangabandhu from history following his assassination in 1975 until the Awami League returned to power in 1996.

"When I returned to Bangladesh in 1994 I discovered that Bangabandhu’s ideals were still exiled. Unbelievable!” the former professor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology said at the launch of the eighth volume of graphic novel ‘Mujib’ on Sunday.

He said he bought a TV in 1996 when the Awami League returned to power thinking that he can then watch programmes on Bangabandhu.

“People didn’t talk much about it. But I couldn’t bear it. How some people, politicians exiled Bangabandhu’s ideals from the country, which is synonymous to him!” Zafar Iqbal would wonder.  

It has now been possible to bring Bangabandhu's glory back, he said and hoped the country will be able to celebrate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation with great fanfare as the coronavirus infection rate is on the decline while the vaccination drive has begun.

The Awami League’s Centre for Research and Information has published the latest volume of ‘Mujib’, which will be available from Monday.

This volume of the graphic novel focuses on Bangladesh’s Language Movement and Bangabandhu’s contribution to it.

Zafar Iqbal believes that the graphic novel will play a vital role in portraying Bangabandhu to the new generations.