Farewell, Mr. President! Zillur Rahman

BANGLADESH NEWS

Zillur Rahman was truly the last of a generation of politicians who taught us the value of idealism and led us to freedom. His passing removes from the scene, to all intents and purposes, an individual who for those of us growing into teenage and then adulthood in the 1960s and 1970s was a symbol of democratic struggle. There were his peers with whom he waged battles against the forces of exploitation and darkness in pre-1971 Pakistan. And there were the heroic figures, Bangabandhu for instance, he was inspired by and under whose leadership he blossomed into a full-blooded participant in politics, in that modern sense of the meaning.

Of course, there were the shocks which came our way when as president, Zillur Rahman went ahead to provide pardon to an inordinately large number of people. It was unprecedented for a head of state, given that no occupant of Bangabhaban had earlier gone for such a step. But then you remember the nature of the presidency in a political system where parliamentary government is supreme. And you understand the compulsions a president must go through. Or you try to understand.

But none of that takes away from Zillur Rahman the experience and wisdom he brought into his exercise of politics. Add to that the huge personal tragedy that came his way when his spouse, the activist politician Ivy Rahman, was pushed to a sudden, unnatural death through medieval mayhem in August 2004. It was devastation that could have broken a stronger man. For Zillur Rahman, grief only strengthened his resolve to carry on the war against the elements of anti-history, those who have for decades undermined secular democracy in this Bengali republic.

Zillur Rahman’s mettle was put to the test in the post-2007 emergency times. His grip on the Awami League, owing to the incarceration of his party chief, demonstrated his command of the situation, indeed was an instance of how a thoroughly political being could bring his experience into dealing with difficult times. The difficulties were many. On the one hand, the caretaker government was intent on humiliating politicians. On the other, there were all the happenings around reforming the parties from within, with obvious backing from the administration. It was against these odds that Zillur Rahman struggled, in his firm and decent way. He had his way.

In more ways than one, Zillur Rahman was the last of the tribe which did us proud through the 1950s and well into the mid-1970s. His loyalty to Bangabandhu was beyond question. More significantly, his adherence to the principles on which Bangladesh was founded in 1971 remained unchanged. His was a voice ready to listen to dissenting opinion, but was absolutely unwilling to countenance any deviation from the heritage upon which rested the sublimity of Bengali nationalism. Respect came his way, an instance of which was the readiness of the leader of the opposition (and former prime minister) to respond to his invitation to talks at Bangabhaban.

Consider this: Zillur Rahman was that rare president of the republic who went to Bangabhaban with the substantive experience of politics behind him. Between him and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a good number of heads of state, with backgrounds in such fields as the army, medicine, judiciary and academia (one politician ascended to the office through assassination), have occupied Bangabhaban. It is a pity that there have not been more politicians occupying the presidential home.

Zillur Rahman brought dignity to politics and to life. As general secretary of the Awami League, first under Bangabandhu and then under Sheikh Hasina, he proved his indispensability to his party. He was part of the tragic Baksal experiment and was to be penalised for it through being carted off to prison by a military regime. And then he came back, with no sign of weakness, with no reason to go easy in politics. All around him, politicians were caving in, switching parties, sidling up to dictators. Zillur Rahman was made of sterner stuff. Principle was the thing.

Men like Zillur Rahman are never afraid of speaking up for the truth. Like the generation he belonged to, Zillur Rahman was not to be intimidated by a succession of autocrats, beginning with Ayub Khan and going all the way down to Hussein Muhammad Ershad. He walked through fire and came out of it even more determined to uphold the cause of the masses.

To Zillur Rahman goes our tribute and our gratitude as the earth prepares to claim him. His politics was cast in the mould of men like Sher-e-Bangla, Bangabandhu, Tajuddin Ahmed and Moulana Bhashani. His political beliefs came wrapped in the tender firmness of democracy.

Farewell, Mr. President! May the angels carry you on their wings to a sphere nobler and higher and fairer than the one we inhabit!