For the past few years on December 16, I woke up with an irritated face reacting to irrelevant political songs (you know which one I’m talking about). More often than not, it was too loud and made me feel like a certain party owned the country. I still can’t figure out how playing the March 7 speech was part of the December 16 celebration.
Don’t get me wrong, I respect that speech and the man behind the mic with all my heart. I was really pissed when March 7 got canceled as a national day. However, in my mind, Victory Day is about celebrating the outcome of that speech, not the speech itself. I understand playing Bangabandhu’s speech on March 7 or 26, because that’s when you try to remember that the blood of rebels runs in our veins. December 16, on the other hand, is about putting down arms and vowing to protect each other no matter what party or religion they hold dear. But that’s my personal opinion, no pressure on anybody to believe the same.
Enough with what was. This morning, I woke up to patriotic songs I hadn’t listened to in years! Yes, it was a little loud but it was tolerable, or the inherent meanings of those songs made it sound better. At least, I didn’t get a headache this time, and in a micro sense, that mattered the most.
I took a stroll around the neighborhood and found people dressed up and celebrating. That’s not new but the variety is! Different people are celebrating in their own ways. It’s no longer partisan or personal with nothing in between. There’s a lot more culture and different identities, even interacting with one another!
For the first time in years, I heard James’ “Amar Sonar Bangla” on a loudspeaker! That’s a sweet bridge between rock fans and patriots. Speaking of the James-song, it’s nice to hear the names of more-than-one national leaders and notable figures in our history. Kids these days need to know where the Declaration of Independence originated from and who announced it on the radio. Being a father of the nation is the topmost respect in itself but it should never overshadow other leaders and figures in history. One person, party, group, or religion does not build a country. It simply takes a whole country!
On the 53rd Victory Day, we also got an update on when the next national election could be. That’s great as a democratic state needs an elected government as soon and effectively as possible. The concern that has been in my mind for quite some time and got rekindled today is, will we eventually go back to the old system?
As a citizen, I don’t want the nation to forget all its heroes. I don’t want the people to forget any step in our history, not even the previous government. We need to remember every atrocity to make sure these never happen again. Both of our major political parties tried to erase the other party’s contributions when they got into office. The culture of changing the names of establishments for political gains is nothing but a waste of taxpayer money. Both parties tried to manipulate history to make their party look greater.
We teach history in school and the education system should be independent of any political bias. I could make a whole list of other institutions that should not face obstructions because of who’s running the country. Having the office is a job, a service to the people, not a way to control the country or manipulate its history.
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