Last year, Bangladesh saw large-scale student protests demanding quota reform. Things quickly spiralled out of control when the Sheikh Hasina-led government chose to crush the movement rather than engage in dialogue. The decision backfired, leading to Hasina fleeing to India and an interim government taking charge, even as protesters attacked and brought down Sheikh Mujibur Rehman’s statues.
In Mujib’s Blunders: The Power and The Plot Behind His Killing, journalist Manash Ghosh provides context for this anger and the long-standing controversies surrounding the Bangabandhu. The book takes the reader through Bangladesh’s turbulent history, starting from its birth.
We know how the 1971 Liberation War was led by the Mukti Bahini, with cries of Joy Bangla uniting civilians, activists, and students against the oppressive Pakistani army and its loyalists. While the war resulted in an independent Bangladesh, the future was never going to be easy for the movement’s tallest leader, Mujibur Rehman. As a journalist with Statesman, based in Dhaka, Ghosh not only observed the liberation struggle up close but also entered the trenches to witness the making of a new nation as bureau chief. While India kept a close eye on its new neighbour, things changed rapidly, with Mujibur Rehman taking counter-productive steps that ultimately paved the way for a coup and his assassination. Ghosh underscores how Mujibur Rehman tried desperately to appease different forces, including Pakistan, the very regime Bangladesh had fought its way out from. His eagerness was evident, driven partly by a desire to limit India’s influence in his own country. Other missteps eroded public trust—pardoning Pakistani prisoners facing grave charges of rape and murder, and sidelining stalwarts like Tajuddin Ahmed, forcing him out of the cabinet. As General Muhammed Abul Manzur remarked, Rehman was ‘living on borrowed time’.
We often hear that history repeats itself, but rarely do we watch it unfold so starkly. Mujib’s Blunders highlights the rash decisions that pushed the leader towards authoritarianism — deeply frustrating for a nation that had just fought tyranny to earn its freedom. The parallels with recent events are difficult to miss. The Sheikh Hasina government’s move to ban the main opposition party during the protests felt like déja vu, echoing Mujibur Rehman’s own push for single-party rule. The book also examines the possible role of foreign powers in the coup and Mujibur Rehman’s killing, another thread that appears to resonate with contemporary Bangladesh.
All of it underscores one point: history is a great teacher for those willing to learn.