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| Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman |
He was born on 17 March 1920 at Tungipara, Gopalganj, Bangladesh.
He is considered to be the driving force behind the independence of Bangladesh. He became a leading figure in and eventually the leader of Awami League, founded in 1949 as East Pakistan based political party in Pakistan. Mujib is credited as an important figure in effort to gain politician autonomy for East Pakistan and later as the central figure behind the Bangladesh Liberation Movement and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Thus, he is regarded Father of the Nation of Bangladesh (Jatir Janak in Bangla). An advocate of socialism Mujib rose the ranks of the Awami League and East Pakistani politics as a charismatic and forceful orator. He become popular for his opposition to the ethnic and institutional discrimination of Bangalis in Pakistan, who compromised the majority of the atate's population. At the heightening of sectional tensions, he outlined a six-point autonomy plan and was jailed by the regime of Field Marshal Ayub Khan for treason. Mujib led the Awami League to win the first democratic election of Pakistan in 1970. Despite gaining a majority, the League was not invited by the ruling military junta to form a government. As civil disobedience erupted across East pakistan, Mujib Indirectly announced independence of Bangladesh during a landmark speech on 7 March 1971. On 26 March 1971, the Pakistan Army responded to the mass protest with Operation Searchlight, in which Prime Minister-elect Mujib was arrested and flown to solitary confinement in west Pakistan, while Bengali civilians, students, intellectuals, politicians and military defectors were murdered as part of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. after Bangladesh's liberation, Mujib was released from Pakistani custody and returned to Dhaka in January 1972. Sheikh Mujib became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh under a parliamentary system adopted by the new country. his government enacted a constitution proclaiming socialism and secular democracy. The Awami League won a huge mandate in the country's first general election in 1973. However, Mujib faced challenges of rampant unemployment, poverty and corruption. In 1975, he and most of his family were assassinated by renegade army officers during a coup. A martial law government was subsequently established. In a 2004 BBC poll, Mujib was voted the Greatest Bengali of All Time.
