Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

1920

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was born on 16 March 1920 in Tungipara village of Gopalganj subdivision (now district) of Faridpur district to an aristocratic Muslim family. Sheikh Mujib is the third of four daughters and two sons of Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and Mosammat Sahara Khatun. My parents used to call me Khoka. Khoka spent his childhood in Tungi-para.

1928

At the age of 6, he started studying at Gimadanga Primary School. At the age of nine, he was admitted in the third class of Gopalganj Public School. He later enrolled in a local missionary school.

1934

When he was 14 years old, he contracted beriberi and underwent an eye operation in Calcutta.

1938

Sheikh Mujib was re-admitted to the school after four years of education was disrupted due to eye disease.

1938

At the age of 18 Bangabandhu and Begum Fazilatunnesa were officially married. They are the parents of two daughters Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana and three sons Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Russell.

1939

When undivided Bengal Chief Ministers Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque and Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy visited the Gopalganj Missionary School, Bangabandhu demanded that the school students fix the roof and repair the ditches.

1940

Sheikh Mujib joined the All India Muslim Students Federation and was elected councilor of the Bengal Muslim Students Federation for one year. He was appointed secretary of the Gopalganj Muslim Defense Committee.

1942

Passed SSC. He was admitted in the intermediate class in the humanities department of Calcutta Islamia College and was accommodated in the Baker Hostel. Bangabandhu became actively involved in the Pakistan movement this year.

1943

He became involved in active politics and was elected a councilor of the Muslim League.

1944

He attended the conference of Nikhil Banga Muslim Chhatra League held in Kushtia and played an important role. He was elected the secretary of the Faridpur District Association, an organization of Faridpur residents in Calcutta.

1947

Bangabandhu was elected General Secretary (GS) of Islamia College Student Parliament.

1947

He passed BA from Islamia College under Kolkata University. When the state of Pakistan was established after the partition of India, he played a leading role in preventing riots in Kolkata.

1947

He was admitted to the law department of Dhaka University and founded the Muslim Chhatra League on 4 January. When Prime Minister Khwaja Nazim Uddin announced in the Legislative Assembly on 23 February that the people of East Pakistan would accept Urdu as the state language, Bangabandhu immediately protested. Khwaja Nazimuddin's speech caused a storm of protest all over the country. Sheikh Mujib started working to prepare for the movement against this plan of the Muslim League. Bangabandhu contacted students and political leaders. On March 2, a meeting of activists of various political parties was held with the aim of organizing a movement against the Muslim League over language. In this meeting held at Fazlul Haque Muslim Hall, Bangabandhu's proposal 'All-Party State Language Struggle Council' was formed on 7 May. Sangram Parishad called a general strike on March 11 to protest against the Muslim League's conspiracy against the Bengali language. Bangabandhu was arrested along with his colleagues while protesting in front of the Secretariat on March 11 during a strike demanding Bengali language. Students across the country erupted in protest over the arrest of Bangabandhu. The Muslim League government was forced to release the arrested student leaders including Bangabandhu under the pressure of the student movement. Bangabandhu was released on 15 March. After the liberation of Bangabandhu, a student-public meeting was organized on 16 March at the Amtala of Dhaka University on the initiative of the All-Party Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad. Bangabandhu presided over this meeting. Police raided the meeting. From the meeting in protest of the police attack, Bangabandhu called for a strike on March 18 in educational institutions. He was arrested on 11 September in Faridpur for protesting against the cordon system.

1949

Sheikh Mujib was released from jail on January 21. Bangabandhu supported the strike when the fourth class employees of Dhaka University went on strike to get their demands met. On March 29, the university authorities unreasonably fined him for leading the workers' movement. He rejected this unjust order with hatred. As a result, he was expelled from the university. He was arrested on April 19 for staging a sit-in in front of the vice-chancellor's residence. The East Pakistan Awami Muslim League was formed on 23 June and Bangabandhu was elected joint secretary of the party while in jail. He was released in late July. After his release from jail, he started organizing a movement against the food crisis in the country. He was arrested in September for violating Section 144 and later released. Nurul Amin demanded his resignation at a meeting of the Awami Muslim League held on 11 October. The Awami Muslim League staged a hunger strike on the occasion of the arrival of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested on 14 October for leading the procession. This time he was kept in jail for about two years and five months.