When Gopalganj Wept: Defending Bangladesh’s Democratic Soul

“In 1971, we triumphed through the invincible strength of the people.

The valiant citizens of Gopalganj have evoked the spirit of ’71 once again. We shall overcome—victory shall be ours.” – Valiant and patriotic Freedom Fighter Razzaqul Haider Chowdhury

On 16 July 2025, the world witnessed a tragedy so profound that it will forever mark the pages of our national destiny. Gopalganj, the birthplace of our founding father, Bangladesh’s democratic heartbeat, was laid siege—not by a foreign invader, but by the very forces that sworn to protect it. In the dead of that day and throughout that hellish night, our people bled. Our conscience trembles. And yet, from this darkness, the clarion call has arisen once more: we must reclaim our nation.

A Coup Born of Foreign Schemes

First, let us revisit the darkest beginning. On 5 August 2024, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina—the most democratically elected and development-driven leader in our history—was forcibly deposed. An unspeakable alliance of foreign and local actors conspired behind the scenes: the notorious agencies of the CIA, ISI, extremist factions, Jamaat-Shibir, and rogue elements within our own country. Together, they cast aside the will of 23 million voters, a country of 180 million populace.

By 8 August 2024, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, handpicked as a pawn in this treacherous chess game, was installed as Chief Adviser to the caretaker administration. His rise was no domestic decision—it was a stratagem, a capitulation to foreign geopolitical designs aimed at transforming independent Bangladesh into a vassal state, shackled to outside interests. Mere months after we shed blood for our sovereignty in 1971, the specter of neo-colonialism was thrust upon us again.

Undoing the Legacy of Progress

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Hasina, Bangladesh soared toward unprecedented heights—economic modernization, infrastructural marvels, social reform, and rising global stature. Sheikh Hasina’s vision brought us closer to Western standards of progress—yet all of it has been systematically dismantled.

Let us remember what Franklin D. Roosevelt once warned: “Nothing can take the place of persistence.” But those who seized power in our land have displayed no such persistence in preserving our progress. As dismantling began, so did the dismantling of democratic rights. The new regime clamped down on the Awami League, outlawing political activities and silencing opposition voices. Arrests, torture, disappearances—these are not the hallmarks of democracy. They are the unmistakable instruments of tyranny.

Desecration of Our Sacred Heritage

In perhaps the most chilling affront to Bangladesh’s soul, NCP, an offshoot of Jamaat-e-Islami cadres, under the weaponized aegis of the Yunus administration, vandalized the Bangabandhu Museum at Dhanmondi. This revered site, where the cry for Bangladesh’s independence first took flight, was defiled at the behest of those who sought our heritage’s erasure. The destruction of symbols is always a prelude to the erasure of truth, for as George Santayana warned, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Their most abominable act, however, was directed at Tungipara, Gopalganj—to the final resting place of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman himself. On 16 July 2025, the newly born NCP leaders under Government jets, army battalions, and naval unit blockades, they intended to desecrate our Father of the Nation’s mausoleum. It was a stark reminder: these forces know that if they defile our past, they can rewrite our future.

Gopalganj Rises, Unbowed

Yet, from that attempted desecration emerged one of the most indomitable expressions of courage in recent memory. The people of Gopalganj, with nothing but courage in their hearts and devotion to their heritage, rose in defense of Bangabandhu’s shrine. Against tanks, naval blockades, and a tyrannical curfew, they stood firm—and ultimately forced the attackers to withdraw.

But the victory came at a terrible cost. At least five innocent defenders were slain by their own army. More than 75,000 were arrested, suffering torture, humiliation, countless beaten into silence. Naval patrols on rivers sealed off escape, while a Home Adviser—embroiled in Jamaat-linked extremism—coordinated a campaign of repression. Yet Gopalganj’s spirit remains unbowed. Their resistance, though met with bullets and brutality, stands as testament to a truth we must never forget: freedom is not a gift—it is a right, and one that must be fiercely defended.

The Stakes: Sovereignty vs. Subjugation

Let us not mince words: this is not merely a localized tragedy. This is a strategic assault on the heart of our nation. These forces seek nothing less than Bangladesh’s transformation into a client state, stripped of the sovereignty we fought and died to assert in 1971. The American empire, the Pakistani junta, and other regional powers seek to chain us. But we were promised independence “by the blood of our martyrs and the toil of our fighters,” as Bangabandhu proclaimed. Shall we allow those chains to be fastened once more?

The Mobilizing Cry

The words of Martin Luther King Jr. echo across time: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Gopalganj’s ordeal is a rupture in that arc—but we must be its architects of repair. We, the people of Bangladesh—Awami League leadership, supporters, patriots—have both opportunity and obligation: to rise as one, to resist the puppeteers. Not with violence, but with unity. Not with despair, but with conviction. Not by crawling in fear, but by marching toward the promise of our national destiny.

A Call to Conscience

How shall history remember us? Will the days ahead be marked by quiescence, collusion, regret? Or will they stand as our affirmation that the soul of Bangladesh is not for sale?

On 15 August 1975, Bangabandhu fell—but his ideas remained indestructible. Gopalganj’s defense on 16 July 2025 rekindled their flame. It is our duty now to fan that spark into fury:

Resist the forced political stranglehold. Demand reinstatement of lawful democratic process.

Free the arrested, halt the torture, reopen our civic space.

Restore the sanctity of our cultural and historic heritage—the museum at Dhanmondi, save the mausoleum at Tungipara, the legacies of 1971.

Reclaim our economic and civil achievements, protecting the development that came under visionary leadership of HPM Sheikh Hasina.

Let us recall the words of Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” We stand at the precipice—with impossibility staring us down. Yet together, we are unstoppable.

Conclusion: A Promise to the Future

Let the world bear witness: on 16 July 2025, Gopalganj wept. But that sorrow is not an endpoint. It is a starting pistol. It is a blaze that must be harnessed. We owe this to those five martyrs, to the 75,000 wounded souls, to the whispered prayers of every parent whose child was taken in a midnight raid. We owe it to our Father of the Nation. And we owe it to our grandchildren, so that when they look upon those hallowed grounds and read our history, they say: “This is a nation that did not falter. This is a people who rose. This is the Bangladesh of righteousness.”

As the great Winston Churchill once declared during Britain’s dark hour: “We shall never surrender.” Standing at this moment, may we likewise say: we shall never yield. We shall never falter. We shall reclaim Bangladesh—not as a mere prize of political conquest, but as a sovereign, democratic republic, luminous in its independence, steadfast in its convictions, and eternal in its love for justice.

Salute to the People of Gopalganj!

In the absence of leadership, in the void of formal organization,

it was the ordinary citizens who rose—undaunted and unarmed—

to confront the might of a fully equipped, trained military force,

tanks, cannons, and machine guns be damned.

They forged resistance from the fire of courage.

The spirit of 1971 resurfaces—vivid and defiant.

Militant arrogance shall be silenced by the fury of the people.

The triumph of progress and humanity is not only inevitable—it is assured.

Written by: Anwar A. Khan

Bio: The writer was a frontline freedom fighter in 1971 to establish Bangladesh and is also an independent political analyst based in Dhaka, Bangladesh who writes on politics, political and human-centred figures, current and international affairs.

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