Rise, Bangladesh: The Complete Shutdown Is a Moral Mandate Against Tyranny

There comes a moment in every nation’s life when silence becomes a crime and resistance becomes a sacred duty.

Bangladesh today stands precisely at that crossroads. The unlawful, despotic regime of Dr. Muhammad Yunus—a regime birthed in conspiracy, installed by foreign intrigue, and sustained by brute violence—has plunged this nation into an abyss darker than any period since the black years of 1971. Yet, the Bangladesh’s people, forged in the crucible of liberation, have never bowed to tyranny. They will not bow now.

And so, to the people of Bangladesh from all walks of life, a clarion call is being raised:

Rise and resist the illegal dictatorship of Yunus. Stand firm against his machinery of repression—killings, torture, looting, extortion, destruction, and the grotesque kangaroo-trial staged against Sheikh Hasina. Make the complete shutdown on Sunday and Monday (16–17 November) a sweeping success. Victory shall belong to the spirit of the Liberation War, and victory shall belong to the people—

Joy Bangla. Joy Bangabandhu.

This is not a mere political programme. It is an act of national purification. It is the collective invocation of the ancestral flame that drove millions to rise in 1971 with the unshakeable conviction that oppression can never outlive the courage of a liberated people.

I. The Rise of a Tyrant in the Twilight of Democracy

History often warns us how nations fall—not with thunder, but with whispers. Rome did not collapse in a single day; it decayed through conspiracies, corruption, and the ambitions of men who mistook themselves for gods. Bangladesh has witnessed the same pattern since August 2024, when a cabal of the unholy—local reactionaries, anti-liberation lobbies, and foreign intelligence actors—engineered a coup and enthroned Dr. Yunus on 8th August 2024 in Bangladesh as a civilian dictator wrapped in the costume of reform.

His rule, far from reformist, has become a page torn from the darkest chapters of the world’s political tragedies. Nobel Prizes do not grant moral authority; indeed, history shows many decorated men have turned tyrants. As Albert Camus wrote, “The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants.”

Yunus now embodies that truth. Behind the polished smiles and curated interviews lies the skeletal machinery of authoritarianism. His rule has produced:

Extrajudicial killings disguised as security operations.

Arbitrary arrests of dissenters, journalists, students, and pro-liberation activists.

Looting and extortion by his political henchmen, euphemistically branded as “economic restructuring.”

Systematic torture of political opponents.

State-sponsored vandalism masquerading as crowd actions.

And most obscene of all, the persecution of Sheikh Hasina through a kangaroo-court trial that mocks justice, law, and civilization itself.

Bangladesh has seen dictators before. But never one so hypocritical, so duplicitous, and so grotesquely celebrated by the self-appointed saviours of the West. His governance is a tragic imitation of the autocrats he once claimed to oppose.

II. The People’s Shutdown: A Sacred Ritual of Resistance

The call for a complete shut-down on 16–17 November is not merely political protest—it is the resurrection of the people’s collective conscience. It is the roar of millions, echoing through the streets and fields of Bangladesh: Enough.

History remembers such days. In 1969, the masses rose in fiery defiance against Ayub Khan’s dictatorship. In 1990, they toppled the autocratic Ershad. And in 1971, when the Pakistani military unleashed genocide, the people of this land declared independence with the immortal cry—“Joy Bangla!” and “Joy Bangabandhu.”

The same spirit—invincible, unyielding, and sanctified by sacrifice—now summons Bangladesh once again.

Nothing shakes a tyrant more than the disciplined silence of a nation refusing to cooperate. Gandhiji understood this truth when he declared, “Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty.” The Awami League’s people-driven lockdown is precisely that: a collective withdrawal of moral consent from an illegal regime.

Shops will close, roads will empty, offices will fall silent. And in that silence, the illegitimacy of Yunus’s rule will stand naked before the world.

III. Sheikh Hasina and the Kangaroo Court: A National Humiliation

No wound cuts deeper into the Bangladeshi psyche than the persecution of Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangabandhu, the architect of modern Bangladesh, and the leader who transformed this nation into South Asia’s rising economic star.

The so-called “trial” against her is not merely politically motivated—it is a deliberate humiliation of the Liberation War spirit. In 1971, people of all religions and all districts shed blood so that justice, democracy, and national dignity would be the eternal pillars of Bangladesh. That very Bangladesh has now been forced to witness:

Proceedings without evidence.

Judges lacking independence.

Charges manufactured through political blackmail.

A judicial environment where predetermined verdicts masquerade as legal decisions.

It is reminiscent of the show trials of Stalin, the sham proceedings of apartheid courts against Mandela, and the military tribunals that once sentenced patriots across colonized Asia.

As Abraham Lincoln cautioned, “To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.” Bangladesh shall not be cowardly. Bangladesh shall not be silent.

IV. A Nation Drowning Temporarily in Darkness

To speak truthfully: Bangladesh is bleeding. The land that once illuminated South Asia with its economic growth, social welfare, women’s empowerment, digital progress, and global leadership in development under the dynamic and able leadership of HPM Sheikh Hasina, has been hurled into medieval darkness by a coalition of traitors, opportunists, and foreign patrons.

The signs are everywhere:

The law enforcement system has been corrupted and weaponized.

Pro-liberation voices are targeted with brutality.

Religious extremists and anti-Bangladesh forces roam freely, emboldened and armed.

Looting of state institutions has become institutionalized.

International credibility has crumbled.

The darkness feels suffocating—but it is not permanent.

As the poet Robert Browning wrote, “Take away the darkness, and the stars will cease to shine.”

Bangladesh is such a star. And the people, awakened and enraged, are preparing to reclaim the brightness that is rightfully theirs.

V. Why This Struggle Is Not Merely Political—But Civilizational

The current resistance is not simply against a man or a government. It is a struggle between:

The spirit of 1971 vs. the forces of 1947 and 1971 combined

The ideals of Bangabandhu vs. the conspiracies of collaborators

A secular democratic republic vs. a foreign-installed corporate kleptocracy

A proud sovereign nation vs. a puppet regime dancing to the western powers flute

History teaches us that nations are tested through fire. The United States survived McCarthyism. France survived Vichy. India survived the Emergency. South Africa survived apartheid. Bangladesh, too, will rise again—purified, strengthened, victorious soon.

VI. The Path to Liberation: The Shutdown as the First Thunderclap

The complete shutdown of 16–17 November is the beginning—not the end—of the people’s uprising. It is the first thunderclap before the monsoon flood of freedom.

Every citizen, regardless of party, religion, profession, or locality, has a role to play:

Close your shops.

Stay off the roads.

Participate peacefully but defiantly.

Raise the voice of 1971 once more.

Refuse to recognize Yunus’s illegitimate authority.

When a nation stands still, a tyrant trembles.

When the people unite, the oppressor’s throne cracks.

When Bangladesh rises, no force on earth can contain her.

VII. Faith in Victory: The People’s March Toward Redemption

Let it be written with fire: This illegal regime will fall.

Not because its enemies are strong but because its foundations are rotten.

The people’s movement is swelling. The international community is awakening. The historical tide is shifting. The moral arc—long and winding—is bending toward justice, as Martin Luther King Jr. assured humanity.

Victory is not a question of “if.”

Victory is a question of “when.”

As the great Kazi Nazrul Islam thundered,

“??? ?? ?????, ??? ?? ???? ???, ???????? ???? ????? ????”

(If I live, if I return again, I shall sing the songs of victory on the battlefield.)

Bangladesh shall sing again.

Her streets will roar with the triumphant call—Joy Bangla!

Her skies will remember the voices of 1971.

Her soil, soaked in the blood of martyrs, will not accept the rule of traitors.

VIII. Concluding Points: The Eternal March of a Liberation Nation

On 16–17 November, Bangladesh will write a new chapter of resistance.

The lockdown is more than protest—it is the rebirth of the nation’s conscience.

Let the tyrants shake.

Let the conspirators flee.

Let the world witness that the children of 1971 have not forgotten their inheritance.

Bangladesh shall triumph.

Bangladesh shall rise again.

Bangladesh shall reclaim her destiny.

The victory of the Liberation War spirit and the victory of the people is inevitable.

Joy Bangla. Joy Bangabandhu.

Sent-in by Anwar A. Khan 

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