Subalterns Too Can Speak and Contend for Power: Drawing Inspiration from Sheikh Mujib’s 7th March Speech in Nation Building

Abstract

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh, is a leading proponent of empowering the oppressed and inspiring the marginalized and forgotten to come together, unite, and encourage one another to speak up and fight for their rights. His dynamism takes the Bengali nation to independence as a legendary nationalist and sage. His leadership and pro-people political initiatives were effective and fruitful enough to dismantle the repressive political, economic, cultural, and other policies that the West Pakistani rulers imposed on East Pakistan. The author of this paper aims to demonstrate Sheikh Mujib's role in transforming a politically apathetic population of seventy-five million people into politically aware citizens who ultimately contend for power and establish a free country. Especially, this paper focuses on Sheikh Mujib's famous 7th March Speech, which is considered one of the most inspiring speeches in world history. This qualitative research paper explores Sheikh Mujib's 7th March Speech as the final inspiring force that powers resistance to West Pakistan's neocolonialism on East Pakistan after the partition in 1947, using postcolonial subalternity as a theoretical framework. To serve the study's purpose, the 7th March Speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is examined through the lens of a significant historical event. Key words: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Marginalized, Subaltern, Power, 7th March Speech, Neocolonialism, Inspiration