Siraj Sikder
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Sirajul Huq Sikder (; 27 September 1944 – 2 January 1975), better known as Siraj Sikder (), was a
Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...
revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...
, engineer and Marxist-Leninist-Maoist insurgent.


Early life

Sikder was born on 27 September 1944 in Village Lakarta, Upazilla Bhedarganj, Shariatpur District,
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
. His father was Abdur Razzaq Sikder, and belonged to a
Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...
zamindar family in Chhaygaon. His sister Shamim Sikder was an eminent sculptor and a professor at the Dhaka University Faculty of Arts. After passing the
matriculation examination A matriculation examination or matriculation exam is a university entrance examination, which is typically held towards the end of secondary school. After passing the examination, a student receives a School leaving qualification, school leaving ce ...
from Barisal Zilla School in 1959, he was admitted into Barisal Brojomohun College in 1961 for ISc. He obtained an Civil Engineering degree from the East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology (now BUET) in 1967. While he was a student he became a member of East Pakistan Student Union. In 1967, he was elected vice-president of the central committee of Student Union and later that year he joined the C & B Department of the government as an engineer. Three months later he left his job to start a private company, named Engineering Limited in Teknaf.


Political activity

On 8 January 1968, along with like-minded activists, Sikder formed a clandestine organisation named Purba Bangla Sramik Andolon (East Bengal Workers Movement EBWM) with an objective to lead a struggle against the revisionism of the existing "Communist" organisations and to form a revolutionary Communist Party. This initiative brought forward a thesis that
East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...
is a colony of Pakistan and that the principal contradiction in the society is between the bureaucratic
bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...
and feudalists of Pakistan on one hand, and the people of East Bengal on the other hand. Only the independence struggle to form an "independent, democratic, peaceful, non-aligned, progressive" People's Republic of East Bengal, free also from the oppression of US imperialism, Soviet social-imperialism and Indian Expansionism could lead the society forward towards socialism and communism. In late 1968, Sikder left his job to establish the Mao Tse Tung Research Center in
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
but it was later closed down by the Pakistani government. Sikder became a lecturer at the Technical Teachers Training College in Dhaka. In the meantime of war, at a liberated base area named Pearabagan at Bhimruly in Jhalokati District in the southern part of the country, on 3 June 1971, Sikder founded a new party named Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party (Proletarian Party of East Bengal) by ideology of
Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
and Mao Tsetung Thought (not "Maoism", during the 1960s the followers of Mao-line used to identify their ideology as Marxism-Leninism- Mao Tse-tung Thought). At the beginning of the war, he went to Barisal and he declared that as a free living space and making it his base attempted to initiate his revolution throughout other places. After the Independence of Bangladesh he turned against the Sheikh Mujib government. In April 1973, he formed Purba Banglar Jatiya Mukti Front ("National Liberation Front of East Bengal") and declared war on the Bangladeshi Government. Under his leadership, the Sarbahara party carried out attacks against money lenders and landlords.


Death

In 1975, Shiraj Shikdar confronted
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...
, demanding action against corruption and criticizing his policies. This led to a violent response where Sheikh Kamal shot Shiraj in front of his father, followed by further assault from others. Eventually, Sheikh Mujib and his associates decided to kill Shiraj. He was taken to JRB headquarters, tortured, and shot on January 2nd. Sheikh Mujib later referred to Siraj Sikder's death in Parliament, uttering a rhetorical question, "কোথায় সেই সিরাজ শিকদার?!" nglish Translation roughly implies: "Where is that Siraj Shikder?!"in a manner perceived by some as boasting and triumphant, implying his involvement and asserting his power, which has been interpreted as reflective of a dictatorial approach. Shiraj's father tried to file a case, but due to the oppressive regime, the police refused to accept it.


Notes


References


External links

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Conscience, matter, reflection and Siraj Sikder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sikder, Siraj Bangladeshi activists 1975 deaths 1944 births Maoists Maoist theorists Bangladeshi communists Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology alumni People from Bhedarganj Upazila Mukti Bahini personnel Bangladeshi Marxists 20th-century Bangladeshi philosophers Barishal Zilla School alumni Brojomohun College alumni Bangladeshi socialists Bangladeshi revolutionaries Bangladeshi political party founders