Jadu Miah played crucial role in Shaheed Zia's emergence as politician: Swapon

Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon on Tuesday said late politician Jadu Mia played a crucial role in shaping Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman's political career.

"His [Jadu Miah] role was undeniable in transforming Ziaur Rahman from a military officer into a popular political leader and in laying the ideological foundation of Bangladeshi nationalism," he told a discussion marking the late politician's 102nd birth anniversary.

Moshiur Rahman Jadu Miah Smriti Jatiya Committee organised the discussion at Jatiya Press Club here with poet Abu Saleh in the chair.

Academic Dr Mahbub Ullah delivered the keynote address, while Professor Dr Captain M Rezaul Karim Chowdhury presented the memorial speech.

BNP Vice Chairmen Barkat Ullah Bulu, MP and Shamsuzzaman Dudu, senior politician and journalist Syed Didar Bakht, senior journalists Gaziul Hasan Khan, and Mostafa Kamal Majumdar and political analyst Rita Rahman also spoke at the event.

Swapon said after the 1975 Bangladesh was exposed to a political vacuum and crisis, leaving almost every political force uncertain about its future direction.

He noted that just as Sher-e-Bangla's Krishak Sramik Party lost its relevance following the abolition of the zamindari system, the Muslim League also became politically irrelevant after Bangladesh's independence.

Referring to Jamaat-e-Islami, he said because of its anti-independence and anti-state role during the war, it remained banned in Bangladesh for a long period. 

At a time when the reactionary rise of JASAD and both pro-Moscow and pro-China political groups had lost their direction, he said, it was Jadu Miah alone who demonstrated the foresight to speak out against the misrule of the time and chart a future political course.

Swapon said any assessment of Jadu Miah's political legacy would be incomplete without mentioning Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman. 

Jadu Miah took on the difficult responsibility of guiding a military officer through a smooth and systematic transition into politics, he said. 

The minister said Jadu Miah's exceptional wisdom was instrumental in Ziaur Rahman's evolution as a politician, the development of his political thought and ideology, and the establishment of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as a popular political party.

"It was because of Jadu Miah's far-sighted decisions at that time that the course of nationalist politics in Bangladesh was shaped," he said. 

At the same time, by initiating Ziaur Rahman's transformation from a military officer into a political leader, he paved the way for the elected governments later led by Begum Khaleda Zia and at present, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, he said.

Jadu Miah's political philosophy remains relevant today in determining the future direction of politics, he said.