{"id":4122,"date":"2025-10-18T03:09:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=4122"},"modified":"2025-10-18T03:09:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:09:28","slug":"the-oath-of-russells-blood-we-must-be-victorious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/?p=4122","title":{"rendered":"The Oath of Russell\u2019s Blood: We must be victorious"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By M. Nazrul Islam<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>Look to the east, where the crimson sun peeks through the darkness \u2014 smiling, radiant. Doesn\u2019t it look like the tender smile of little Sheikh Russell? Even the morning dew resting on the grass blades seems to carry traces of his laughter \u2014 glittering in the gentle warmth of a late autumn sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today belongs to him \u2014 the boy named after Bertrand Russell. The beloved youngest among two brothers and two sisters, always playful with his sisters-in-law, was wrapped in his mother\u2019s endless affection. In the end, it was to his mother he turned \u2014 his final refuge. That dark dawn, when the world slipped away from him, he wanted only to reach her side. And it was with his mother that he began his eternal journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little Russell was his father\u2019s dearest treasure \u2014 always by his side. Did he dream like his father did? Certainly, his father had dreams for him, too. Like any other child, he went to school every morning. A fourth-grade student, loved by all his friends, admired for his gentleness and charm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was like a celestial child \u2014 a divine soul with eyes full of wonder, naturally drawing everyone toward him. Innocence glowed in those eyes. His days flowed gently, carried by the love of his parents and siblings. As Rabindranath Tagore once wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe body was light, the age was tender \u2014 like a bird without wings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was indeed that tender in age. In front of their home at 677, Road 32, Dhanmondi, lay the lake \u2014 the street stretching far ahead. On his three-wheeled bicycle, Russell explored that world, slowly expanding his little universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What dreams did this adored child carry in his heart? What messages did the sunrise whisper to him? What secrets did the evening sky confide? We will never know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teachers loved him dearly \u2014 at school and at home. When classes ended and the clouds gathered near the rooftops, perhaps he gazed at them, lost in fairy tales he loved so much. He was full of sweet demands \u2014 from his mother, from his sisters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell loved flowers \u2014 especially red roses. His garden bloomed with jasmine, gardenia, and chrysanthemums. Butterflies danced over marigolds and balsams. He, too, was a flower of that garden \u2014 tender and pure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the morning star that shines and vanishes in an instant, Russell too appeared like a star\u2026 only to fade at life\u2019s dawn. Who still remembers him? To find that answer, we return to poetry:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe killer never understood the innocent child\u2019s heart,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor the sisters\u2019 love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The killer only knew how to pull the trigger,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blind to the nation\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intoxicated by false power,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He celebrated death \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the child became his target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History has recorded the pain,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not the countless hearts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drowning silently in endless sorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that tender age \u2014 when dreams first take flight \u2014 Russell was taken away. At that age, every child is a little king, building a world of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSister\u2019s eyes \u2014 sleepless, searching day and night,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restlessly seeking her brother\u2019s face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps, even now, his sisters speak to him in silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, their beloved little brother \u2014 where are you now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you shining somewhere as a distant star?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn her heart, she whispers always:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Russell, come back, my boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come, stand before me with that sweet smile,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the river of joy will flow once more.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this day, Russell\u2019s birthday, his sisters may open the old albums, caressing the photographs \u2014 whispering, \u201cHappy birthday to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps, closing their eyes, they return to those days when he played hide and seek \u2014 when the house rang with laughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn memory\u2019s mirror, his smiling face remains \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bringing both joy and tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The air grows heavy with sighs,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As tears fall silently for the brother who never returns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our beloved Russell will never come back. His mischievous grin will no longer fill the house with joy. He lives on only as memory \u2014 a face forever bright within our hearts. That dear, playful smile still flickers in the mirror of remembrance, stirring waves of grief in the sisters\u2019 eyes, in the sea of sorrow that never rests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now autumn has arrived. The white kash flowers sway along the riverbank. Jasmine, kamini, and mallika bloom in fragrance. The shiuli and chatim fill the night with sweetness. Every flower that blooms today \u2014 blooms for Russell. Every bird that sings \u2014 sings for Sheikh Russell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhose gentle face once invited dreams with a soft kiss \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is no more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts wander, covered in the dust of memory,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Searching every corner of the home once filled with laughter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The assassin\u2019s merciless bullet ended the life of that innocent boy. But what was his fault? A child untouched by the world\u2019s cruelties \u2014 why did he have to be a victim of conspiracy? Why was he forced to cross into eternity before he could even dream?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was only one reason: to erase the bloodline of the Greatest Bengali of all time, to avenge the defeat of 1971, to secure the killers\u2019 own future. Their conspiracy began in \u201971 \u2014 and it continues even today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh has once again fallen under the grip of those conspirators. The same evil forces that murdered Sheikh Russell and his family are once again shedding blood across the land. They seek to erase our history, our heritage, our victories of the Liberation War. These betrayers of the nation have even burned the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum \u2014 setting fire to Bangladesh\u2019s very history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The traitor Yunus presses the reset button \u2014 aiming to erase 1952, 1962, 1969, even 1971, and all the proud chapters of our national identity. They seek to abolish our secular Constitution and drag the nation back into darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this day, how we wish Sheikh Russell were here \u2014 to lead a new battle against this rising tide of evil. Had he lived, his fire could have ignited a revolution \u2014 a flame against injustice, a call for renewal. His voice would have stirred the people once again to complete the unfinished war of liberation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell may no longer be with us in body, but he lives on \u2014 in every heart that beats for Bangladesh. We hear his call still \u2014 the call for change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this 18th of October, Sheikh Russell\u2019s birthday, we take an oath:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who conspire against the Bengali nation \u2014 their venom must be uprooted completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collaborators and killers of 1971, and their heirs, must finally face justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The blood of little Russell flows through our veins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with that blood, we swear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must \u2014 and we will \u2014 be victorious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nazrul Islam: President, All-European Awami League; Austria-based human rights activist, writer, and journalist<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By M. Nazrul Islam Look to the east, where the crimson sun peeks through the darkness \u2014 smiling, radiant. Doesn\u2019t it look like the tender smile of little Sheikh Russell?… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,42],"tags":[77,50,54,56,63,967,64],"class_list":["post-4122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-politics","tag-awami-league","tag-interim-government","tag-jamaat-e-islami","tag-muhammad-yunus","tag-sheikh-hasina","tag-sheikh-russell","tag-yunus-gang"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4124,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4122\/revisions\/4124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyrepublicbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}