Mohammed Fazle Rabbee - Personal Beliefs and Political Movements

Personal Beliefs and Political Movements

Rabbee was a man of science with a progressive philosophy. The Language Movement in 1952 opened his eyes to the tyranny and repression of the Islamist Pakistani government against its Bengali speaking citizens. The Pakistani government thought the Bengali-speaking East Pakistanis were not proper Muslims because of their language, culture, and secular philosophy. Rabbee did not believe that religion should be used to perpetrate violence and repression of ordinary people. In fact, he believed in humanism which affirms the dignity and worth of all people. The martyred intellectuals believed in the struggle for freedom of Bengalis, but their path forward was a non-violent one. Their conviction in truth and justice was more powerful than the massive military force of the Pakistani government, which was ultimately defeated.

Professor Rabbee, a humanitarian, believed in Ganamukhi Chikitsha and provided free medical care to thousands of poor patients. In 1969, at the post-graduate Institute of Medicine in Dhaka, he laid out his vision for a classless society. He believed that no society can progress when so many people are left behind, as was the case with East Pakistan. He urged everyone to be self-reliant, but also to help each other out of helpless situations. The speech by Pakistan's topmost professor in medicine evoked strong emotions from the students and colleagues. The captivating speech inspired everyone to provide good medical care for free to those who couldn’t afford it. The Pakistani government took him in for questioning after the speech. The army charged that Rabbee was too popular.

In 1970 when the repression of East Pakistanis reached a peak, Professor Rabbee received the Pakistan best professor award which he refused to accept. On March 27, 1971 he became very disturbed when he visited Dhaka medical college (his workplace) with his wife and saw the extent of the massacre committed by Pakistani army on innocent civilians and the faculty of Dhaka university. Both he and his wife became completely engaged in the liberation war. They helped and protected countless freedom fighters and their families from death and disaster. They provided medical care, surgery, money, shelter and transportation cost to refugee camps to families of those who were killed, as well as for survivors of torture and rape. They stood firm in Dhaka during the war (March 1971-December 1971) and surrounded their friends of all religions who were artists, scientists, professors, bankers, and students. They believed in a progressive and secular society. Towards the end of the war, Rabbee's dream was to build a country where the constitution would reflect the core values of all religions: equality (gender, religion, class), tolerance, secularism, human dignity and honor.