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April 10, 2026
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"Though General Ershad was looked [upon] as usurper, and his regime was termed as undemocratic and autocratic by both Khaleda Zia led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Shiekh Hasina led Awami League, yet none of these parties even after assuming power [...] would be able to retrench the Islamisation measures taken by Ershad"... The Constitution of Bangladesh, despite Awami League [...] remains an Islamic one."
"Between 1982 and 1990, Ershad made systematic efforts to continue the policy of Zia, rehabilitating anti liberation elements and the parallel Islamisation culminating in the disputable Eighth amendment to the Constitution declaring 'Islam' as a state religion. Earlier short-lived government of Mustaque Ahmed (August 1975 - November 1975) brought to power at a behest of young military officers, declared Peoples Republic of Bangladesh as 'Islamic Republic of Bangladesh' over the state radio, which, however, fetched recognition of Saudi Arabia, Libya and China."
Young though he was, his radiant energy produced such an impression of absolute reliability that Hedgewar made him the first sarkaryavah, or general secretary, of the RSS.
- Gopal Mukund Huddar
Largely because of the influence of communists in London, Huddar's conversion into an enthusiastic supporter of the fight against fascism was quick and smooth. The ease with which he crossed from one worldview to another betrays the fact that he had not properly understood the world he had grown in.
Huddar would have been 101 now had he been alive. But then centenaries are not celebrated only to register how old so and so would have been and when. They are usually celebrated to explore how much poorer our lives are without them. Maharashtrian public life is poorer without him. It is poorer for not having made the effort to recall an extraordinary life.
I regret I was not there to listen to Balaji Huddar's speech [...] No matter how many times you listen to him, his speeches are so delightful that you feel like listening to them again and again.
By the time he came out of Franco's prison, Huddar had relinquished many of his old ideas. He displayed a worldview completely different from that of the RSS, even though he continued to remain deferential to Hedgewar and maintained a personal relationship with him.