Abstract
Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman is generally credited with being a leader who founded the state of Bangladesh that came into existence in the result of a separatist movement. This paper endeavours to review his leadership status in the light of context. By answering the question if he was a secessionist it has been clarified whether he steered separatist Bengali movement to the success or other actors like circumstances, minor leaders in the party and mishandling of the competitors raised him to the position for which he neither planned nor worked. Exploring the flow of events regarding separatism in East Pakistan spread over the span of more than twenty-four years the role of Sheikh Mujib as the leader of secessionist movement has been observed. This paper tries to examine the impacts of his qualities of oratory and organisation on the separatism in East Pakistan. It looks as if he gave the popularity and programme to the Bengali Movement or it was vice versa. The discussion moves to the outcome that as principal leader of the Movement he was not in charge for its mission-visualisation, formulation of course of action and ultimately success of the goal. Leadership is defined as the “relation between an individual and a group built around some common interest and behaviouring in a manner directed by him.”1 Philip Selznick states that Leadership “is a kind of work done to meet the needs of a social situation.”2 Herbert G. Hicks and C. R. Gullett identify that leadership is the “ability to influence the behaviour of others in a particular direction.” The concept of leadership presupposes the ability or capacity of a person (leader) to influence the behaviour of others (followers) in a specific situational context to achieve the commonly desired objectives. The concept of political leadership refers to a specialised role in terms of both aspiration for and exercise of power through either governmental or nongovernmental structures.