14 August 1975: Bangabandhu's last day alive

14 August 1975 was a Thursday, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's last day spent working at Ganabhaban.

He came to Ganabhaban at exactly 9am in the morning. At 9:55am, a visiting Special Representative of South Korean President Park Chung-hee called on him to hand over a message from the South Korean leader.

In the course of the meeting, Bangabandhu was cheerful and engaged in frank discussions with the visitor on Dhaka-Seoul ties.

The Minister of Information met Bangabandhu at 10:30am. At 11am, the then Minister of State for Defence and the then Chief of the Air Force entered Bangabandhu's room together.

After that, he met with people of different levels until the afternoon. He used to walk regularly on the Ganabhaban premises around 4pm. He would also sit by the lake and feed the fishes.

When he was sitting by the lake around 4:30pm, the then State Minister for Information and Radio Taher Uddin Thakur appeared there unannounced. Bangabandhu asked him to sit on a chair near him and they chatted for a while. 

After that, the then Minister of Education Professor Muzaffar Ahmad Chowdhury and the Minister of Water Resources also met Bangabandhu across the lake.

At 5:45pm, the then Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Abdul Matin Chowdhury came to Bangabandhu and briefed him on his visit to Dhaka University on the morning of the following day, 15 August.

Bangabandhu was set to visit Dhaka University as "the first chancellor visiting the university in its 54 years of history" – returning to the institution he was once expelled from for voicing his support for the underpaid employees.

He also went over the draft of the speech he would deliver at the convocation the following morning.

At around 6pm, the then Minister of Education and the Acting Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Education came to Bangabandhu and discussed the following day's event. 

The university authorities had planned an elaborate reception at the Teachers-Students Centre (TSC) for the day while special supplementaries were published in national newspapers to mark the occasion.

Late in the evening on 14 August, the President's eldest son Sheikh Kamal also made a tour of the university to ensure that everything was in place for the ceremony.

One other responsibility he carried out was sending a message of felicitations to the then President and Prime minister of India on the occasion of Indian Independence Day on 15 August.

Interestingly, an Indian military plane, though just by accident, crashed near Noakhali on the same day, and Bangabandhu had a hard time deciding whether or not to make the news public on Indian Independence Day. He eventually decided to let it through.  

He also kept himself posted about news relating to then Foreign Minister Kamal Hossain's ongoing visit to Eastern Europe.

As he prepared to go home in the evening, Bangabandhu wished Dr Farashuddin, his PS and a senior civil servant on his staff, a good journey abroad. Farashuddin would be proceeding overseas to pursue academic research.

A dinner was also arranged by his staff to celebrate the occasion, but Bangabandhu skipped it.

Before leaving Ganabhaban for 32 Dhanmondi, he spent some time beside the lake in conversation with then Prime Minister M Mansoor Ali.

It was rather late when he travelled back to his residence. At dinner, three members of the family were absent. His elder daughter Hasina, her husband nuclear scientist Wazed Miah, and his younger daughter Rehana who were visiting Europe.

It would tragically turn out to be his last day of life, since the plotters against his government, unbeknownst to all, had already finalised their macabre plans.