Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
A memorial portrait at the assassination site
LocationDhaka, Bangladesh
Date15 August 1975
4.30am–6:10 am.
TargetSheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family
Attack type
Military coup
Weapons28 'unarmored' T-54 tanks, mortars, 105 mm howitzer, machine guns, rifles, revolvers and grenades
Deaths35 person;

Others : Siddiqur Rahman (Police Officer), Samsul Haque (Police Officer), Col. Jamil Uddin Ahmed (Newly appointed D.G.F.I. Chief.)

  • Sheikh Moni's house (severely injured in firing and declared dead in hospital ) : Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni, Begum Arju Moni (Begum Samsunnesa)
  • House of Serniabat (shot dead) : Abdur Rab Serniabat, Arif Serniabat, Baby Serniabat, Shaheed Serniabat, Sukanto Abdullah Babu, Naeem Khan Rintu, Potka (Domestic worker), Lakshmi's Mother (Domestic worker)
  • House No. 8 and 9 of Sher Shah Suri Road and House No. 196 and 197 of Shahjahan Road in Mohammadpur (died by fire caused by the misfired mortar shells) : Rezia Begum, Nasima, Habibur Rahman, Anwara Begum, Anwara Begum (2), Moyful Bibi, Sabera Begum, Abdullah, Rafiqul, Safia Khatun, Shahabuddin, Kasheda, Aminuddin, Hanufa Bibi[1][2]
Injured8 person;
  • Sheikh Mujib's house (injured in firing) : AFM Mohitul Islam (P.A./Receptionist), Nurul Islam (D.S.P), Md. Salim (Domestic worker)
  • House of Serniabat (injured in firing) : Sheikh Amena Begum, Sahan Ara Abdullah, Beauty Serniabat, Abul Khair Abdullah, Hena Serniabat
Perpetrators12 Army officers: Syed Faruque Rahman, Khandaker Abdur Rashid, S.H.M.B Noor Chowdhury, Moslemuddin, Mohammad Bazlul Huda, Rashed Chowdhury, Abdul Aziz Pasha, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Mohiuddin Ahmed, A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Shariful Haque Dalim and Abdul Majed
accompanied by 2 Unit of common soldiers
ConvictionsMurder
Sentence12 Army Officers: Death by hanging
Other conspirators: Life imprisonment
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his wife Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, in 1955

The first president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and most of his family were killed during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of young Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his Dhanmondi 32 residence as part of a coup d'état.[3] Minister of Commerce Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad immediately took control of the government and proclaimed himself president. The assassination marked the first direct military intervention in Bangladesh's civilian administration-centric politics.[4] 15 August is National Mourning Day, an official national holiday in Bangladesh.[5]23°45′06″N 90°22′36″E / 23.7517°N 90.3767°E / 23.7517; 90.3767

Background

Mujib's presidency

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's meeting in Dhaka for the 1970 Pakistani general election

In the 1970 Pakistani general election, Sheikh Mujib's party, the Awami League (previously known as the Awami Muslim League), won the majority of the seats in the Pakistani National Assembly. They won 167 of the 169 seats in East Pakistan, which would later become Bangladesh after it seceded from West Pakistan. Despite Pakistan's military government delaying the handover of power, Mujib's house had become the de facto head of government in East Pakistan by March. At the start of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, he was arrested in his home by Pakistani soldiers on 25 March midnight just after declaring the independence of Bangladesh.[6][7][8] Later that year, the provisional government of the Bangladeshi rebellion, the Mujibnagar Government, formed on 10 April and made Mujib its head and also the leader of Bangladeshi armed forces.[9] Following the defeat of Pakistani forces on 16 December 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released from custody from Pakistan in London on 22 December 1971 and flew to India followed by Bangladesh. Mujib led the government as Prime Minister of Bangladesh for three years after Bangladesh gained independence.[9]

Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini controversy and outrage in the army

The Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini (JRB) was a controversial militia formed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and loyal to him personally.[10] Although it was originally founded as a law enforcing agency to maintain internal security, it became a second national armed-force and served as a political task force for the Awami League. As a result, it found little support among traditional military organisations such as the Mukti Bahini.[11] Its 30,000 troops intimidated and tortured opponents of the Awami League in various ways. The military grew resentful of the level of funding the Rakshi Bahini received from the Mujib government, with the former's own funding being reduced to 13% in the 1975–76 budget, a considerable decrease from the 50–60% it enjoyed during the Pakistan period.[12][13] This dissatisfaction is also considered one of the reasons for Mujib ur Rehman's assassination.

Allegation of nepotism and corruption within the Mujib-family

Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani, a politician and one of the nephews of Mujib, was given lucrative positions in the Government formed by Sheikh Mujibur. When private trade with India was banned due to slow inflation, Fazlul Haque actively engaged in it with Mujibur Rahman’s blessings. This was seen as an attempt by Mujib ur Rehman to form a dynasty.[14]

Near the end of 1973, Sheikh Kamal was involved in a shootout in which he suffered gunshot injuries. Multiple claims have been made as to how the shootout occurred. Many people claim that it was during an attempted robbery of a bank by Sheikh Kamal and his friends. However, a retired major general of the Bangladesh Army claimed that it was actually a case of friendly fire. Near the end of 1973, Bangladeshi security forces received intelligence that the left-wing revolutionary activist Siraj Sikder and his insurgents were going to launch coordinated attacks around Dhaka. Police and other security officers were on full alert and patrolling the streets of Dhaka in plainclothes. Sheikh Kamal and his friends were armed and also patrolling the city in a microbus looking for Siraj Sikder. When the microbus was in Dhanmondi, the police mistook Sheikh Kamal and his friends for insurgents and opened fire on them, thus injuring Sheikh Kamal.[15] However, it is also claimed that Sheikh Kamal and his friends were in Dhanmondi to test drive a new car that his friend Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku had bought recently. Since Dhaka was under heavy police patrolling, police special forces under the command of the then city SP Mahamuddin Bir Bikrom opened fire on the car thinking that the passengers were miscreants.[16]

A 1976 issue of the Asia Yearbook stated, "It was an open secret - that Mujib's brother, Sheikh Nazir, was alleged to have monopolised the smuggling in the southeast; that his wife took a cut in contracting World Bank projects; that his son, Sheikh Kamal, had been involved in thuggery; and that his nephew, Sheikh Moni, was fast accumulating power and wealth. [17] Abdul Waheed Talukder, in his book "Gonotontrer Onneshay Bangladesh" (গণতন্ত্রের অন্বেষায় বাংলাদেশ, Bangladesh in Search of Democracy), said in the 1976 issue of the Asia Yearbook,

They also spread rumors that Sheikh Kamal was shot while robbing Bangladesh Bank. But the vault of Bangladesh Bank was guarded by hundreds of policemen and this vault was so secure that it could not be destroyed without dynamite.[18]

Marcus F. Franda in his book "Bangladesh: The First Decade" says,

Shahidul Islam's reputation in Bangladesh was also tarnished by persistent rumors that he had been intimately involved in a bank robbery and scandal in 1972 and in the assassination of seven Dacca University students in 1974.[19]

S. R. Mirza says in his book "Conversations after the War of Liberation",

I will say more about this. In 1975, a freedom fighter came to meet me. The freedom fighter said to me, sir, Bangabandhu used to say, don't spend money, get married with garlands of flowers. But he himself is marrying off his sons wearing golden crowns and it is being shown on TV. The inconsistency of these two standards and words--people will not accept it.' Then a friend of mine, I won't say his name, who was very close to Mr. Sheikh, he used to visit Mr. Sheikh's house from time to time and meet him, he worked in an oil company, after independence it was heard that Sheikh Kamal was shot while robbing a bank. While in the hospital, the gentleman said, “I then went to Bangabandhu's house, at noon, Sheikh Mujib and other members of his family were eating in the dining room. As I went, I heard Sheikh Sahib saying, 'When people start beating you, then what will I do! I don't know'.” From this, it is easy to imagine that there was a problem in the leadership.[20]

Left-wing insurgency

A left-wing insurgency from 1972 to 1975 is widely held to be responsible for creating the conditions that led to the assassination.[21][22][23] In 1972, a leftist group named the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) was founded from a split in the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the Bangladesh Awami League.[24] The JSD, through its armed wing Gonobahini led by Colonel Abu Taher and politician Hasanul Haq Inu, began a political massacre of government supporters, Awami League members, and police.[25][26] Their campaign contributed to a breakdown of law and order in the country[25] and paved the way for the assassination of Mujib.[27] Hasanul Huq Inu later held the office of the Minister of Information under Sheikh Hasina's Second and Third cabinets.

Dalim-Mostafa conflict

In 1974, Gazi Golam Mostafa kidnapped Major Shariful Haque Dalim and his wife from the Dhaka Ladies Club after an argument during Dalim's cousin's wedding reception. Dalim's only brother-in-law Bappi (his wife Nimmi's brother) was attending from Canada. Mostafa's son occupied the chair in the row behind Bappi and pulled Bappi's hair from the back. Bappi scolded the boy for his behavior and told him not to sit on the row behind him anymore. Mostafa's sons (who were close friends of Sheikh Kamal) and some associates forcefully abducted Dalim, Nimmi, the groom's mother, and two of Dalim's friends (both of whom were distinguished freedom fighters) in Microbuses owned by the Red Crescent. Mostafa was taking them to the Rakhi Bahini headquarters but later took them to the residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[28][29] Mujib mediated a compromise between them and made Mostafa apologize to Nimmi. When news of the abduction spread, the 1st Bengal Lancers ransacked Mostafa's and took his whole family prisoner. They also set up check posts all over the city searching for Major Dalim and the abductees. Some officers lost their jobs as a result. The officers involved, including Shariful Haque Dalim, were later orchestrators of the coup on 15 August 1975 and the assassination of Sheikh Mujib.[29][30][31]

Rise and death of Siraj Sikder

Siraj Sikder was contemporary leading Bangladeshi Maoist leader, in Mujib's regime. Born in 1944, he obtained an engineering degree from the East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology (now BUET) in 1967.[32] While he was a student he became a member of East Pakistan Student Union. In 1967, he was elected vice-president of the central committee of Student Union and later that year he joined the C & B Department of the government as an engineer. Later he left his job to start a private engineering company.[32] On 8 January 1968, along with like-minded activists, Sikder formed a clandestine organisation named Purba Bangla Sramik Andolon (East Bengal Workers Movement EBWM) with an objective to lead a struggle against the revisionism of the existing "Communist" organisations and to form a revolutionary Communist Party. This initiative brought forward a thesis that East Bengal is a colony of Pakistan and that the principal contradiction in the society is between the bureaucratic bourgeoisie and feudalists of Pakistan on one hand, and the people of East Bengal on the other hand. Only the independence struggle to form an "independent, democratic, peaceful, non-aligned, progressive" People's Republic of East Bengal, free also from the oppression of US imperialism, Soviet social-imperialism and Indian Expansionism could lead the society forward towards socialism and communism. In late 1968, Sikder left the job to establish the Mao Tse Tung Research Center in Dhaka but it was later closed down by the Pakistani government. Sikder became a lecturer at the Technical Training College in Dhaka.[32] In the meantime of Bangladesh War of Independence, at a liberated base area named Pearabagan at Bhimruly in Jhalokati District in the southern part of the country, on 3 June 1971, Sikder founded a new party named Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party (Proletarian Party of East Bengal) by ideology of Marxism and Mao Tsetung Thought (not "Maoism", during the 1960s the followers of Mao-line used to identify their ideology as Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse-tung Thought). At the beginning of the war, he went to Barisal and he declared that as a free living space and making it his base attempted to initiate his revolution throughout other places. After the Independence of Bangladesh he turned against the Sheikh Mujib government.[33] In April 1973, he formed Purba Banglar Jatiya Mukti Front (East Bengal National Liberation Front) and declared war on Bangladesh Government.[32] Under his leadership, the Sarbahara party carried out attacks against money lenders and landlords.[34] In 1975, Sikder was arrested at Hali Shahar in Chittagong by the intelligence force of the government. He was killed in police custody on 3 January 1975 on his way from Dhaka Airport to the Rakkhi Bahini Camp at Savar.[35][32] Anthony Mascarenhas narrated in his book "Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood" that, Siraj's sister Shamim Sikder blamed Mujib for the killing of her brother.

Famine of 1974

Ever since independence, the possibility of famine started appearing in Bangladesh. Corrupt administration, worsening flood situation, failure to deal with food crisis led to famine in North Bengal in 1974. The death toll from the famine is claimed to be between 27,000 and 15 lakh or approximately 300,000 to 4,500,000 (or 1 to 1.5 million).[36][37]

Mahfuz Ullah wrote in his book "Press under Mujib regime" that,

Unfortunately , before the wounds of the famine healed , photographs of a glittering and lavish marriage ceremony of Sheikh Mujib's eldest son, Sheikh Kamal, wearing a gold crown, stunned and saddened the people.[38]

According to many analysts, the famine reduced the popularity of the Mujib government and contributed to the circumstances of his assassination.[39][40]

Corruption, malfunction and BAKSAL

Sheikh Mujib later made himself President of Bangladesh and established a national unity government, the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL), on 7 June 1975 by banning all political parties and independent press. Mujib named the reform as Second Revolution. Although the BAKSAL was intended to bring stability to Bangladesh and uphold law and order, it engendered hostility among the bureaucracy, military, and civil society. Opposition groups, as well as some of Mujib's supporters, challenged Mujib's authoritarian, one-party state.[41] The period of the BAKSAL's one-party rule was marked by widespread censorship and abuse of the judiciary, as well as opposition from the general populace, intellectuals, and all other political groups.[42] Nationalization of industry failed to yield any tangible progress. Not only was the government weak and with no clear goals, but the country was also nearly bankrupt. In the Far Eastern Economic Review, journalist Lawrence Lifschultz wrote in 1974 that "the corruption and malpractices and plunder of national wealth" in Bangladesh were "unprecedented".[42]

Party-partiality against rape-murder case

The army was already dissatisfied with Sheikh Mujib for sidelining them in favor of the JRB. However, in his book Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood, Anthony Mascarenhas cited a specific factor behind the final outcry as influential: Mozammel, a contemporary Awami League youth leader from Tongi and the chairman of Tongi Awami League, seized a car of a newlywed housewife, killed her driver and husband, abducted her and gang-raped her and three days later, her dead body was found in the road near a bridge of Tongi. Mozammel was arrested by a leader of a squadron of the Bengal Lancer named Major Nasser and handed over to the police, but the police released him immediately. At that time, many people thought that he was released from the punishment of that crime only with the intervention of Sheikh Mujib. This incident increased the dissatisfaction against Sheikh Mujib in the Army, specially in Major Faruque and acted as one of the prominently last-minute influences behind his assassination.[43][44]

Conspirators

Major Syed Faruque Rahman; Khandaker Abdur Rashid; Shariful Haque Dalim; Mohiuddin Ahmed; and Rashed Chowdhury, along with A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Bazlul Huda, and S.H.M.B Noor Chowdhury (three majors in the Bangladesh Army and veterans of the Bangladesh Liberation War), planned to topple the government and establish a military government of their own. They were previously part of the opposition to BAKSAL and viewed the government as too subservient to India and as a threat to Bangladesh's military.[45] According to Anthony Mascarenhas, Faruque offered Major Ziaur Rahman indirectly to take part in the plan and tried to convince him, but Zia cleverly avoided the matter. According to Farooq, Zia's gesture meant: "I'm a senior officer. I cannot be involved in such things. If you junior officers want to do it, go ahead."[43][46] However, the killer Lt. Col. Khandaker Abdur Rashid's wife and accused Jobaida Rashid said in his deposition, "Criticism was happened among Army officers for providing more facilities by forming Rakkhi Bahini besides the army. I hear these things from Farooq. Major Farooq has been in touch with General Zia since childhood. He was Zia's former acquaintance. One night Major Farooq returned from Zia's house and told my husband that Zia wanted to be president if the government changed. Zia said, "It is a success to come to me. If it is a failure then do not involve me. It is not possible to change the government by keeping Sheikh Mujib alive".[47] Major General (retd) M Khalilur Rahman (then director of BDR) testified, "Some army officers became divided as General Safiullah was not made the army chief despite being a senior on the basis of General Zia's number. I have heard that General Zia will retire from the army and be sent abroad as an ambassador." At one point after the swearing in of the cabinet, Major Rashid introduced me to his wife. I thought Major Rashid was a little proud and said, "She is my wife. My wife is the mastermind behind what we have done."[47] The assassins considered the possible causes of the failure, and for the upcoming after-period after Mujib's assassination, they decided to use a well-wisher from Mujib's Awami League and a person who could be removed in time if desired, in order to curb the possible Indian intervention, the Awami League's vengeful armed opposition, the possible increasing arbitrariness of the anti-Awami League and to temporarily control the situation. After some time of searching, an Awami League cabinet minister under Mujib's government, Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, agreed to take over the presidency. Journalist Lawrence Lifschultz paints an alternate picture of the conspiracy, however, that implicates Mostaq and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He claimed that the "CIA station chief in Dhaka, Philip Cherry, was actively involved in the killing of the Father of the Nation—Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman." His claims largely relied on the testimony of a single anonymous businessman, however.[48][49][50] It is alleged that the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Kazi Mohammed Shafiullah, and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence Air Vice Marshal, Aminul Islam Khan, were aware of the conspiracy.[51] Major Faruque told Anthony Mascarenhas that he carried out the assassination following the direction of Andha Hafiz, a blind saint from Chittagong who was known having supernatural powers and his wife Farida helped him communicate with the saint. The saint entitled as a pir told him to carry out the killing in the interest of Islam, advised him to abandon personal interests and carry out the killing at the right time.[43][52] However, Andha Hafiz later denied the claim in an interview with the weekly Bichinta.[53]

Assassination

Tomb of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

In the early hours of Friday, 15 August 1975, the conspirators divided into four groups. One group, consisting of members of the Bengal Lancers of the First Armoured Division and 535th Infantry Division under Major Huda, attacked Mujib's residence.[54]

Abdur Rahman Sheikh (Roma)

Abdur Rahman Sheikh (Roma) joined as Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's domestic worker in 1969. On 15 August 1975 he was present at the house of Sheikh Mujib. He testified in court in Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's assassination case.[55] According to his statement,[55]

Bangabandhu (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman), his wife Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib and his youngest son Sheikh Russell (Aged 10 years then) were asleep in the same room on the second floor in the night of the incident. Sheikh Kamal and his wife Sultana Kamal were asleep on the third floor. Sheikh Jamal and his wife Rozi and Mujib's younger brother Sheikh Naser were asleep on the second floor in their rooms. Domestic worker Roma and Selim both were asleep on the balcony in front of Bangabandhu's bedroom on the second floor. PA Mohitul Islam and other employees were on the ground floor.[55]

Around five o'clock in the morning, Begum Mujib suddenly opened the door of her room and came out and said that miscreants had attacked Serniabat's house. Upon hearing of Begum Mujib, Roma quickly went to the lake shore and saw some soldiers coming toward Mujib's residence by firing. Roma immediately returned. Then Bangabandhu went down and was talking to his PA Mohitul Islam in the reception room of the house. At that time, Begum Mujib was in second floor. Roma went to the third floor and informed Sheikh Kamal about the attack. Kamal then goes down. Roma and Sultana Kamal came to the second floor. Roma then told Sheikh Jamal about the attack. Jamal quickly went to Begum mujib's room. His wife also went. There was a lot of firing heard at this time. At one point Roma heard gunshots with the shouting of Sheikh Kamal.[55]

At the same time, Bangabandhu came to the second floor and entered his room and closed the door. Firings once stopped. Bangabandhu opened the door and came out again, the attackers surrounded him in front of his bedroom then. Aiming at the attackers, Bangabandhu said, "What do you want? Where will you take me?" according to Roma,

They were taking Bangabandhu towards the stairs. After going down 2/3 steps of stairs some attackers shot Bangabandhu from below. Bangabandhu immediately fell down on the stairs after being shot.[55]

Roma was behind the attackers. They asked Roma, "What do you do?" He replied, "Work." Then they ask him to go in. Roma went to the bathroom of Begum Mujib's room and took shelter. There he told Begum Mujib that Bangabandhu has been shot. Sheikh Kamal's wife Sultana, Sheikh Jamal and his wife Rosi, Sheikh Russell and Bangabandhu's brother Nasser also took shelter in the bathroom. Sheikh Nasser was shot in the hand before entering the bathroom, blood was pouring from his hand. Begum Mujeeb tore the hem of her sari and wiped his blood.[55]

Then the attackers came again to the second floor and they were banging on the door. Begum Mujib opened the door. The army entered the room and took Sheikh Nasser, Sheikh Russell, Begum Mujib and Roma downstairs. While going downstairs Begum Mujib saw Bangabandhu's body on the stairs and said, 'I will not go further, kill me here.' After these words, the army took her to her room on the second floor and screams of woman and sound of gunshots were heard.[55]

The attackers brought Nasser, Russell and Roma to the residential ground and made them stand in line. There Roma saw the dead body of a plainclothes policeman. An attacker noticed Nasser and asked, 'Who are you?' When he introduced himself as Sheikh Nasser, he was taken to the bathroom on the ground floor and shot. Sheikh Russel was crying saying, "I want to go to my mother". Holding PA Mohitul Islam in the line Russell asked him, 'Brother, will they kill me?', Then an attacker arrived and said, 'Let's take you to your mother' and took him to the second floor. After a while gunshots and screams were heard.[55]

Roma found Selim, DSP Nurul Islam and PA/receptionist Mohitul Islam injured while standing in line. During this time, the Army, dressed in black, looted the house. Then a tank came in front of Mujib's residence. Some army soldiers from the tank descended in the inner soldiers and asked, "Who is inside", the inner soldiers in the north says, "All are finished". After being released at 12pm, Roma moved to his village home to Tungipara.[55]

Other statements

A correspondent for Anandabazar Patrika, Sukharanjan Dasgupta, who described the Bangladesh Liberation War in Dhaka until 1974, writes in his book Midnight Massacre in Dacca that "the exact details of the massacre will always remain shrouded in mystery".[56] He went on to say that the army platoon protecting the president's house offered no resistance. Sheikh Kamal, son of Mujib, was shot at the reception area on the ground floor.[57]

Meanwhile, Mujib telephoned Colonel Jamil Uddin Ahmad, the new Chief of Military Intelligence. When Jamil arrived and ordered the troops back to the barracks, he was gunned down at the gate of the residence. After that Mujib was shot and killed.[56]

Other people killed in the attack were Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, wife of Mujib, who was killed upstairs; Sheikh Nasser, younger brother of Mujib, who was killed in a lavatory; several servants of Mujib, who were also killed in lavatories; Sheikh Jamal, the second son of Mujib and an army officer; ten-year-old Sheikh Russel, the youngest son of Mujib; and two daughters-in-law of Mujib.[58]

In Dhanmondi, two other groups of soldiers killed Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani, Mujib's nephew and a leader of the Awami League along with his pregnant wife, Arzu Moni, and Abdur Rab Serniabat, Mujib's brother-in-law. They also killed a minister of the government and thirteen of his family members on Mintu Road.[59][60]

The fourth and most powerful group was sent towards Savar to repel the expected counter-attack by the security forces stationed there. After a brief fight and the loss of eleven men, the security forces surrendered.[61]

A 24-hour curfew was imposed on the day of the assassination. However, for Friday prayers at 12:30 p.m. an adjournment was given till 2 o'clock. The next day there was a break in the 24-hour curfew from 9:30 to 12:00. On 17 August there was an adjourned from 6 am to evening. A break was given on August 18 from morning to 10 in the night. Schools, colleges, offices, courts and factories were fully opened from that day.

Four of the founding leaders of the Awami League, first Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tajuddin Ahmed, former Prime Minister Mansur Ali, former Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam, and former Home Minister A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman, were arrested. Three months later, on 3 November 1975, they were murdered in Dhaka Central Jail.[62]

Aftermath

Grave of the victims at Banani Graveyard

On the morning of the assassination, the then Lieutenant Colonel Amin Ahmed Chowdhury entered the house of General Ziaur Rahman and found out on the radio that President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been assassinated. He described the incident: "General Zia is shaving on one side but not on the other. Came running in the sleeping suit, he asked Shafaat Jamil, "What happened, Shafaat?" Shafaat replied, "Apparently two battalions staged a coup. We don't know yet what happened outside. We hear the announcement on the radio that the president is dead." Then General Zia said, "So what? Let vice-president take over. We have nothing to do with politics. Get your troops ready. Uphold the constitution."[63][44]

Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad assumed the presidency, and Major General Ziaur Rahman became the new Chief of Army Staff. The leading conspirators were all given high government ranks. They were all later toppled by yet another coup led by Brigadier General Khaled Mosharraf on 3 November 1975. Mosharraf himself was killed during a counter-revolt four days later on 7 November, which freed Major General Ziaur Rahman in power and was brought in to bring law and order.

Major Syed Faruque Rahman, Rashid, and the other army officers were promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Nevertheless, they were exiled to Libya, China, Rhodesia, Canada, and other countries, although they were given several diplomatic posts in Bangladeshi missions abroad. Lieutenant Colonel (Rtd.) Syed Faruque Rahman later returned and founded the Bangladesh Freedom Party in 1985 and took part in the presidential election in 1987 against the military ruler Lieutenant General Hussain Mohammad Ershad but lost that election in a landslide.

Mujib's two daughters, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, were in West Germany at the time of his assassination.[64] After the coup, they were barred from returning to Bangladesh and were granted asylum by India. Sheikh Hasina lived in New Delhi in exile before returning to Bangladesh on 17 May 1981.[65]

On November 17, 2023, an episode named The Assassin Next Door of The Fifth Estate produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation revealed how one of the assassins Noor Chowdhury had fled to Canada now residing in a condo in Etobicoke west of Toronto as told by High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Canada Dr. Khalilur Rahman, who demands his extradition to Bangladesh.[66]

Tributes

The assassination changed the course of politics in Bangladesh, and the ramifications of which are still being felt across South Asia. Many world leaders, eminent personalities, at that time, expressed their shock and condemned the heinous act of killing.[67]

Fidel Castro, leader and the president of Cuba, said,

"The oppressed people of the world have lost a great leader of theirs in the death of Sheikh Mujib. And I have lost a truly large-hearted friend."[67]

Henry Kissinger, American diplomat and politician, said,

"A dynamic leader like Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will not be found in the Asian continent in the next twenty years"[67]

Willy Brandt, nobel laureate and former chancellor of Germany, said,

"Bengalis can no longer be trusted after the killing of Sheikh Mujib. Those who killed Mujib can do any heinous thing."[67]

Yasser Arafat, the president of Palestine, said

"Uncompromising combative leadership and tender heart were the hallmarks of Mujib's character."[67]

Indira Gandhi, the prime minister of India, said,

"I am shocked by the news of Sheikh Mujib's death. He was a great leader. His unique general courage was an inspiration to the people of Asia and Africa."[67]

Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq, said,

"Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the first martyr of the struggle to establish socialism. Thus, he is immortal."[67]

Mark Tully, the bureau chief of BBC, said,

"The life of the man who was indeed the Father of the nation because he was the sole leader of the movement which led to the birth of Bangladesh ended in tragedy."

Fenner Brockway, member of the UK HOUSE OF LORDS, said,

"Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is enshrined in the freedom which he won for all the people of Bangladesh, every man, woman and child. He was a great leader as George Washington, Gandhi and The Valera. He strove to give them not only political freedom but social and economic freedom, to be enjoyed in their daily lives. His assassination was more than a crime against one man, it a crime against the whole nation. It is for the new generation in Bangladesh to achieve Mujib's aim of a nation that is not only politically independent but which applies that independence to give a complete human life to all its citizens."[67]"

Kenneth Kaunda, the president of Zambia, said,

"Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has inspired the Vietnamese people."[67]

British Minister James Lamond said,

"In the assassination of Bangabandhu, not only Bangladesh became an orphan, but the world also lost a great leader."[67]

According to the Financial Times,

"Bangladesh would never have been born without Mujib."[67]

Time magazine mentioned in one of their articles on April 5, 1982,

"Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's tenure was the first and longest democratic tenure in the first ten years of independent Bangladesh. After the assassination of Sheikh Mujib, the hero of the freedom struggle and the first elected Prime Minister, on August 15, 1975, the democratic rule came to an abrupt end."[67]

Protest and Rebellion

After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, protests took place beginning in Barguna. Freedom fighter Motaleb Mridha Barguna SDO Siraj Uddin Ahmed led BLA president Jahangir Kabir with 10-15 BLA workers in a procession. Later, leaders and workers of the Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League of Barguna joined in the protest. On the morning of August 15, protests were held in various places including Kishoreganj, Bhairab, Khulna, Jessore, Faridganj in Chandpur, Mohanganj in Netrakona, and Gafargaon in Mymensingh.[68][69]

Later, Abdul Kader Siddique divided 17,000 Mujib fighters into 7 fronts and waged a resistance war for 22 months. 104 fighters were killed and hundreds were injured. Among them, the rebellion and struggle of 500 youths of Sherpur Sadar, Srivardi, Jhenaigati and Nakla upazilas of '500 protesters of Sherpur' was discussed.[70]

Mufti Nurullah protested this in his Friday prayer sermon the next day.[71]

In August, Chittagong City College students protested. Freedom fighter commander Maulvi Syed, student leader ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury and later Awami League leader S.M. Yusuf began to resist.[72]

On October 18, the Student League and Student Union protested by writing posters and writing on the walls of Dhaka University. A protest rally was held on October 20.[73]

On August 18, 1976, 5 freedom fighters Javed Ali, Nikhil Dutt, Subodh Dhar, Dipal Das, Mofiz Uddin were killed in an army operation. The surviving youth fighter, Biswajit Nandi, was arrested and sentenced to be executed by hanging after being found guilty by a military court on May 18, 1977. Influenced by influential world leaders including Indira Gandhi, Biswajit received a commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment. He was released in 1989.[74]

Trial and executions

Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Dhaka

The military decided not to court-martial the military officers who masterminded and participated in the coup. A. F. M. Mohitul Islam, personal assistant to Sheikh Mujib and a survivor of the attack on his house, attempted to file a case against the military officers, but the police slapped him in the face and refused to file the report.[75] The assassination conspirators could not be tried in a court of law because of the Indemnity Act passed by the government under President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad. When the Awami League, led by Mujib's daughter, Sheikh Hasina, won elections in 1996, the act was repealed. The Bangabandhu murder trial began with the case filing by A. F. M. Mohitul Islam.[76]

Colonel (Rtd.) Syed Faruque Rahman was arrested from his Dhaka home, and Colonel (Rtd.) Bazlul Huda was brought back from Bangkok, where he was serving a prison sentence for shoplifting as part of a criminal exchange program between Thailand and Bangladesh. Lieutenant Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed was in active military service when he was arrested. Colonel (Rtd.) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan had been appointed to active diplomatic service by previous Prime Minister of Bangladesh Begum Khaleda Zia, but he returned to Bangladesh and was arrested when he was recalled by the foreign ministry. Colonel (Rtd.) Abdur Rashid and other accused individuals had already left Bangladesh, however. They believed that the upcoming 1996 general election would be an Awami League victory, which would result in the repealing of the Indemnity Act and their subsequent arrest. Colonel (Rtd.) Rashid now reportedly shuttles between Pakistan and Libya. All these men were also involved in Jail Killing on 3 November 1975, when four Awami League officials were assassinated.

The first trial ended on 8 November 1998. The District and Session Judge of Dhaka, Mohammad Golam Rasul, ordered the death sentence by firing squad to fifteen out of the twenty accused of conspiring in the assassination. The sentences were not carried out immediately, because five of the convicts sought to file appeals in the high court division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. The Supreme Court, consisting of Justice Mohammad Ruhul Amin and Justice A. B. M. Khairul Haque, who was the former Chief Justice of Bangladesh, gave a divisive verdict. Senior Justice Amin acquitted five out of the original fifteen accused, whereas Junior Justice Haque upheld the lower court's verdict. A verdict from a third judge became necessary. Later, Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim condemned twelve out of original fifteen, including two acquitted in Justice Amin's verdict. One of the convicts, Major (Rtd.) Aziz Pasha died in Zimbabwe on 2 June 2001.[77]

Although the five accused appealed to the appellate division of the Supreme Court, their decision remained pending from August 2001. Several judges refused to hear the case, which meant the government lacked the three judges required to hold a hearing session. On 18 June 2007, one of the conspirators who had been sentenced to death, Major (Rtd.) A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed was extradited to Bangladesh from the United States following a series of failed attempts to gain asylum or permanent residency in the United States. On 7 August 2007, the murder case hearings resumed after a six-year delay.[78] The appellate division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh gave its verdict on 19 November 2009,[79] after a five-member special bench, headed by Justice Mahammad Tafazzal Islam, spent 29 days hearing the petition filed by the convicted.[80][81]

The appeal of the convicts was rejected, and the death sentence was upheld.[82] Before the verdict, approximately 12,000 extra policemen were deployed to guard strategic buildings, including the Supreme Court building, to prevent disruption of the proceedings by the convicted men's supporters. Nevertheless, they were blamed by the government for a grenade attack on one of the prosecution lawyers in October 2009, although no one has been charged yet.[82]

Captain (Rtd.) Qismet Hashem, Captain (Rtd.) Nazmul Hossain Ansar, and Major (Rtd.) Abdul Majid were acquitted through the high court division and appellate division verdicts and now lives in Canada.[83] Taheruddin Thakur, former Information Minister and one of the suspects, was cleared during the Hasina Government, acquitted in trial, and released. He died of natural causes in 2009.[80] Conspirators Major (Rtd.) Bazlul Huda, Lieutenant Colonel (Rtd.) Mohiuddin Ahmed, Major (Rtd.) A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Colonel (Rtd.) Syed Faruque Rahman, and Colonel (Rtd.) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan were executed by hanging on 28 January 2010.[84][85]

On 11 April 2020, Abdul Majed was executed by hanging. He had returned to Bangladesh the previous month after being a fugitive for 23 years.[86]

Literary interpretation of the assassination

The literary texts regarding the impact of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman are categorized into three sections: (1) the literature which explains the background of the assassination; (2) the literature which describes the assassination incidences detailed or implied; and (3) the political polarization after the incidences.

Background in the literature

Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood book cover.

The literature ranges from the year of the incident to recent works explaining the causes behind the assassination. Some literature that highlights the causes of the military coup include the books: Empires at war: a short history of modern Asia since World War II,[87] A Political and Economic Dictionary of South Asia,[88] and Cascades of Violence: War, Crime and Peacebuilding Across South Asia. A sect of literature highlight the rise of paramilitary groups such as the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini and the Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party. Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood is the book which knits the web of these factional elements and their operations in the decade of 70's. The economic meltdown, the flood in 1974 and the preceding famine are also discussed as factors in Democracy and Famine.

Military resentment

The 15 August 1975 Mujibur assassination marks the first direct military intervention in the then administration- centric Bangladesh politics. There are references on the condensation of the political misunderstanding among the “Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini” founded in 1972 by the patronization of Mujib, Mukti Bahini founded during the war time, and the military. It is reported that the military would receive 50-60% funding during the Pakistani period that the Muijb government reduced it to 13% that raised a tacit resentment among the military.

Rise of factional groups

The Liberation war ended. The occupied forces surrendered and left the country. Bangladesh then had to face a second-level of factionalism among the people in the country that literature portrays. The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam presents the ravages of war, the confrontation with religious fundamentalism and the socio-political disharmony interplaying in the war torn country. The cover page of the book reads:

Set in Bangladesh at a time when Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise, The Good Muslim is an epic story about faith, family and the long shadow of war. Tahmima Anam, the prize-winning author of A Golden Age, offers a moving portrait of a sister and brother who struggle with the competing loyalties of love and belief as they cope with the lasting ravages of war and confront the deeply intimate roots of religious extremism. Echoing the intensity and humanity of Thrity Umrigar's The Space Between Us, Abraham Verghese's Cutting for Stone, and Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss, Anam's "accomplished and gripping novel", in the words of author Pankaj Mishra, "describes not only the tumult of a great historical event, but also the small but heroic struggles of individuals living in the shadow of revolution and war".

The period 1971-1975 experienced the changes of role among the veterans due to their new orientation on the socio-economic-political scenarios. Siraj Sikdar was one of them who was one of the front line freedom fighters; yet he had to change his political aesthetics around 1973 and indulged in militancy by the name of "Proletarian Party". Antony Mascarenhas has commented in the "Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood" (1986) that Shamim Shikder, sister of Siraj Sikder, blames the government for the death of him in the police custody on 3 January 1975.

Economic meltdown

Olivier Rubin in his book “Democracy and Famine” has remarked that one-party state is a reality if the famine engulfs the fragile democratic society. He pointed out the 1974 famine in Bangladesh as a case study. As a new independent country, Bangladesh had to experience economic crisis. The flood in July and August, 1974 triggered the crisis exponentially. Thus, food scarcity, improper distribution of leftover food reported to have 1 to 1.5 million of death in Bangladesh. This led the then Mujib government in question. And these critical atmospheres led to the assassination of the Father of the nation according to the case study of Olivier Rubin.

Incidents reflected in the literature

Apart from the news of electronic and print media; the novels, poetry, and performing arts draw the harrowing pictures of the assassination.

Novels

Deyal (Walls)[89] is a novel by Humayun Ahmed that narrates the assassination of the father of the nation. This is the only novel that takes the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the background, though the novel raised some contradictions on the factual inconsistencies in some cases, and eventually the court declared ruling against the publication of the book without correction.

Critics say that Colonel Farooq, the killer of Bangabandhu, has been shown in this novel as a little great. However, Dr. Syed Manzoorul Islam has a distinct opinion that Humayun Ahmed had allowed him to read the draft copy of the wall. The opinion tells,

After reading the book, it did not seem that the villains had been made great. On the contrary, after reading the whole book, a kind of sincere respect and love for Bangabandhu was born in our minds[90]

Deyal may be contradictory on the political ground; but it brings the legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that implicates the killing was a remarkable moment in the History of Bangladesh.[91]

Literary reflection of the aftermath

A graffiti at Bangladesh Agricultural University

Poetry

The first literary piece on the remembrance of Bangabandhu at his assassination was an elegy. It is reported and well documented that Moulovi Sheikh Abdul Hamid, the close friend of Bangabandhu, at Tungipara  was the first composer of the elegy in the memory of the death of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was the man who laid down the assassinated man in the grave and conducted all the funeral rites.[92] He wrote in emotion:

O great one—whose flesh, blood and bones are interred in this grave

Whose light lit up all of Hindustan, and especially Bangladesh

I am dedicating myself to your grave, to you who is lying in this grave.[93]

Poetry exceeded in numbers in comparison to other literary media to highlight the aftereffect of the assassination on 15 August 1975 and afterwards linked to the assassination of the founder of the nation. Nirmalendu Goon, Syed Shamsul Haque, Shamsur Rahman, Mahadev Saha were remarkable poets whose pen raised concern for the death of the father of the nation. Nirmalendu Goon was outspoken in his poems to celebrate the legacy of Bangabandhu. He has three great poems on Bangabandhu that goes-

  1. Sei Rattrir Kolpokahini ("A Tale of That Night")
  2. Swadhinota- Eai Sobdo Ti Kivabe Amader Holo ( Liberation: How We Owned this Word)[2]
  3. Let me speak out Bangabandhu in the poems![94]

A Tale of That Night draws the crimson picture of the fateful night of the vile assassination. The stanza of the poem goes;

Your legs didn't stagger even for once

Nor did your eyes twitch;

To stop wastage of bullets of the coup de tat

You thrust forth your chest, for you know,

Every bullet costs more than a farmer's meal. (“A Tale of That Night”)[93]

The poet, Nurul Huda, directly hinted to the loss of the country that Bangadesh had on the 15th August, 1975. His poem Fifteen August speaks;

Today it's empty and blazing all around,

Today all feel shattered to the core in grief,

All over Radha, Vanga, Harikela, Samatata ,

Let heavy rains pour on the Bangalees' thunderstruck chest (p. 7)

The poets of the West Bengal were likely moved by this incidents and they had to write elegiac notes, and eulogy for Bangabandhu. The name of the Poet, Annada Shankar Roy comes first. The poet and essayist writes in his poem, Bangabandhu that

As long as the rivers Padma, Jamuna,

Gauri, Meghna run,

So long will survive your glory

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. (Bangabandhu)[95]

Shamsur Rahman had political and historical conscience and he could duly reflect them in his poetry. The being of Bangladesh and its struggle against tyranny is visible in the lines. Bangabandhu covered a great spaces in his writings related to the liberation war, political upheavals and even the assassination taken place in 1975. The poems referred highlight the loss, repentance, agony, and anger for the perpetrators who grasped the statue of freedom to vandalize it:  

"Bangladesh Swapna Dekhe", (Bangladesh dreams)

"Dhaynya Sei Purush", (The Successful Man)

"Nam", (Name)

"Bhaskar Purush", (An Enlightened Man)

"Tomar Nam Ek Biplab", (Revolution is Thy Name)

'Sonar Murtir Kahini, (A History of Golden Statue)

The writer did not stop here only with the drops of tears. He dreamed of the revenge for this. Here "The Song of Electra" (Electrar Gaan) in the poetry "The Sky of Ikarus" (Ikraser Akash) (1982) reveals the motif of vengeance with the allusion of the mythical story of Electra who had intension to avenge for the killing of her father "Agamemnon". She reveals "My heat burns as a Red Hibiscus with the fire of Vengeance" (64).[96]

Movies

After the carnage happened on 15 August 1975; several coups de tat took place and 3 November 1975 killing of the four national leaders in the custody was second in importance. Yet, few grand literatures are written in these clamorous times of Bangladeshi history. However, August 1975, a film directed by Shamim Ahamed Roni and produced by Selim Khan is a memorable contribution in the case of performing art. This movie portrays the dusky situations prevailing after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.Thus, the film is an addition to the realm of literary history that could make the after-assassination visualize through the literary pieces

Songs

A song that creates an eternal appeal is "Jodi Raat Pohale Shona Jeto" (If the dawn spread the resurrection).

If the dawn spread the resurrection

Of Bangabandhu,

If the highways became crowdy with procession

That 'We want His freedom';

The world could have a great leader

The Bangalee could get their father.  

The man never bowed down like a coward,

Before the tyrants and miscreants,

He rather snatched back our freedom

From the clutches of heinous occupants.

No one is so great a Bangalee

That the history repeats someday,

You can never cover up the truth

That will peep out of the fake.[97]

Hasan Matiur Raham is the song writer; Moloy Kumar Ganguly is the music composer and the singer for this song. In 1990, Matiur Rahman wrote this song and Moloy Kumar, the singer for the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra composed the music. He expressed that it took 15 minutes for him to make it as a song. This song first recorded in the production company of Hasan Matiur Rahman in 1991 for the election campaign of Bangladesh Awami League. This song is made to sing by Sabina Yasmin in 1997 and Farid Ahmed arranged the music for this remake.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hasan, Mubashar (2020). Islam and Politics in Bangladesh:The Followers of Ummah. Springer Singapore. p. 13. ISBN 9789811511165.
  2. ↑ Rahman, Sheikh Mujibur (2012). Sheikh Mujibur Rahman:The Unfinished Memoirs. Penguin Books Limited. p. 28. ISBN 9788184757033.
  3. ↑ বাশার, রিয়াজুল; আতিক, ফয়সল (14 August 2017). ১৫ অগাস্ট: কী ছিল সেদিনের পত্রিকায়. bdnews24.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  4. ↑ কল্লোল, কাদির (15 August 2015). প্রথম অভ্যুত্থান যেভাবে পাল্টে দেয় বাংলাদেশের গতিপথ. বিবিসি বাংলা (in Bengali). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  5. ↑ আজ জাতীয় শোক দিবস. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 15 August 2017.
  6. ↑ স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ ১৯৭১: বিবিসি ও অন্যান্য আন্তর্জাতিক গণমাধ্যমে কতটা এসেছিলো বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতার ঘোষণা?. BBC News বাংলা (in Bengali).
  7. ↑ "Home" সে রাতে যেভাবে মুজিব স্বাধীনতার ঘোষণা পাঠান. bdnews24.com (in Bengali).
  8. ↑ বঙ্গবন্ধুর স্বাধীনতার ঘোষণা: গণপরিষদ ও সংবিধান. The Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali).
  9. 1 2 Harun-or-Rashid (2012). "Rahman, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  10. ↑ Pike, Francis (2010). Empires at war: a short history of modern Asia since World War II. I.B. Tauris. p. 569. ISBN 978-1-4416-5744-2. OCLC 656823453.
  11. ↑ Schottli, Jivanta; Mitra, Subrata K.; Wolf, Siegried (8 May 2015). A Political and Economic Dictionary of South Asia. Routledge. p. 337. ISBN 978-1-135-35576-0. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  12. ↑ Braithwaite, John; D'Costa, Bina (February 2018). Cascades of Violence: War, Crime and Peacebuilding Across South Asia. ANU Press. p. 337. ISBN 978-1-76046-190-4. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  13. ↑ Nyrop, Richard F. (1975). Area Handbook for Bangladesh. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 200. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  14. ↑ Ahmed, Salahuddin (2003). Bangladesh : past and present. New Delhi: A.P.H. Publishing Corporation. p. 258. ISBN 9788176484695. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
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  16. ↑ "Sheikh Kamal the person I knew". banglanews24.com. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  17. ↑ Asia Yearbook. Review Publishing Company. 1976. p. 110. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
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  19. ↑ Franda, Marcus F. (1982). Bangladesh, the First Decade. South Asian Publishers. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-88333-006-7. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  20. ↑ খন্দকার, এ কে; হাসান, মঈদুল; মীর্জা, এস আর (2009). মুক্তিযুদ্ধের পূর্বাপর: কথোপকথন (in Bengali). প্রথমা প্রকাশন. p. 144. ISBN 978-984-8765-22-7. Retrieved 9 July 2023. এ সম্পর্কে আমি আরও কিছু বলব। ১৯৭৫ সালে এক মুক্তিযোদ্ধা আমার সঙ্গে দেখা করতে এসেছিলেন। কথায় কথায় ওই মুক্তিযোদ্ধা আমাকে বললেন, স্যার, বঙ্গবন্ধু বলতেন, টাকা খরচ করো না, ফুলের মালা দিয়ে বিয়ে করো। অথচ তিনি নিজে তার ছেলেদের বিয়ে দিচ্ছেন সোনার মুকুট পরিয়ে এবং সেটা টিভিতে দেখানো হচ্ছে। এই যে দুই রকমের মান ও কথার অসংগতি--এটা তো মানুষ গ্রহণ করবে না।' তারপর আমার এক বন্ধু, তার নাম বলব না, যিনি শেখ সাহেবের বেশ ঘনিষ্ঠ ছিলেন, তিনি যখন-তখন শেখ সাহেবের বাড়িতে যেতে পারতেন এবং তার সঙ্গে দেখা করতে পারতেন, তিনি তেল কোম্পানিতে কাজ করতেন, স্বাধীনতার পর শোনা গিয়েছিল শেখ কামাল ব্যাংক লুট করতে গিয়ে গুলি খেয়ে হাসপাতালে ছিলেন, ওই ভদ্রলোক বললেন, "আমি তারপর বঙ্গবন্ধুর বাড়িতে গেছি, তখন দুপুর, শেখ মুজিব ও তার পরিবারের অন্য সদস্যরা খাবারঘরে খাচ্ছেন। আমি যেতেই শুনলাম, শেখ সাহেব বলছেন, 'তোদের যখন লোক ধরে মারতে আরম্ভ রবে, তখন আমি যে কী করব! আমি জানি না'।" এ কথা থেকে সহজেই অনুমেয় নেতৃত্বের মধ্যেই গলদ ছিল।
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  31. ↑ "Farooq's confession". The Daily Star. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
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  41. ↑ Islam, Sirajul (2012). "Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  42. 1 2 Datta-Ray, Sunanda K. (6 February 2010). "Tread Warily to the Dream". The Telegraph (Opinion). Calcutta, India. Archived from the original on 8 February 2010.
  43. 1 2 3 Mascarenhas, Anthony (1986). Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood. Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 48–55. ISBN 978-0-340-39420-5. Retrieved 10 July 2020. One day during a combing operation in Tongi area north of Dhaka Major Nasser who was commanding another squadron of the Bengal Lancers, arrested three small-time thugs. In the course of the interrogation one of the men broke down and told the army officers a story about a particularly gruesome triple murder which had rocked Tongi the previous winter. It transpired that a newly married couple travelling to their home in a taxi had been waylaid on the outskirts of town. The bridegroom and the taxi driver were hacked to death and their bodies thrown in the river. The bride, who was carried off to an isolated cottage, was repeatedly raped by her abductors. Three days later her mutilated body was found on the road near a bridge.Confessing to his part in the crime, the thug told the army men the police investigation was called off when they found out that the ring-leader of the gang was his boss, Muzamil, chairman of the Tongi Awami League. According to Farook, the confession so infuriated the interrogating officer, a boyish lieutenant named Ishtiaque who had since resigned and left the country, that "he started kicking the chap so hard that he died of internal injuries". Muzamil himself was taken by Major Nasser to Dhaka for prosecution after he confirmed from police records that the thug had been telling the truth. According to Farook, Muzamil offered Nasser 300,000 Takkas for his release. "Don't make it a public affair", the Awami Leaguer advised him. "You will anyway have to let me go, either today or tomorrow. So why not take the money and forget about it?" Nasser, who was affronted by this blatant attempt to bribe him, swore he would bring Muzamil to trial and make him hang for his crime. He handed him over to the civil authorities. Farook said they were all astonished a few days later to find that Muzamil had been released on Shiekh Mujib's intervention. "I told you to take the money", Muzamil crowed. "You would have been the gainers. Now I have been released anyway and you get nothing."The incident shattered Farook and his colleagues. Tongi marked the turning point for them. "It seemed as if we were living in a society headed by a criminal organization. It was as if the Mafia had taken over Bangladesh. We were totally disillusioned. Here was the head of government abetting murder and other extreme things from which he was supposed to protect us. This was not acceptable. We decided he must go". "…when hope is extinguished, accountability denied and the people have nothing further to lose, they turn to violence to redress their wrongs".
  44. 1 2 Obaidullah, A. T. M. (2018). Institutionalization of the Parliament in Bangladesh: A Study of Donor Intervention for Reorganization and Development. Springer. p. 32. ISBN 978-981-10-5317-7. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  45. ↑ "Farooq's confession". The Daily Star. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  46. ↑ "A glimpse into the dark design". The Daily Star. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  47. 1 2 আসাদুজ্জামান (Asaduzzaman) (15 August 2018). বস সবকিছুর ব্যবস্থা নিচ্ছেন (The boss is taking care of everything). Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Dhaka. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  48. ↑ Long shadow of the August 1975 coup Daily Sun, 14 August 2015.
  49. ↑ Nagarajan, K. V. (September 1982). "Review: Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution by Lawrence Lifschultz". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Sage Publications. 463: 169–170. doi:10.1177/0002716282463001029. JSTOR 1043636. S2CID 220852483.
  50. ↑ The past is never dead – The long shadow of the August 1975 coup. By Lawrence Lifschultz. The Daily Star, vol. 5 # 434, 15 August 2005.
  51. ↑ Ziaur Rahman informed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman earlier about coup threat Archived 5 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  52. ↑ Singh, Ajay; Murtaza Ali, Syed. "CLOSING A BLOODY CHAPTER: A landmark ruling convicts Mujib's assassins". CNN. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  53. ↑ Dewan, Amlan (8 May 2020). আন্ধা হাফিজের সাক্ষাৎকার – অম্লান দেওয়ান (Interview with Andha Hafiz – Amlan Dewan). মুক্তিযুদ্ধ ই-আর্কাইভ (Liberation War E-Archieve) (in Bengali). Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  54. ↑ Dasgupta 1978, pp. 63–64: "According to foreign journalists, the operation started at 12.30 A.M. ... divided into four groups. The first group rolled towards Mujib's residence ... The first group was formed with selected soldiers from the Bengal Lancers of the First Armoured Division and 535 Infantry Regiment. It was put under Major Huda. "
  55. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "প্রত্যক্ষদর্শীদের জবানবন্দি". Prothom Alo. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  56. 1 2 Dasgupta 1978, p. 64, para 2: "Reports reveal that, Mujib summoned Colonel Jamil, the new chief of the Military Intelligence over the phone. Colonel Jamil arrived fast and ordered the army to return to the barracks ... Then a rapid burst from machine guns mowed down Jamil right in front of the gate. Mujib was asked to step down from power then."
  57. ↑ Dasgupta 1978, pp. 65–66: "[soldiers] quickly surrounded Mujib's residence. A couple of rounds were fired. No resistance came from the army platoon guarding the President's house ... The first round of fire had brought Sheikh Kamal hurrying down to the reception on the ground floor ... A short burst, and his body, riddled with bullets sank to the floor."
  58. ↑ Dasgupta 1978, p. 67: "The murderers rushed upstairs ... they came across Begum Lutfunnessa Mujib ... Shots rang out again. Begum Mujib lay on the floor, dead ... A group searched the ground floor. In the lavatories, they found Sheikh Nasser and a couple of servants and gunned them down. The other group charged into Mujib's bedroom. There they found the two daughters-in-law of Mujib along with Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Russel ... they, too, were not spared by these butchers."
  59. ↑ Dasgupta 1978, p. 65: "Lieutenant Moalemuddin sped for the residence of Sheikh Mani with three trucks full of soldiers ... while Major Shahriar and Captain Huda went out with some soldiers to get rid of Minister Abdur Rab Sarniabat."
  60. ↑ Dasgupta 1978, p. 64, para 3: "At the same time at 13/1 Dhanmandi Sheikh Fazlul Haq and his pregnant wife, and on Mineta Road, Abdur Rab Sarniabat with the 13 members of his family, were butchered ..."
  61. ↑ Dasgupta 1978, p. 64, para 1: "[The] fourth group, the most powerful of the lot, proceeded towards Savar, near Dacca, to repel the anticipated counter-attack by the Security Forces. It did run against some resistance at Savar. But once the shelling took toll of eleven people, the leaderless Security Force surrendered".
  62. ↑ Dasgupta 1978, pp. 77–78: "3 November ... Khondakar also knew that the situation was bound to be grave once Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Kamaruzzaman and Mansur Ali were released ... Khondakar had had them arrested under various pretexts shortly after Mujib's assassination, and they were still rotting in Dacca Jail. So, Khondakar ... managed to allow the associates of the "killers" [the seven Majors who assassinated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman] inside the jail to brutally kill these four leaders."
  63. ↑ শেখ মুজিব হত্যার পর জেনারেল জিয়া যে মন্তব্য করেছিলেন (General Zia made that comment after the assassination of Sheikh Mujib) (in Bengali). BBC News. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  64. ↑ "Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina requests extradition of Bangabandhu killers from US". Business Standard. Press Trust of India. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  65. ↑ Ahmed, Helal Uddin (2012). "Hasina, Sheikh". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  66. ↑ "Why the killer of Bangladesh's first president is free in Canada". The Fifth Estate. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 November 2023 – via YouTube.
  67. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "মুজিব হত্যায় বিশ্বনেতা ও গণমাধ্যমের প্রতিক্রিয়া". BDNews24. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  68. ↑ "শোকাবহ আগস্ট ও বঙ্গবন্ধু হত্যার প্রতিবাদ". Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  69. ↑ "বঙ্গবন্ধু হত্যার প্রথম প্রতিবাদ হয় বরগুনায়". Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  70. ↑ "শেরপুরের ৫০০ প্রতিবাদীর লড়াই". Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  71. ↑ "মুজিববর্ষে কোনও আয়োজন নেই কওমি মাদ্রাসায়". Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  72. ↑ "মুজিব হত্যার প্রতিবাদকারীদের বিরুদ্ধে দায়ের করা 'চট্টগ্রাম ষড়যন্ত্র' মামলার কী হয়েছিল?". Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  73. ↑ "বঙ্গবন্ধু হত্যার পর প্রতিবাদী ছাত্র আন্দোলন". চ্যানেল আই অনলাইন. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  74. ↑ "শোকাবহ আগস্ট ও বঙ্গবন্ধু হত্যার প্রতিবাদ". Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  75. ↑ "Ordeals of plaintiff". The Daily Star. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  76. ↑ "Mohitul Islam passes away". The Daily Star. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  77. ↑ 6 killers still out of reach Archived 21 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  78. ↑ "Bangabandhu murder case hearing resumes today after 6 years". The Daily Star. 7 August 2007.
  79. ↑ Major Md. Bazlul Huda (Artillery) & Ors. vs. The State, Criminal Appeal Nos. 55–59 of 2007 Archived 22 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  80. 1 2 "Mujib murder case appeals verdict today". New Age. Dhaka. Archived from the original on 2 August 2010.
  81. ↑ "Security tightened around SC". The Daily Star. 19 November 2009.
  82. 1 2 "Bangladesh officers lose appeal". BBC News. 19 November 2009.
  83. ↑ "3 Sentenced to Death for Killing Bangladeshi Leaders". Arab News. 21 October 2004. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  84. ↑ Ahmed, Anis (27 January 2010). "Bangladesh Hangs Killers of Independence Leader Mujib". Reuters.
  85. ↑ Charlie Gillis (15 February 2011). "The assassin among us – Nur Chowdhury faces execution for killing Bangladesh's president. That's why he's safe in Canada". Maclean's.
  86. ↑ "Bangladesh executes killer of founding president". BBC News. 12 April 2020.
  87. ↑ Pike, Francis (2010). Empires at war : a short history of modern Asia since World War II. I.B. Tauris. pp. 569–570. ISBN 978-1-4416-5744-2. OCLC 656823453.
  88. ↑ Mitra, Subrata Kumar (2006). A political and economic dictionary of South Asia. Siegfried O. Wolf, Jivanta Schöttli, Cathy Hartley (First ed.). London [England]. ISBN 978-0-203-40326-6. OCLC 912319314.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  89. ↑ Ahmed, Humayun (2013). Deyal (in Bengali) (1st ed.). Dhaka: Ananya Prokash. ISBN 978-984-502-127-2. OCLC 1130384024.
  90. ↑ হুমায়ূন আহমেদের 'দেয়াল' 'রাজনৈতিক উপন্যাস নয়'. Deutsche Welle (in Bengali). 20 July 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  91. ↑ Alim, Syed Fattahul (22 May 2012). "A novelist's dilemma". The Daily Star. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  92. ↑ "Who wrote the first poem about Bangabandhu after his death?". Dhaka Tribune. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  93. 1 2 Basak, Suresh Ranjan (2021). "Tributes of Tears: Poems on the Assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman". Bangla Academy Journal. 1 (December) – via ResearchGate.
  94. ↑ Goon, Nirmalendu (2001). Selected poems of Nirmalendu Goon. Khondakāra Aśarapha Hosena, Bāṃlā Ekāḍemī. Dhaka: Bangla Academy. ISBN 984-07-4125-X. OCLC 48223363.
  95. ↑ "Roy, Annadashankar. " Bangabandhu." Chorasamagro (Collected Rhymes), Calcutta: Banishilpo, 1985. – Search". bing.com. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  96. ↑ Rahman, Shamsur (1982). Ikaruser Akash (The Sky of Ikarus) (in Bengali) (1st ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Annannya. ISBN 9847034307061.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
  97. ↑ যেভাবে 'যদি রাত পোহালে শোনা যেত বঙ্গবন্ধু মরে নাই' গান. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Retrieved 24 July 2022.

Further reading

  • Dasgupta, Sukharanjan (1978). Midnight Massacre in Dacca. New Delhi: Vikas. ISBN 0-7069-0692-6.
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