First Global Call for Trying Bangabandhu’s Killers

M Nazrul Islam:

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated along with most of his family members on 15 August 1975. After Bangabandhu’s death, it was almost impossible to pronounce his name. The nation had to endure such excruciatingly painful and suffocating situations for many years.

For the pro-liberation force, it required great sacrifice, suffering and struggle to navigate through those difficult times and to return to state power. After that the killers were tried and sentenced to death in the due process of law, and the sentence was carried out. But the pain of that fateful night of August 15, 1975 is still afresh.

In Greek mythologies, we find many mythological stories that look eerily similar to real-life political events. Electra is the protagonist of one such popular Greek tragedy. We find her as the main character in two Greek tragedies, Electra of Sophocles and Electra of Euripides. Electra is the central character in plays by Aeschylus, Alfieri Voltaire, Hoffmann and Eugene O'Neill. In Greek mythology, Electra is the daughter of King Agamemnon. King Agamemnon is the main commander of the Greeks in the Trojan War. Augustus kills Agamemnon and takes the throne.

In one of his famous poems, poet Shamsur Rahman portrayed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his daughter as the characters of Agamemnon and Electra. Did this story of Greek mythology come back to Bangladesh in a slightly different form?

After the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975, the whole Bengali nation was stunned, and the country was rendered rudderless. Some of his party men were busy collaborating with the assassins and becoming a part of the illegal government. Democratic values were trampled upon by the boots of military rulers. There was no freedom of speech in the country. Even no one dared to protest the despicable killing and demand justice from outside the country. The gruesome murder of the Father of the Nation and head of the state was so shocking, terrifying and incredulous that the whole nation was apparently at a loss. None could muster enough courage to protest, let alone resist the killers. Bangabandhu’s residence at Dhanmondi 32, which used to remain abuzz most of the time with the footsteps of so many people, fell as silent as the grave.

However, just as Electra and her brother Orestes planned to avenge their father’s killing, the two daughters of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were adamant to bring the killers of their father to justice. They appealed to world leaders and the international community to hold the killers accountable.

As a matter of fact the first global call for the trial of the perpetrators of this barbaric murder came on May 10, 1979. On that day, Bangabandhu’s younger daughter Sheikh Rehena, on behalf of her elder sister Sheikh Hasina, made a clarion call to the world community for justice against the killers of Bangabandhu and four national leaders.

On May 10, 1979, a conference of all-European Bakshal was held in Stockholm in Sweden. Sheikh Hasina was invited to attend the conference as chief guest. But she couldn't go to Sweden from India for the conference. Then the leaders of all-European Bakshal requested Sheikh Rehena to represent her elder sister in the conference.

Over the phone from Delhi, Sheikh Hasina also asked her sister to go to the conference. She instructed her younger sister over the phone on what to say on the occasion. Sheikh Rehana participated in the conference. The conference was held with the sincere efforts of Abdur Razzak, the former ambassador of Bangladesh to Sweden. The present president of United Kingdom Awami League Sultan Mahmud Sharif, former ambassador to Spain Shelly Zaman and Selimuzzaman were present at the conference among others.
Sheikh Rehana read out the message of Sheikh Hasina. She also delivered a speech, which was her first speech at a political gathering. Through her speech at the international conference, she turned global attention to the darkest chapter in the country’s history. Then she for the first time raised the demand for bringing killers of Bangabandhu in a global forum participated by European country heads, the UN chief and international NGO high-ups in Stockholm.

On that day, Sheikh Rehana requested the heads of various international human rights organisations, including the head of state of various European countries, the UN Secretary General, the chairman of the UN Human Rights Commission, the chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the American Congress, the chairman of Amnesty International to put pressure on the Bangladesh government to demand justice for the murder of Bangabandhu and the four national leaders.

Sheikh Rehana’s emotional speech in a tearful voice describing the horrific incidents of 15 August 1975 created a heart-rending atmosphere at the event. A crowd of expatriate Bengali men and women and foreign politicians, members of parliament and journalists listened to her speech in pin-drop silence.

Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League returned to power after 21 years through a free, fair and impartial election held on June 12, 1996. Her government then approached the court to abolish the notorious ‘Indemnity Ordinance’. The court ruled that the ordinance was unconstitutional. Then on November 12, 1996, the infamous ‘Indemnity Ordinance’ was repealed in National Parliament.

After that, it was decided to start the process of trial as per the normal course of law of the country instead of setting up a special tribunal for the trial of the murderers. The trial procedure started on March 12, 1997 and ended on November 8, 1998. In the verdict, Judge Kazi Golam Rasul ordered to send 15 convicts to the gallows.

Then, when Awami League came back to power again in 2009, Sheikh Hasina took the necessary measures to finish the trial procedure. The final verdict of that appeal was announced on November 19, 2009. On January 27, 2010, the five accused were sentenced to death.

Today is that historic day when two daughters of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman jolted the conscience of the world community by demanding justice for one of the cruellest political assassinations in world history.

The country eventually freed itself from a stigma by delivering justice for the murders of Bangabandhu and his family members and four national leaders. The first step towards holding the trial was made on this day in distant Sweden. And the two daughters of Bangabandhu, the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana, played the leading role in making that happen.

Writer: President of the All European Awami League.
Courtesy: daily-sun.com