The stupefying jail killings of 1975
The killers
and their mentors wanted to delete the name of the Liberation War heroes from Bangladesh and create a vacuum in the leadership
of the nation. But their remembrance by a grateful nation, today, vindicates that the killers have
failed for good in their wicked aims
November 3, 1975 witnessed one of the blackest chapters in the history of Bangladesh. The four national leaders who were at the helm of Bangladeshs Liberation War Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Captain (Retd) Mansur Ali and AHM Kamruzzamnan, were brutally killed inside the Dhaka Central Jail on this day only 79 days after the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members.
Obviously these gruesome murders were continuation of the brutal murders at Bangabandhus house as after that tragedy the four national leaders were arrested and put behind bars by the nefarious usurpers of power at that time. Hardly any careful observer of the situation in that period could miss the aspect that the barbaric slaying of the four national leaders were carried out to completely ensure that none of the towering personalities who had led our independence struggle remained alive to rekindle the spirit of the liberation war and get back at the killers to unseat them from power and avenge the killings.
Today is a day of great sorrow as we recall the very sad murders of four great sons of the country on this date who very ably led our war of independence at its decisive stage. The murderers must have stupefied the civilized world by their sheer barbarism. They just forced their way into the jail and gunned down the leaders in their most helpless conditions. From forming the government in exile in India to presiding very ably over that government during the nine-months long liberation war, plus their steering successfully the newborn countrys affairs in its earliest period amid great difficulties, the four national leaders through their deeds as distinct from only words, carved out a place of greatness in the minds and hearts of our people.
The killers and their mentors wanted to delete the name of the Liberation War heroes from Bangladesh and create a vacuum in the leadership of the nation. But their remembrance by a grateful nation, today, vindicates that the killers have failed for good in their wicked aims.
A murder case in connection with the jail killings was filed with Lalbagh Police Station on November 4, 1975, but the then government halted the trial process by promulgating an ordinance that indemnified the assassins. It was only after an Awami League led government came back to power that justice was done. In a verdict, the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for three former army personnel and life imprisonment for eight others for killing the four national leaders. The three convicts awarded the death penalty are Risalder (retd) Muslemuddin, Dafadar (dismissed) Marfat Ali Shah and Dafadar (dismissed) Abdul Hashem Mridha. However all three are absconding and are yet to face justice.
The challenge for the government is to successfully extradite them. The government should try and sign extradition treaties with the governments of the countries for the purpose where the killers are believed to be in hiding.
