Today the people of Bangladesh are mourning the diabolic murder of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation and the architect of Bangladesh's liberation. On this day in 1975 some disgruntled members of the army assassinated Bangabandhu and most of the members of his family. Sheikh Hasina, now prime minister of Bangladesh, and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana escaped the heinous carnage as they were outside the country at the time.

Words are not powerful enough to condemn such brutality. The sole motive behind the murders became transparent soon afterwards as the killers sought to jettison the values and principles that guided our independence struggle, to turn the clock backwards. Their aim was to put the country on a reverse gear and thus destroy whatever great things were achieved through our War of Independence.

To the great misfortune of the country after Bangabandhu’s murder the instruments of the state were used to block the entire process of law and justice in its tracks by an Indemnity Ordinance providing immunity from law to a small group of murderers. Successive rulers tried their utmost to obliterate the memories of the Liberation War and efface the name of Bangabandhu from the mind of the public. They sheltered and even rewarded the killers of the great leader and also allowed communal politics to operate freely. Coups, conspiracies, social anarchy and corruption held unhindered sway in the country.

It is heartening that the grip of the killers was only short lived. The nation could recover gradually from the shocks and developments in the aftermath of the tragic killing without conclusively losing the goals of the Liberation War. Thus, in 2010, some 35 years after this heinous crime, its perpetrators were brought to justice. Five of them were hanged following a long trial. However, the dispensation of justice is still to be completed for there are six others who remain at large in foreign countries. Let the absconding killers be brought back and punished.

 We are happy to note that measures have been taken to correct the history of Bangladesh's struggle for freedom and the role of Bangabandhu in school textbooks. It is a move that will surely go a long way toward removing the falsehoods that have distorted our history since August 1975.  Bangladeshis across the world remember with great respect the immense contributions Bangabandhu made to the creation of Bangladesh and pay our homage to him. We feel that the best way to show him respect is by materialising his dream for a democratic, exploitation-free and non-communal Bangladesh, by building a country where the fundamental spirit of independence is implemented and people of all caste and creed enjoy equal rights. This can be possible by establishing truedemocracy and the rule of law at all levels.