15th August: The unknown chapter of Bangabhaban and Dhaka Cantonment
This is the first part of a three-part narrative on the heinous assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on this fateful day in 1975. With this dastardly event, the Bengali nation suffered the most tragic event in its history.
Musa Sadik
On 15 August early morning, the radio was beaming with the voice of major Dalim This is Major Dalim on the air. Sheikh Mujib, the Mir Jafar of Bengal, has been assassinated. Sheikh Mujib the Mir Jafar of Bangla has been assassinated. The government of Sheikh Mujib the Mir Jafar has been ousted. A curfew has been clamped all over the country including the city of Dhaka...
Speedily I contacted my mama Mr. Ruhul Quddus, Principal Secretary to the President. He was then in London for treatment. Before killing Bangabandhu the killers plotted to kill him on 2nd May, 1975. They made an intentional deadly accident in front of the secretariat at his car. The car was smashed and he was seriously injured. Bangabandhu sent him to London for treatment.
My mama told me, It is Zia who is behind the killing of Bangabandhu. You contact CGS Khaled Mosharraf quickly. He may do something. All the F F Officers should support him.
He further advised me to contact those CSP Secretaries loyal to him (who used to visit his house frequently) and asked them not to attend any Oath taking ceremony of the killers. So that world communities will see civilians didnt join with killer of Bangabandhu.
So, sitting with APS Abdul Mannan in his room at the ground floor(my room was on the first floor), to do the job quickly, I started calling a few secretaries and requested Mr. Mannan to contact some others to convey the message of the Principal Secretary. But he told me, Cabinet Secretary Mr. H T Imam sitting in the room of MSP is calling all Secretaries over Red Telephone to come and attend Oath taking ceremony.
Receiving the message of the Principal Secretary, most of my known Secretaries declined to attend the ceremony. I was relieved. Meanwhile, I called COD to CGS Gen Khaled Mosharraf. He told me CGS asked us to print leaflets in the name of Army disowning and rejecting the propaganda of radio that 3 Forces unitedly killed Bangabandhu.
Pronodit-Da an artist of Swadhin Bangla Betar told me he had the number of an unclassified telephone of Sheikh Kamals bedroom. He was music teacher of Khuku (wife of Sheikh Kamal). I dialled the unclassified number of Sheikh Kamal. (Regrettably I dont remember that number after all these years). After three ringing I heard someone at the other end say Hello. I said This is a friend of Sheikh Kamal speaking. How is Kamal? From the other end came a reply in chaste Urdu Bohot Achchha. Aap Koun? I said, I am a friend of his. Why is the sound of gunshots coming from around their house? the man said again in chaste Urdu, Nothing. Crackers are exploding. These people are celebrating. Who are you? From where are you speaking? Give me your telephone number, give me... At quarter-to-seven in the morning at Bangabandhus house at Road 32 voice of a man speaking chaste Urdu! I was fully convinced that whoever might have attacked Bangabandhus house, Pak troops must be among them.
COD to CGS also told me to ask all the officers to get out of Bangabhaban quickly and none should be present during oath taking ceremony of killer Mostaq so that killers cannot show the world along with the killers civil officers also joined with them. Accordingly, I told Kumar Shankar Hazra, Abdul Mannan, APS to President and some others of my confident. I called a few CSP Secretaries, who had been very close to me (due to my mama Ruhul Quddus, Principal Secretary to Bangabandhu). One of them Mr. Khorshed Alam, Sir told me later in Bangabhaban during the oath taking ceremony on the same day that after my call, Cabinet Secretary H. T. Imam called him over red telephone. But when he was a beat reluctant H. T. Imam threatened him to face the same consequence of the traitor and his family at Dhanmondi.
On the very morning of August 15 in front of us Abdur Rahim-H. T. Imam-Mahbubul Alam trio were moving around killer Moshtaq and telling everybody arriving in Bangabhaban showing the killers, these heroes of our nation saved our country from the dictator Feraun Jalim Shahee of Namrud and Feraun. The nation is grateful to these heroes. Whole nation is behind them like rock and Himalayan........ We saw Cabinet Secretary H T Imam at the Oath taking ceremony was threatening elderly Minister Phani Bhushon Mazumder (like a slave) not to cry like girls, otherwise he will face death. Virtually, our elderly beloved Phani Da was shedding tears when Army forcibly brought him from PG hospital to Bangabhaban. (He was hospitalized since Monday, August 11).
I had learnt from Mr. Abdul Mannan, APS to President that on the same day in Bangabhaban after oath taking that Major Dalim called H. T. Imam on the night of August 15 to report to Bangabhaban early morning on following day. But he didnt inform Bangabandhu about this conspiracy. Although he got minimum 6 hours time to inform Bangabandhu. Rather he reached Bangabhaban at 8:00 am on August 15, when no other Officer reached there to organize oath taking ceremony of killer Moshtaq. Mr. Mannan, belongs to West Bengal. After partition they migrated to East Pakistan like my family. Thats why we have very deep understanding and we used to trust each other blindly. We work for each other. He told me that the killers directed TT GM Mr. Tanveer of Ramna Bhaban to record all the telephonic conversation of the President. He assigned Engineer Daulat Hossein and a team to do the job at night in Ramna Bhaban TT office very secretly. (Mr. Daulat perhaps became Chairman of TT in the 80s of last Century) They also directed that TT GM shall have to employ trusted engineers of TT to rewrite all the recorded conversation after listening carefully and submit it to the APS Abdul Mannan for their consumption. They used to write down all the recorded conversation of the President on the paper.
Mr. Mannan showed me such a hand-written secret document reproduced from the tape record of discussion between Imam and the President. That was a crucial time for Imam when Imam had a tussle with Chashi and Taher Uddin Thakur. Imam was pleading that the 3 pages of Facts Finding report about Sheikh Mujib and his family prepared by Mr. Chashi, Principal Secretary should be signed by him. But Mr. Chashi and Mr. Taher Uddin Thakur asking Imam to sign it since this would be distributed to all the Officers of the Secretariate and Officers at all field levels of districts and sub-divisions. This report was a very dirty and filthy report to slander and character assassination of Sheikh Mujib. Imam also requested President to instruct Mr. Chashi to sign it and he will bare all other responsibilities to distribute to all the Civil-Servants of Bangladesh.
From that secret manuscript APS Mr. Mannan told me Imam had deep understanding with Major Dalim and other killers since long. When there was a conflict started between Chashi and him, Imam was in panicked and phoned President at a dead of night on 25th/26th August. He pleaded that he is the highest loyal Secretary to President. He will do each and everything for the President, if necessary, he will give his life for him. He also claimed that without him if somebody else conducted his oath, Foreign Ambassadors and High Commissioners may not endorse him as legal President. Because he conducted the oath many of his colleagues didnt like it. He also heard Mujib bahini at any time will attack and kill him. But he will remain loyal to him till his death. He begged President again and again and said, Sir, I beg your shelter. As Cabinet Secretary, I am keeping all Civil-Servants on your side and convincing them to support the Army. But I have heard Sir, Mr. Chashi has created some confusion about me. I have mentioned the protocol and the protocol is in a Presidential form of Government, it was Principal Secretary who sign such a Facts Finding report. But in the parliamentary form of Government, it is signed by Cabinet Secretary. Sir, let it be signed by Chashi shaheb and I as Cabinet Secretary will take all responsibilities to distribute it to all the Civil-Servants of the Government. I assure you Sir, within three days, I shall distribute the document to all the Officers of the Secretariate and to all the Officers up to the sub-division.
To end the tag of war, Mr. Chashi signed it and distributed the cyclostyled report to all the Officers all over the country (The report is available in Cabinet Division). But Moshtaq-Mahbub Alam Chashi-Taher Uddin Thakur Comilla-trio finally levelled him as a betrayer, and they put him behind the bar on 28th August 1975.
APS Mr. Mannan stated this about Top Secret Assignment of the killers, which revealed that they didnt even trust their own made President, whom they made illegally, violating the Constitution.
On August 16 mid-night being informed by Presidents Photographer Amir Khashru about some incidents on the first floor of Bangabhaban, myself and Kumar Shankar Hazra an officer of Khondakar Moshtaq went to the 1st floor, where the killers used to live.
We found the killers totally drunk held sten-gun in one hand and wine bottles in another. They were shouting abusively, Son of a traitor Mujib is dead, anybody mentioning his name will be dead. Mujibs Bangladesh is dead. Islamic Bangladesh has emerged. This is now Islamic Bangladesh. All Bengalees are bustards and all Begalee girls are prostitutes. We will fuck them. Anybody talked against us, will be dead....
After hearing all these filthy slung against our beloved mothers and sisters, we came down to ground floor. We gathered reason of their shouting and howling. That evening the killers gang alongwith President Moshtaq, General Zia and their repatriated Army officers and jawans in secret meetings in Bangabhaban and Dhaka Cantonment decided that Bangladesh would either be a Islamic Republic or join a Confederation with Pakistan. Killer Moshtaq and Zia took this decision under pressure of the killers Faruq-Rashid gang and Bengali officers and soldiers repatriated from Pakistan. Their foreign mentors also suggested them to do this to destroy the mental strength of Awami Leagers and Freedom-Fighters forever so that the myth of liberation war was lost in black hole eternally and no resistant found any supporter or any ground. To celebrate their Revolutionary achievements at mid-night the killers started drinking wine and dancing widely and were uttering dirty slungs in Bangabhaban. As if Pakistani ghost of 1971 came down on Bangabhaban on that night!
On 16 August at around 8pm we watched two micro buses loaded with girls entered in Bangabhaban. Those girls were brought by protocol wing of Foreign Ministry to Bangabhaban. The girls were taken on the 1st floor where the killers were staying.
Seeing Brigadier Mashurul Haque, C P of Foreign Ministry who led them to Bangabhaban, I along with Mr. Hazra asked him, Did you brought prostitutes for the enjoyment of the killers? Laughing at me he replied if I can ask the same question to Foreign Minister. Very boldly I replied, what the hell he is saying. I told him you know I came across Shaheedi Darja in 1971. I brought him to my office room and called Fakruddin Ahmed, Foreign Secretary and asked him directly that C P brought some prostitutes to Bangabhaban. If he has any knowledge about that. He said ask C P he has better knowledge.
On the morning of August 17 at around 9 or 10 a telephonic message was issued from Bangabhaban summoning the newspaper editors of Dhaka. About 10 or 12 editors of Dhaka, led by the senior most Editor Mr Obaidul Huq trooped into the gate of Bangabhaban. After crossing the gate as they reached near the staircase they were kept standing for more than half an hour by some armed men. The Bangladesh Observed editor Mr Obaidul Huq told the armed guards on behalf of all the visitors that they had been invited; if they were not to be let in then they would go away. Hearing this the armed guards flew into a rage and ferociously aimed their guns at the guests chests and shouted Shut up, shut up bastards, if you say a word, you are dead. The editors faced with these gun-wielding bloodhounds began to tremble in fear. Some, about to lose control of themselves, sat down on the staircase. These revered editors, in consideration of their self-respect, did not disclose the humiliation they had to suffer that day at the hands of these murderers at Bangabhaban. On Sunday 20 July, 2003 the venerable 93-year-old Obaidul Huq, the doyen of editors and voice of the nations conscience, was the chief guest at the Foundation Day ceremony of the daily Bhorer Kagoj at Hotel Sheraton. After the end of the programme I told him, The incident of the murderers training their guns on newspaper editors on 17 August, 1975 at Bangabhaban will be narrated by me in the newspapers on 15 August. He warmly clasped my hand pulled me to his side. He was flanked on the other side by the intellectual professor Mumtazuddin Ahmed. Seating me beside him he said, Musa Sadik, you wrote a piece in the daily Janakantha titled the crown on the head of murderers. No one else in this country dared to write this. For this I extend to you my sincerest thanks. You possess infinite courage. The courage the Freedom Fighters had shown in 1971 can be gauged by seeing you. I pray may Allah grant you a life-span longer than mine. Then he asked me, can you remember who was the Director of ISPR in Zias time? His name...? In my advanced age tend to slip from my memory. I too could not recollect the name at that moment. He delved into his memory for some time to recall the name and then said, Yes, yes, it was Zahid. In your writing do mention a word about Zahid. That he came to the Bangladesh Observer office to meet me one day in 1981, when Zia was in power. He disclosed, President Ziaur Rahman today signed a file approving the death sentence to two thousand officers and rankers (subalterns) for the failed coup of a few days earlier. At the time of signing, I was present there. I noted no change of expression in Ziaur Rahman If after each coup on an average two thousand officers and subalterns were executed then Zia executed 36 thousand to 38 thousand of them, in cold blood, only to save his post...
Sree Samar Sen, High Commissioner of India was in Kolkatta before 15th August tragedy. He entered Dhaka on August 17 evening from Delhi. On Monday, August 18, Sree Samar Sen, arrived in Bangabhaban on his own. After his arrival whispering started in and around the room of the President. Why he suddenly informed Presidents office of his coming? And arrive so quickly? This question was in everybodys mind in no time in Bangabhaban. After his arrival, MSP to the President presented him before the President. He posed with a smiling face before BTV cameramen and still cameraman Amir Khosru in front of the President. The moment the media men left the room of the President Mr. Sen changed into a different person and conveyed President Moshtaq with the toughest message of Delhi. The message read, Any change of the name of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh and any Confederation with any country, the Indian Army shall take appropriate measures in accordance with the legal and valid deed, which India possess. But if you abstain from changing the name of Bangladesh and so called Confederation idea, India will consider what ever had happened since August 15 as your internal matter.
(The second part of the narrative will appear tomorrow)
The writer is a war correspondent of Swadhin Bangla Betar and former secretary, Government of Bangladesh. Email: [email protected]
