Justice Commission on 1975 and post-1975 junctures demanded

Those who rose to power following the 1975 assassination of Bangabandhu and misguided the nation and prolonged their tenure by murdering freedom fighters and armed forces personnel must be unmasked, said speakers, demanding that a justice commission be formed in this regard.

They also urged conducting research on the murder of four national leaders inside the jail on November 3 in 1975 and exposing the true colours of its masterminds, said a press release of Centre for Research and Information (CRI) on Saturday.

The recommendations came at a webinar on Friday night, titled “Bloody November: Some Historical Realities”, attended by Dr Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, president of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA), Syed Badrul Ahsan, writer and researcher, Maj Gen (retd) Syed Shafayet Islam, son of Syed Nazrul Islam, and Jahidul Hasan Pintu, journalist. The webinar was conducted by journalist and former student leader Subhash Singha Roy.

“The time between August 15 and November 7 is a bloody chapter in the history of Bangladesh. The conspirators of that episode are still alive. They masterminded everything. No matter how old those incidents were, they must be unmasked,” said Syed Shafayet Islam.

“Have we taken lessons from the incident of that day in the context of today’s reality? Have we truly realized that incident? Have we been able to carry that lesson forward to this generation? That’s what we should ponder on,” he added.

Having joined the armed forces in 1975, Syed Shafayet Islam eventually became a major general in the nineties and left no stone unturned to find the documents that might shed some light on the 1975 assassination. But, by the time, all documents had been made traceless.

“Four national leaders were killed as a sequel to the assassination of Bangabandhu. The assassins figured it out well that the four leaders who had struggled alongside Bangabandhu for the country would navigate Bangladesh towards its goal if they remained alive,” said Dr Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin.

Dr Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin also called upon historians to carry the torch of the history of 1975 to the new generation.

“The fire of truth must rise from ashes. The true history must be unearthed. Amu Bhai, Selim Bhai, Tofail Bhai are writing. If we can add our observations to that, the young generation will get sufficient content,” he added.

“What role Taheruddin Thakur and Mahbub Alam Chashi played must be analysed in addition to Khondaker Mostaq and Ziaur Rahman. Many of the masterminds of August 15 died on November 3 and 7. They must undergo posthumous trials. The armed forces personnel who were involved in that murder can never be spared. We must research them as well. They must be tried,” said Syed Badrul Ahsan.

“Who were the masterminds of the murder of 12 armed forces personnel that came hot on the heels of the assassination of Bangabandhu and four national leaders? We must declassify who planned to model Bangladesh on Pakistan,” said Jahidul Hasan Pintu.

“A justice commission should be formed following interviewing the witnesses to the people becoming victims of the mass executions during the tenure of Ziaur Rahman.”