http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/18/stories/2008081855341100.htm
Opinion - News Analysis
Bangladesh: revival of the secular spirit
Haroon Habib
The 33rd death anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the slain
founding father of Bangladesh, was a significant occasion for the
country of 140 millions. On August 15, the nation paid tributes to
the slain leader as his death anniversary was observed as National
Mourning Day after a six-year break.
On this day in 1975, Mujib, along with most of his family members,
was assassinated by a splinter group of the army thus changing the
normal course of Bangladesh's post-independence history. His two
daughters — Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana — escaped the bloodbath
since they were abroad.
In line with a recent High Court ruling, the present caretaker
government has reinstated August 15 as National Mourning Day and a
public holiday. The step has been welcomed overwhelmingly by right
thinking people and pro-liberation political parties while the
Islamists and rightists, who still curse Mujib for breaking Pakistan,
are immensely disappointed.
The day was observed this time with wider public participation even
under the state of emergency. Awami League, the party founded by
Mujib and which led the country's liberation war from Pakistan in
1971, organised elaborate programmes after many years.
During the Awami League rule between 1996 and 2001, August 15 was
officially observed as National Mourning Day. But the BNP and Jamaat-
led alliance government under Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, after
coming to power in October 2001, scrapped the day's official status,
which the High Court declared illegal on July 27 this year.
Significantly, President Iajuddin Ahmed and Chief Adviser Fakhruddin
Ahmed, through official messages, paid tributes to the great
political leader for his historic contribution to the nation's
independence. The head of the state and head of the government also
visited Tungipara, the village home of Mujib, 100 km from Dhaka,
where he was buried by his assassins soon after the murder, to pay
tributes. The heads of three services saluted Mujib's grave.
Television channels and Bangladesh radio aired special programmes
while newspapers published special supplements on the day. The
historic March 7 speech of Mujib through which he declared
independence of the former eastern wing of Pakistan and patriotic
songs were aired throughout the day.
In the capital, hundreds of mourners wearing black badges thronged
Bangabandhu Memorial Museum on Road-32 in Dhanmondi, the house where
Mujib along with his family members were gunned down.
For those who preach political Islam, the reinstatement of state
recognition has come as a shock. With the decision the caretaker
government has reaffirmed the belief of the vast majority of the
people that Bangabandhu was not only the Father of the Nation but
also that what happened on the night of August 15, 1975 was a crime
which must be condemned .
The assassination of Mujib will go down in history as an act of
revenge by the defeated forces of 1971 war of Bangladesh's
independence. Following the tragedy, on September 26, 1975 the
usurper President Khandaker Mostaque through an Extraordinary Gazette
Notification, issued the Indemnity Ordinance, 1975 (Ordinance No.
XIX), barring the trial of the killers .
Through this ordinance the murderers were indemnified, encouraging
them to commit another historic crime. On November 3, 1975, four
independence leaders including the acting president and the prime
minister during Bangladesh's War of Liberation, were brutally killed
inside the Dhaka Central Jail by the same assassins.
It took 21 years before the crime could be addressed. The Awami
League government in 1996 took two important steps — the overturning
of the iniquitous indemnity provision and the initiation of a normal
judicial process to try those guilty of the crimes committed in 1975.
Then came the BNP government in alliance with the Jamaat-E-Islami,
the fundamentalist party which collaborated with the Pakistan army in
opposing the Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan. An obdurate
hatred for Mujib was again surfaced. On July 28, 2002, the Khaleda
Zia government cancelled the National Mourning Day, and also it being
a public holiday.
Fortunately for the people, due process of law and the principle of
natural justice were upheld when the High Court declared illegal the
cancellation of the Mourning Day and the present caretaker government
decided to abide by the decision.
But this may not be enough. The observance of 33rd death anniversary
of Mujib at the state level demands a swift completion of the trial
of his alleged killers.
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