Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh, was assassinated in his own residence in a military coup in the early hours of August 15, 1975 while he was serving as the self-declared life-long president of the country.

Background

Following the independence of Bangladesh (Dec 1971), Mujib was released from custody in Pakistan. He became the Prime Minister and later President of the newly formed state. With an intention to establish communism step by step, he soon established a system of one-party rule (see BAKSAL), banned all the newspapers except four government publications, and declared himself life-long president through a constitutional amendment in early 1975. His declaration of one party rule was opposed by many political opponents and, allegedly, CIA used this to increase propaganda against him. Corruption started to spread during those initial years of Bangladeshi independence. Other major challenges which Mujibur Rahman had to face included the humanitarian disaster (roads, banks, markets, houses & schools were destroyed)that was left behind after the 1971 war, which culminated in a devastating famine in 1974. The main charges against Mujib included nepotism and misgovernance. Public wrath foamed up as people's purchasing power plummetted and there was no sign of any improvement. The military was also not in control.

Conspirators

Syed Faruque Rahman, Abdur Rashid, Sharful Haque Dalim, all Majors in the Bangladesh Army and veterans of Mukti Bahini, hatched a conspiracy, the standard account of which is chronicled in by Anthony Mascarenhas, Hodder and Stoughton, 1986 Khondaker Mostaq Ahmed, an Awami League cabinet minister under Mujib rule, agreed to take over the Presidency. Journalist Lawrence Lifschultz paints an alternative picture of the conspiracy, implicating Mustaque and even the CIA as participants [Memoir written in 2005 by Lawrence Lifschultz] [ [http://www.jstor.org/view/0030851x/dm992005/99p0700y/0 Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution] , by Lawrence Lifschultz, London: Zed Press, 1979] but the Soviet dissident Yuri Alexandrovich Bezmenov has stated that Mujibur Rahman was killed by his own Marxist-Leninist comrades following the KGB standard procedures in instigated coups. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5vD3wuFMrE] . It is alleged that the chief of the army General Shafiullah and defence intelligence were unaware of the conspiracy. However, Mujib relied more on Rakshi Bahini, a militia, rather than army, for his ultimate security.

Events

In the early morning of August 15, 1975, the conspirators were divided into 3 groups. One group attacked Mujib's house in road number 32, Dhanmondi Residential Area in the Dhaka city . Mujib was killed on the stairs, and all the members of his family were also executed except for his two daughters who were in Germany at the time. Two other groups of soldiers killed Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni, Mujib's nephew and influential leader of Awami League, and Abdur Rab Serniabat, Mujib's brother-in-law, and a minister of the Government. Three months later, four major leaders of Awami League, Tajuddin Ahmed, Mansur Ali, Syed Nazrul Islam and AHM Kamruzzaman were arrested and jailed (they would later be murdered in jail on November 4, 1975).

Aftermath

Dictated by the coup masterminds, Khondaker Mustaq Ahmed assumed presidency and the participating army officers became the de-facto leaders of the country. They were later toppled by yet another coup led by General Khaled Mosharraf on November 3, 1975. Mosharraf himself was killed in a counter coup on November 7, which installed General Ziaur Rahman in power. In the meanwhile Faruque Rahman, Rashid, and the other army officers had been promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonels. They were exiled in Libya and other countries, and were given several diplomatic posts in Bangladesh missions abroad. Faruque later returned and founded the Bangladesh Freedom Party.

Trial

The military took no action like "court martial" against the military officials who masterminded and participated in the coup. No case was also registered with the police either by relatives of Mujib or his party men. In fact the conspirators could not also be tried in court of law on the charge of assassination, because the Indemnity Ordinance passed by the government under president Khondaker Mustaq Ahmed and participated by followers of Mujib gave them a blanket pardon for any acts committed on August 15, 1975. However, when the Awami League, led by Mujib's daughter, Sheikh Hasina, won the election in 1996, it repealed the ordinance. The Bangabandhu murder trial commenced, and Faruque, and some other coup leaders were arrested. Rashid, however, escaped arrest as he was reportedly in Libya. The trial ended in death sentences for Faruque and the major coup leaders. However, the sentences are yet to be carried out. Four petitions seeking permission to file appeals remained pending due to a shortage of judges in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) since August 2001. On June 18, 2007, one of the conspirators who had been sentenced to death, Mohiuddin Ahmed, was extradicted to Bangladesh from the United States. On August 07, 2007, the murder case hearing resumed after 6 years. [ [http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/08/07/d7080701033.htm Bangabandhu murder case hearing resumes today after 6 years] ; "The Daily Star"; August 07, 2007] .

ee also

* Military coups in Bangladesh

References