The Darkness Of August 1975 Lingers

Grief-stricken sisters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana pay tribute to their father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, at his tomb at Tungipara in Gopalganj on 15 August.

- Syed Badrul Ahsan

We have been reassured by the functionaries of the government that the remaining, and absconding, assassins of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will be brought back to the country. Obviously, if and when that happens, these killers will walk the gallows, for they have already been sentenced to death. No one will weep for them. Indeed, the very logical feeling in a Bengali is that these murderers and their patrons should have been put out of life a long time ago. That they walked free, strutted about arrogantly as if nothing and no one could touch them, remains a shame for the country.

It is here that the nation’s gratitude to Sheikh Hasina must be reasserted. Where no one --- not General Zia, not General Ershad, not Khaleda Zia --- was willing to have the rule of law and national dignity restored through bringing the assassins to justice, Sheikh Hasina forged ahead, not merely as the daughter of the Father of the Nation but also as Bangladesh’s leader, in making sure that these criminals paid the price for the darkness they caused to descend on the country on 15 August 1975. In the annals of this nation, Sheikh Hasina will be remembered as the leader who restored Bengali self-esteem through having Bangabandhu’s assassins as also the notorious collaborators of the Pakistan occupation army confront the wheels of justice.