Former home minister Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj, son of Bangladesh's first prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad – one of the four national leaders killed inside Dhaka Central Jail 80 days after the assassination of Bangabandhu, on Thursday said that the families of the four leaders have yet to get justice for jail killings in one sense.
“Now the only way to ensure justice is to form a fair enquiry commission. However, the commission must be inclusive. Those who will serve correct information to the people, to the people of Bangladesh, to the new generation. We can generate trust in people. So that killings like August 15 and November 3 do not repeat in the country,” he said.
Sohej Taj came up with the remarks on Thursday in the old Chawkbazar Central Jail of the capital, where the four national leaders and heroes were assassinated.
He said that there should be a full investigation into the murders.
“We saw that after August 15, 1975, the military ruling group Ziaur Rahman came to power and issued the Indemnity Ordinance. As a result, all doors of justice were closed. Although the trial started later in 2001, a farcical verdict was given in October 2004, completely affecting this trial,” said Taj.
In 2008, the evidence, information and witnesses of the judgment were again made vanish in various ways by intimidation, he said adding that for this, the Appellate Division was forced to uphold the judgment of the lower court in 2014.
He said: “May the new generation grow up with this faith. We want a beautiful, corruption-free, free of irregularities and mismanagement-free society with the power of the liberation war. The dream for why millions of our martyrs sacrificed their lives. May we form that golden Bangla.”
Ziaur Rahman hampered this trial by issuing a military decree, said Taj.
In response to the question whether Zia was behind this killings, Sohail Taj said: "We should investigate everything thoroughly and find out who was behind the murder, how and what happened."
“I think everyone has a right to know everything. A full investigation should be carried out. But sometimes the truth becomes bitter. Everything should be brought up,” he added.
The Jail Killing Day is observed on November 3 as it is the second disgraceful incident in the country after the brutal assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members on August 15 in 1975.
On November 3 in 1975, four national leaders and heroes of the country's Liberation War -- Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, Captain Mansur Ali and AHM Quamruzzaman-- were assassinated inside the Dhaka Central Jail.
The four leaders played a key role in forming the Mujibnagar government in exile, that led the Liberation War in 1971, with Syed Nazrul Islam as the acting president, Tajuddin Ahmad as the prime minister, Mansur Ali as the finance minister and AHM Qamruzzaman as the home, relief and rehabilitation minister.
