The family members of the army and air force personnel who faced mass execution in 1977 on Wednesday demanded that former military ruler General Ziaur Rahman be tried posthumously over the killings following summary trials in military courts.
Under the banner of “Mayer Kanna”, a platform of the families, they placed the demand at a human chain formed in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh in Dhaka at 11am, marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, former chairman of Muktijoddha Sangsad, Major General (retd) Helal Morshed, Emeritus Prof Dr Khandaker Bazlul Haque, Liberation War researcher Lt Col (Retd) Kazi Sajjad Ali Zahir, former vice chancellor of Jahangirnagar University Prof Dr Anwar Hossain and armed forces genocide researcher Anwar Kabir among others addressed the human chain.
In the name of suppressing a mutiny, about 1,500 members of the military forces were unjustly given various punishments including execution and incarceration during the regime of Gen Zia, they said.
Among them, 209 people who were allegedly hanged have been identified.
On October 2, 1977, Gen Zia orchestrated a planned coup d'état in the wake of the hijacking of a Japanese plane in Dhaka. It led to the executions in Dhaka, Comilla, Chittagong, Rangpur, Jessore and Bogra jails after a one-day military court trial, activists said.
Maqsuda Parveen Rimna, daughter of slain Airforce Sergeant Mushraful Alam, said: "We still don't know whether my father was shot dead or hanged. We want justice through an investigation. We want to get the status of a martyr from the prime minister."
Another victim, Sergeant Abu Bakr Siddique’s son Md Baharuddin said: "My father was serving in the Air Force in 1977, but I have not found his trace yet.
“As the premier visits her father's grave every year and prays for him, I also want to find my father's grave as a prayer for my father. But I can’t.”
Central Awami League leader and former state minister Tarana Halim said: “Ziaur Rahman took the list of missing persons with him at the time of his death.
“Nobody except him can tell how many people were actually executed. We demand justice for them upon necessary measures from the incumbent prime minister.”
Md Moniruzzaman, son of Corporal Ali Akbar, said: "I have the right to know whether my father had gone missing or where my father's body is. We want fair justice for his disappearance."
Naheed Ezaher Khan, daughter of late Colonel Nazmul Huda and an Awami League MP in reserved women's seat: "We still don't know where and how our fathers were killed. Father is a very small word but we feel what a valuable asset father is."
She added, "I request you all today to file a case against murderer Zia. We demand his posthumous trial."
