From 1975-1981, every time she tried to come back home, Gen Ziaur Rahman prevented her and her sister, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said yesterday.
For Hasina, it has been all about sacrifices. On August 15, 1975, almost the entire of her family was killed and she could do nothing because she was abroad. When she came back to the country in 1981 and took charge of the Awami League, she had to leave behind her two kids.
The Bangladesh premier made the remarks while reliving 1975-81 at a discussion on the National Mourning Day at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital yesterday.
“Just 15 days before [the August 15 killings], I left Dhaka for Germany to live with my husband, who was doing a research there... I took [my younger sister] Rehana with me because the environment for education was better there. We are unfortunate that we were not there on that day. The next time I stepped on to the country’s soil was on 1981. Before that, Ziaur Rahman never allowed us.”
The premier also shed light on the backdrop of Bangabandhu’s assassination. “Our biggest misfortune was that killer Mushtaque was part of Bangabandhu’s cabinet. The greed for power blinded him. So he killed the father of the nation and declared himself the president. But traitors cannot stay in power for too long. Just like Mir Zafar, killer Mushtaque was not allowed in power for more than three months.”
She repeated the allegation that former military ruler Ziaur Rahman, also the founder of BNP, was involved with the killing of her father.
“You have seen on television that killers Rashid and Dalim had clearly said the only they could remove Bangabandhu was by killing him. Because Bangabandhu was an immensely popular leader, they went to Ziaur Rahman for support. Zia gave them the nod.”
Hasina said after Bangabandhu was killed, a conspiracy was hatched to turn democratic Bangladesh into an Islamic country. “...they even declared Bangladesh as an Islamic country; but could not hold on to their stance in the face of pressure from the people.”
She gave an account of how things were after the brutal murders that turned the tide of history.
“For 11 years after the murder, they used to enforce curfew every single night. The spirit of the Liberation War was cleverly destroyed. The war criminals were politically rehabilitated. Shah Aziz [alleged war criminal Shah Azizur Rahman] was made the prime minister. Articles 12 and 38 of the constitution were scrapped. Many war criminals were made ministers and advisers.
“There were 19 coups [in the armed forces] after the 1975 [killings]. Thousands of armed forces members were killed systematically. The Awami League leaders and activists were thrown into jail. They used to be abducted in white cars,” Sheikh Hasina said.
She took pride in the fact that she and her party Awami League had been able to prevent a sweeping distortion of history by a quarter who tried to tarnish the image of Bangabandhu and lead an entire generation astray. “They [the killers and their cohorts] tried to teach a generation how to distort history.”
Hasina said she could have chosen to stay abroad and look after her small kids; but she had decided to come back home. She said she had done it because she wanted to build the country in the spirit with which the brave sons of the soil fought the Liberation War.
“I wanted to fulfil the dream of the father of the nation by bringing smile back to the face of the country’s people. I will do everything I can to punish the killers on this and build Bangladesh as a prosperous country by establishing democracy,” she said.
The prime minister said she wanted to spend the rest of the days of her life in doing whatever is needed for the better of the people whom her father loved dearly.
