Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad yesterday threatened to quit politics and leave the country if anyone could prove that he had worked against the country’s independence during the 1971 Liberation War.
Condemning critics, the former military dictator claimed that some groups were making false and baseless statements against him. He also denied the allegation that he had been a member of a court martial in Pakistan during the war terming it “imaginary.”
In a statement, Ershad, who is now a special envoy to the prime minister, said: “I was transferred to the erstwhile West Pakistan one month before the war, and for this, I could not participate in the war. If I were in Bangladesh, I would have fought for the country risking my life.
“However, I along with my family and other Bangalee army officials and soldiers had bitter experience surviving in Pakistan during the war.”
Ershad said after his return, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had promoted him and sent to India for further training. “Bangabandhu understood me; he knew me. For this, I was rewarded.”
Questioning the critics’ motive, he also claimed that no one could do good to the freedom fighters as much as he had done during his rule.
At a roundtable on Tuesday, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Hoque strongly criticised Ershad for his contradictory role during the war. “During the war, Ershad was a responsible member of a court martial in Pakistan in which the Bangladesh military officials who betrayed the then [West] Pakistan government were tried. For the trials, Ershad visited Bangladesh [then East Pakistan] twice during the war...he opposed the liberation of Bangladesh,” Mozammel said.
He also demanded that the government reviewed the “illegal” trial and honour the army officers.
Speakers at the programme also demanded Ershad’s trial accusing him of executing 13 army officials in Chittagong Jail within 18 days after a court martial in 1981.
Former army chief Lt Gen Harun-ur-Rashid said: “The documents of the court martial were vanished by Ershad. It proves that there was no military mutiny rather it was a drama orchestrated by Ershad to fulfil his desire to become the president of the country.”
Demanding his trial, he said Ershad should not be given any opportunity to be involved with any political party in this country. “I have no idea how such a clever person can sit in our parliament,” Harun added.
