Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, one of the survivors of the assassination of Father of Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family on August 15, 1975, recently sat with Dhaka Tribune’s Ali Asif Shawon to speak about his memories of the tragic incident and its aftermath, as well as its impact on the development of the country.
He also stressed the need to raise questions about those who benefitted from the atrocity to bring its masterminds to justice.
Sheikh Parash is the elder of two sons of Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni and Shamsunnessa Arju Moni, who were both killed on that day. Sheikh Moni, a freedom fighter, journalist, and politician, was Bangabandhu’s nephew and Parash now heads the Awami Jubo League.
Parash’s younger brother, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, is a former MP and currently serves as the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation.
What was the impact of the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family?
The killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has held back the nation. If Bangabandhu was alive, the country would have achieved the status of developed nation years ago. The killing was premeditated, and the defeated groups of the Liberation War had a blueprint to make the country a failed state. These people were the beneficiaries and masterminds of the August 15 killings.
Innocent children like Sheikh Rasel, Sukanto Babu, and Arif Serniabat, housewives like Sheikh Sultana Kamal, Sheikh Rozi Jamal, and my mother Arju Moni…they were all killed brutally without any reason. The killing of innocent children and women like this is an unforgivable crime. Justice must be served. An objective and formal probe commission should be formed to identify the masterminds.
We have faced fear and had to struggle through many challenges, but always kept the motivation to keep going forward. Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken the goal to transform our grief into strength to revive Bangladesh as a nation. Her vision and spirit inspired us.
Can you share some memories of August 15 with us?
I was only five years old then and with my parents. In the dawn, when the sun was rising, we woke up after hearing the sound of gunshots and broken glasses. It was chaos. No one can imagine what it was like. After that, we started our life as refugees. Some people supported us, but many were afraid to help us. My uncle, Sheikh Selim’s brother-in-law, was taken and hacked to death for giving shelter to us after August 15.
What did you do in the aftermath?
We crossed the border and went to India after several attempts. We faced constant threat to our lives while crossing the border, it took about three or four days at the border beside Meherpur district.
My Uncle Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim and maternal uncle Abul Hasnat Abdullah received us at the border. We were told that our parents were in India. When our uncles hugged us and cried after we kept asking about our parents, we came to the realization that they were no more.
The entire family used to cry. No one can imagine how many tears we cried in our life. During childhood, we used to see our grandmother, Asia Khatun, sister of Bangabandhu, and Sheikh Hasina, Bangabandhu’s elder daughter, cry ceaselessly.
We became involved in sports and some other regular activities to divert our minds from the trauma. We spent a lot of quality time with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. We managed the pain, somehow.
After three years of staying in India, we decided that we should come back to Bangladesh. We came to our relative Iliash Ahmed Chowdhury’s house. He was like a senior guardian for us.
Finding a rented house was also a challenge for us. Eventually, we managed a house at Lalmatia. Khalil Saheb was the owner of this house, and we were grateful to him.
Then I joined my former School Udayan but found that the scenario had changed, the teacher who was very close to our parents had changed their attitude toward us. Then I got admission to Maple leaf international school.
There was also a bully also in the school, capitalism had just hit the country, and there was bad mouthing in the school. We lived our life in a hostile environment. Later, we tried to raise our own voice, inspired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The process was very slow and gradual.
Then Selim Kaka was elected for the first time in the Gopaganj by-election in 1981. He raised his voice in the parliament first regarding Sheikh Hasina's return to Bangladesh.
Initially, it was very tough for her to come back to the politics of Bangladesh, but the people inspired us. When Sheikh Hasina came back to Bangladesh, millions of people received her at the airport. We have a dream to work for the people of Bangladesh.
Banglar Bani was seized in 1975 and later we restarted it again. In my school and college life, I hid my family identity from my friends because there was fear that the assassins of that fateful night would hunt down survivors. My grandmother was always in terror of another attack.
These fears helped build our spirit of fighting and surviving.
When did you decide to join politics?
I am in politics and teaching at the same time, they are both my professions. I love interacting with the general people beyond the political parties. I was initially against joining politics because of my personal experiences, but then I felt the urge to come back to politics after getting inspired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Right now, Bangladesh is passing through a historical chapter under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. I think I should take the opportunity to get involved in politics during this time. I am trying to motivate the youth to become resourceful to fulfil Bangabandhu’s vision of Sonar Bangla by discarding corruption.
