Bangladesh observes anniversary of 1971 independence leaders’ assassination

Dhaka, Nov 3 (PTI) Bangladesh on Monday observed a low-key anniversary of the assassination of four top leaders of the 1971 Liberation War inside a high-security prison in 1975.

War-time Acting President Syed Nazrul Islam, Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmad and senior ministers Captain M Mansur Ali, and AHM Quamruzzaman were assassinated by rebel army soldiers who staged a coup on August 15, 1975.

The rebel group, consisting of a group of army majors, toppled the post-independence government and killed the country’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with most of his family members.

The four leaders, all belonging to the now-disbanded Awami League of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, were interned by the rebels and assassinated three months after Mujibur's killing.

On Monday, newspapers carried reports recalling the fateful event.

“The anniversary is being observed by some media outlets. The political scenario does not allow us to arrange any mass prayers or discussions to observe the anniversary,” a family member of one of the slain leaders said.

The Awami League was banned by the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus under an anti-terrorism law in May.

Its leader, Hasina, 78, fled to India after being ousted on August 5 last year following mass student-led agitation in Bangladesh.

Most senior Awami League leaders, including ministers of the past regime, are in jail or on the run at home and abroad to evade arrests, with courts generally denying their bail petitions.

The four leaders led the 1971 independence war from Pakistan, setting up the first Bangladesh government at its makeshift headquarters in Kolkata.

Subsequent governments blocked the trials of their assassins under an infamous indemnity law, which was scrapped soon after the Awami League returned to power in 1996 under Hasina’s leadership. PTI AR GRS GRS GRS