'A curse removed'

Interview with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

In her first media interview since the court judgment of November 8, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's daughter and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina talks about the significance of the historic verdict for the establishment of the rule of law in Bangladesh, and shares her intense pesonal feelings about the tragedy of August 15, 1975. The interview to Haroon Habib on behalf of Frontline was conducted at Ganobhaban, the Prime Minister's official residence in Dhaka, on November 14. At several points in the interview, particularly while recalling the assassination, Sheikh Hasina was overwhelmed by emotion and broke down. The interview was conducted in Bengali.

How do you react to the historic judgment, which comes 23 years after the assassination in 1975 of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman?

PAVEL RAHMAN / AP
In May 1998, Sheikh Hasina (right) and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana offer prayers for the conviction of the killers of their father and other members of their family.

The brutal murder of the Father of the Nation and his family members on August 15, 1975 was a national tragedy for the entire Bengali nation. The man who gave a self-identity to the oppressed nation and gave it an honourable place on the world map, the man who dreamt of making the nation happy and prosperous, the man who struggled and suffered lifelong for the well-being of his people, to give them a sense of identity and a territory of their own, he was killed brutally. Not only was Bangabandhu, the President of the country, killed , but women, children and many others were massacred by the murderers. Unfortunately, there was no trial of the heinous murderers. There was even an effort, through the enactment of a law, to bar any trial of the killers. There is no parallel in the civilised world for providing such immunity to the killers. Through this law sanctioning immunity to the "self-confessed killers", the post-1975 governments destroyed human values and the spirit of nationalism and showed utter disregard for justice and the rule of law. Not only this, the killers of the Father of the Nation were rewarded with jobs in the country's diplomatic missions. It is unfortunate for the nation that some of those who represented the country in the foreign missions as diplomats were murderers. That is their only qualifications - that they killed a President of the country, and killed children and women!

So, it was a common expectation of the nation that the trial of those killers must be held. The people had cherished the hope, laced with severe pain, that one day justice will certainly prevail, one day the killers of Bangabandhu will be punished.

There was a time when due to the suppression of the democratic sytem by military rulers, the people could not publicly demand a trial. But the rulers failed to suppress the people's expectation. They could not check it through oppression because the people wanted the trial of the killers from the core of their hearts, they wanted to see justice.

M. KARIM
The 677 Dhanmondi residence of Mujibur Rahman, where the massacre took place.

After 23 years, the people's expectation has been fulfilled. People rejoiced all over the country as soon as the court verdict was pronounced. It was proof of how deeply they wanted this trial from the core of their hearts. I feel that the curse which was forced upon the people of Bangladesh through the 1975 brutality was finally removed. The people have been finally freed of the pain and agony that they had been facing for years.

If you patronise a crime it will automatically spread. If a killer is protected, it renders everybody insecure. This verdict has proved beyond any doubt that crime must not go unchallenged, unpunished, however powerful the criminals may be. I also feel that it was a victory for humanity and human civilisation, with the blessings of Allah the Almighty.

Do you think Bangladesh can now again march towards its cherished goal, the direction of which was changed through the 1975 massacre?

Among the other members of Mujibur Rahman's family who were killed with him were

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Wife Fazilatunnissa
Mujib Eldest son Sheikh
Kamal Kamal's wife Sultana Kamal

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Second son Sheikh
Jamal Jamal's wife Parvin
Jamal Rosy Mujibur Rahman's youngest brother
Sheikh Abu Nasser

The people of this land struggled and suffered for years and finally won their cherished freedom under the leadership of Bangabandhu. We have seen the conspiracy through which the history of the heroic national struggle, the sacrifices of the people for national emancipation, was twisted and distorted after the 1975 massacre. In the situation after 1975, it was almost a "sin" to tell the history of the heroism of the people in their war for self-determination. That period also saw the rehabilitation and appeasement of the forces that were defeated in the country's glorious war of liberation... We have also seen a tendency to erase the heroic struggle of the Bengali nation and rehabilitate the defeated forces (pro-Pakistani) during the last 21 years. Even speaking about the heroism of the Bengali nation was barred, so that they would not become known to the new generations. Our national history was distorted.

The post-1975 regimes also strangulated democratic values and snatched away the people's right of franchise, and continued a tenure of exploitation. They tortured those who led or participated in the liberation war. I feel it was a conspiracy, a heinous crime against a nation's struggle for self-determination. We had only the name -- Bangladesh; they had ignored and discarded all the sacrifices of the people and tried to create a country without a history.

Since we returned to power in 1996 with a massive popular mandate, we have started restoring the real history of the Bengali nation... This trial and the court verdict have provided the nation an opportunity to know about the many untold stories of the nation which they were not told during the last 21 years. The trial, which continued for a long time, also gave them a chance to know their glorious past. I believe that the people's awareness has increased manifold with this trial. I also believe that the wheels of history, which were forced to move back, have once again started moving onward. It is not possible to fool the people any more. People will now automatically try to find out their roots.

You have given your reaction to the verdict as the Prime Minister. But how do you see the verdict, as the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman?

THE HIDNU PHOTO LIBRARY
Mujibur Rahman and members of his family with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at Bangabhavan in Dhaka in March 1972.

A tenure as Prime Minister is a temporary one. I was elected by the people for a given time. Certainly, as the Prime Minister I will try to establish truth and justice. But I am also my father's daughter... (Sheikh Hasina became emotional at this point and started to weep.) He was killed brutally. They (the assassins) killed my innocent mother. What was her crime? She was a lady who had suffered much to become the life partner of my father, who struggled for decades for his people. Even she made many sacrifices for the Independence of this country, that I have witnessed as their eldest child. But she was riddled with bullets. My younger brothers - Kamal, Jamal and Russel - they were all brutally killed. Kamal and Jamal had been married only a month earlier. Their wives' hands still had mehndi on them. But their blood covered their bodies. My tiny brother Russel was so young. He was detained in 1971. He suffered terrible shock when my father was in jail and we had a terrible time during the Agartala conspiracy case. Russel saw his family being massacred and wanted to go to mother, crying loudly. But the butchers killed him too. The 10-year-old child was also not spared. I have lost everything- father, mother, brothers and other family members. It is very difficult to express my feelings in words. My feelings will only be understood by those who have lost their near and dear ones as I have. I have done my duty as a child. Finally the trial of the assassins of 1975 was held in the soil of Bengal. The Holy Koran says that children can seek justice for their parents' murder. Allah has given me the courage and the strength to do so... I prayed to the Almighty for 23 years for justice. (Here she broke down again and could not talk for some time.)

Do you want the verdict to be executed in the quickest possible time?

The law should take its own course, but it is the expectation of the people that the verdict should be executed as quickly as possible.

Most of those found guilty are now in various foreign countries. Is your Government taking steps to have them extradited?

Contacts are being made with those countries where the killers have taken shelter. Steps are being taken through Interpol as well. Various countries have assured us their cooperation. One of the killers, Maj. Bazlul Huda, was extradited from Bangkok. I sincerely thank the Thai Government for its cooperation. I also do hope the other governments will give us similar cooperation. These people are killers, they are violators of human rights, they are conspirators. It is not safe for any country to keep them. They are equally dangerous for the citizens of those countries where they have taken refuge. Therefore, I sincerely hope that the governments of those countries should send them back to Bangladesh as quickly as possible. Also none should give them shelter.

Do you believe that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, and the fundamentalists, who had opposed Bangladesh's independence, have together launched the current street agitation to protect the killers?

I don't see any reason other than this. Why did they call a 60-hour hartal, damage and destroy vehicles and create an anarchic situation? Their aim is to protect the killers, and they have proved their intentions on several accasions. For example, on August 11, 1991, when Begum Khaleda Zia was Prime Minister, she sent some of her representatives, including some Ministers, to assure me that the Indemnity Ordinance would be repealed to pave the way for the trial of the killers... She also told me (at that time, I was the Leader of the Opposition) personally at a dinner that the repeal of the Indemnity Ordinance was not a problem at all. Accordingly, we submitted a Bill in Parliament after consultations with them. It was moved by Mohammad Nasim, the then Opposition Chief Whip, who is now the Post and Telecommunication Minister. But the Bill did not see the light of day.

When we came to power, we took the initiative to scrap the Indemnity Ordinance, but the BNP did not cooperate. Its members did not attend Parliament the day the Bill was passed. There were definite reasons for their mysterious absence. They wanted to protect the killers. All these prove that they do not want the killers to be tried.

As soon as the trial of the killers began, they issued threats to oust our elected government by force. They wanted to create a situation in which the trial would be stopped... I believe this threat to oust the government much before its term expires was intented only to protect the killers. It was the husband (Ziaur Rahman) of the former Prime Minister who rewarded these killers with diplomatic posts; the Indemnity Ordinance was legalised during his tenure. One of the convicts, Lt. Col. Khandaker Abdur Rashid was made the Leader of the Opposition by Begum Khaleda Zia through the farcical elections of February 15, 1996. But that farcical election was not accepted by the people. Within 15 days of that vote fraud, Begum Khaleda Zia had to quit power following a people's upsurge...

I understand that certain communal groups are also with the former Prime Minister... Begum Khaleda Zia is now following the political programmes that were first announced by the leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami. Before the verdict, they tried to create an anarchic situation in the country. They are not fighting for any meaningful issues which will benefit the people. They may have thought that if they can create a situation, the verdict may not be executed.

You said recently that your Government would try the accused in the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman, Gen. Manzoor and Col. Abu Taher for the sake of establishing the rule of law. Is your Government serious about it?

The Ziaur Rahman murder case is already before a Chittagong court. It came up before the court at least 222 times, but it was not pursued by the CID when the BNP was in power as the Home Ministry of the BNP Government instructed the CID not to proceed with the case. When I made the announcement (about the trial), I hoped that Begum Khaleda Zia would cooperate in trying the killers of her husband. When she was in power she did not try the killers of her husband for reasons best known to her... It is astonishing to me why she does not want to restore the rule of law in the country. We want to hold trials in all those killings which were not held so far. But for this, we need cooperation from all quarters. I have a question: Do the BNP supporters not want the trial of the assassination of their leader, who founded their party? I seek their cooperation to establish the rule of law.

Besides, all would know how illegally Gen. Manzoor and Col. Abu Taher were killed. We also want to conduct fair investigations into all those killings and hold trials subsequently.

Does your Government intend to try those who carried out massacres during the war of liberation?

Look, those who are offenders, criminals must be punished. Even today, the war criminals, and violators of humanity during the Second World War are being traced and punished. I think there should be a proper investigation into all those killings, all those atrocities and the offenders should be tried.Those families who were the victims at that time should also come forward. The Government will extend all cooperation in this regard.

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Mujibur Rahman's youngest son Sheikh Russel, aged 10, who was among those killed on August 15, 1975.

Newspapers have reported that "international terrorists" are operating in the country and that they are in touch with some Opposition parties. What is your Government planning to do about this?

We have heard about it. We are taking all the necessary measures. But I think every sensible quarter should be cautious so that no foreign "terrorist group" could create an anarchic situation in the country. It is most unfortunate that the main Opposition party is inspiring such terrorism.

You have been trying to establish a secular, democratic Bangladesh, but have faced obstacles time and again, can these obstacles be removed?

I believe in secular politics. I also believe that in this country, people must have the right to perform and practice their religions in their own way. It is not only my belief, it is a dictate of the Holy Koran. Bangladesh was born on the basis of non-communal spirit. We do not want communal politics, communal disturbances. People are free here to exercise their own religious beliefs.

The Opposition demands mid-term elections, and you indicated at a recent meeting of your parliamentary committee that elections may be held ahead of time. Are you really going in for early elections?

We are entering a new century. We want a new government to take office in the new century... A government announces an election when it deems it suitable. Yes, I told the parliamentary party meeting that we want to hold elections in the year 2000, to begin afresh, and all should get prepared for that. I will not comment on what the Opposition said because they are even ready to oust us right at this moment, if they can. But there is a democratic system in the country.

I believe, our record in office will show that we are pro-people. We also found solutions to many major issues which were pending before the nation for long. We have successfully overcome the greatest flood in the century, although the Opposition parties and sections of the media apprehended that at least two crore people would die. Our main aim is to free the nation from hunger and poverty, to make it economically strong. All our programmes are therefore linked to ameliorating the suffering of the village poor. We want to make Bangladesh a modern, progressive and economically developed country.

I don't really understand why they are demanding mid-term elections. They must respect the people's mandate and give us time to run the country for the period the people had mandated us.

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