Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Sunday said the trial of Bangabandhu killing will remain incomplete until bringing all masterminds of the heinous act, including Ziaur Rahman, to justice. “Ziaur Rahman was one of the masterminds of the Bangabandhu killing plot. His trial is very crucial for establishing justice,” the minister said at a discussion on the National Mourning Day at Tathya Bhaban of the Ministry, reports BSS.
“As the then deputy army chief Ziaur Rahman didn’t performed his responsibility, rather lent his support to the killers. So, all actors of the killing behind the scene should be brought under trial,” he said. Department of Films and Publications (DFP), Mass Communication Department (MCD) and Bangladesh Film Censor Board (BFSB) jointly organized the discussion with Director General of DFP Istaq Hossain in the chair.
State Minister for Information Dr Murad Hasan, Information Secretary Abdul Malek, MCD Director General Md Jakir Hossain and BFSB Vice Chairman Nizamul Kabir, took part in the discussion. The information minister said Bangabandhu has given us an independent state. Bangabandhu had been nourishing the dream of independence for a long time and he was waiting for a perfect time for the proclamation.
Dr Hasan said, Bangabandhu was never afraid of death. So he never compromised with the state power. Braving all odds, Bangabandhu prepared the nation for independence, but history was distorted after his killing. The minister blasted BNP for its enduring efforts to distort the nation’s history. Proclamation of independence and reading out of the declaration of independence are not same, he said.
Zia during his lifetime never claimed that he proclaimed the independence. After his death BNP started controversy on the issue, the minister said adding that the declaration of independence framed by Bangabandhu was read out by many persons in the media. The information minister noted that the then general secretary of Chattogram Awami League MA Hannan was the first to make the announcement on Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro from Kalurghat on March 26, 1971. Major Zia followed him on the next day as Awami League leaders decided to involve an army officer with the declaration, he said.
“BNP has tried to make Ziaur Rahman a ‘hero’, but he exposed himself as a villain of the history through his involvement with Bangabandhu murder,” the minister said. Reiterating his stance for formation of a commission for in-depth inquiry into the Bangabandhu killing the minister said, it’s now the ‘demand of time’ to let the future generation know about the killers, mastermind and others including Zia who had created the plot of the carnage.
