By Sheikh Farid November 7 is a historic day for Bangladesh, for the Bangladesh army, and for the people of Bangladesh. On that day, the turning point of Bangladeshi politics changed. The power shifted from pro-liberation war supporters to anti-liberation war supporters. Although Khaled Mosharraf made significant efforts to keep Bangladeshi politics under the control of pro-liberation forces, he ultimately failed. That is why he imprisoned General Zia.
Due to fate, simply put, due to the quality of his forehead, due to a little mistake of Khaled Mosharraf, and due to the good reason of believing that our people of Jamalpur have a little more sympathy. If I say it in a little simpler language, they have a little less intelligence. As a result, he placed his trust in Ziaur Rahman. He kept him under house arrest. If he had been a murderer like Ziaur Rahman, a cold-headed murderer like General Ziaur Rahman, and had lost power, then he would not have kept Zia alive. He would not have kept him under house arrest. But what happened that day? You know Khaled Mosharraf is a military figure. But the difference is that he did not accept the brutal murder of August 15, 1975. He could not accept it. As a result, he recognised the political climate and personally orchestrated a coup to imprison Zia. He imprisoned General Zia.
However, Colonel Taher and his leftist associates include both political and military figures. Actually, even if they say leftists, there is a gap here. This refers to individuals who were part of the JSD. The difference between JSD and the leftists is significant. This force shared commonalities with the murder of Bangabandhu, the anti-independence forces, the ISI of Pakistan, other international groups, and Jamaat. That is, they could not tolerate Bangabandhu. That is why they carried out a coup. However, Khaled Mosharraf, a freedom fighter who fought in 1965 and was honoured with the title of brave freedom fighter in 1971, did not accept this situation. He did not accept the assassination of Bangabandhu and the rise of the opponents of independence under any circumstances.
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Once, Colonel Taher came from Narayanganj and staged a counter-coup with the assistance of so-called leftists known to support the JSD, along with some army personnel, who freed Ziaur Rahman from Khaled Mosharraf and subsequently killed Khaled Mosharraf. The situation turned in the opposite direction. Khandaker Mostaq gained control over Bangladeshi politics through the assassination of Bangabandhu. It went into the hands of the opponents of independence through Khandaker Mostaq. Then the one who lit the little lamp of Asar was Khaled Mosharraf, who was killed by this Colonel Taher, who led the uprising of the Jasad, the Jasad of the army, those who were in the army, staged a coup and killed Khaled Mosharraf. Basically, this power went 100% into the hands of the opponents of independence, the Pakistani agents who were in the military; in short, 100% of the power went into the hands of Ziaur Rahman.
This Colonel Taher, who freed Ziaur Rahman, was killed by General Ziaur Rahman, who took 100% control and consolidated his power. Many people think that the brutal murder of Bangabandhu, including his family members, children, and women, on August 15, 1975, was not forgiven. It is believed that Ziaur Rahman also had support in that murder, and his activities are proving that day by day. He did the first thing he did after seizing power, which was that the one who freed him, Colonel Taher, killed him and hanged him.
According to international law, you cannot give a death sentence to a disabled person or a person who has suffered any loss of limbs under any circumstances, and Colonel Taher, who freed General Zia from captivity, was hanged by General Zia. In other words, Colonel Taher of Yasser got the punishment for his actions; he killed the one he saved, the one he saved with his kindness.
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Then what did Ziaur Rahman do? Then Ziaur Rahman’s more brutal history is a terrible history. The army killed the most army members and officers, especially those who were freedom fighters. If you open the local and foreign media, you will find that General Ziaur Rahman tried to make all the signs of his brutality disappear and was connected to that disappearance. At the last moment, another General Ershad came and tried to make whatever traces were there disappear. But somehow or other, the information gets to some people. Because the criminal somehow or other leaves witnesses of his crimes somewhere or other. In different books, in different newspapers, through different international organisations, through all domestic and foreign organisations, the news of the killing of army officers and ordinary soldiers who were in favour of the Liberation War of Bangladesh continues to be spread.
The most unfortunate thing is that only one disabled colonel did not kill Taher. Even the families of those who were killed were not informed. Not only that, it was so ruthless that Ziaur Rahman hanged two people with one rope. That is, General Zia had ordered them to be hanged as soon as possible. In fact, it would be wrong to call them hangings. We have to say that these were murders. These were kangaroo court murders. Not judicial killings either. Because at least there is an opportunity to speak. There are people, there are soldiers, and there are officials who do not know why they died. They could not know. They were taken away. They were made to stand in some kind of kangaroo court.
The next day, it was learned that, according to the researchers, the maximum time taken to bring someone from this kangaroo court was 24 hours. Some were hanged after three hours, four hours, five hours, eight hours, 10 hours. Not only that, if someone was hanged with the wrong name, then those who were with the wrong name were hanged. Even for those who did not die by hanging or because it took time, the veins of their hands and feet were cut. He has shown such ruthlessness. General Ziaur Rahman has continuously killed as many people of the Bangladesh army as he has done in the past; it has never happened in Bangladesh. There is a lot of doubt whether it will happen in the future.
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Today, the 7th of November, is such a shameful day; the day when there was a tiny possibility that power would go to the people in favour of the Liberation War, it was extinguished by the assassination of Khaled Mosharraf. Power went into the hands of Ziaur Rahman. On the 7th of November, the rise of fundamentalists, opponents of independence, and all opposition parties in Bangladesh began and continues to this day. However, the rise of opponents of independence did not occur solely due to the assassination on August 15.
Finally, on November 7, absolute power passed into the hands of Pakistan’s ISI through Ziaur Rahman. The scars of which we are still carrying today. Due to that scar, we see today that 25 army officers have been charged in the so-called Kangaroo Court, in the court of the Yunus government. Some supporters of the Liberation War have been brought before the judges in that court, and plans are being made to sentence them, with some fearing they may be hanged. The most dangerous thing was November 7, and it was a day of shame because the one he protected was Colonel Taher. The disabled one, I repeat, the disabled Colonel Taher, was hanged. Ziaur Rahman did not spare the one who was his protector and the protector of his life.
His high ambitions are the reason why the opponents of the Liberation War in Bangladesh have grown everywhere like a frog’s umbrella, thanks to the welfare of Ziaur Rahman. This shameful day on November 7th is a big day in our national history. And you know that if Ziaur Rahman had not seized power on November 7th and had not come to the centre of power, Bangladesh would not be like this today. The power would have been in the hands of the forces of the Liberation War, and this Bangladesh would certainly have been ahead in many ways on the world map, economically, politically, and in science and technology. But because of that, because of his ambition for power, our Bangladesh is so low today.
In a country where so much fundamentalism is practised, whether music teachers will be appointed now is also questionable. Today, it is not really a welfare that can be called welfare. If Zia had not been able to seize power by killing a brave freedom fighter like Khaled Mosharraf because of his misdeeds, then we would not have this outcome in Bangladesh today. If Zia had not killed Khaled Mosharraf, or if we had not defeated Khaled Mosharraf, then today we would not have seen the glory of these anti-independence activists in Bangladesh.
If Ziaur Rahman had not killed Khaled Mosharraf, then today we would not have seen the glory of the Nezami Islam Muslim League Jamaat-e-Islam in Bangladesh. Today, no one would have the courage to ban the Bangladesh Awami League. Today, no one would have the courage to ban the Bangladesh Chhatra League. However, General Ziaur Rahman killed Khaled Mosharraf and his protector, Colonel Taher. Today, we are the victims of his actions. We do not know where this day will take us or how far it will take us.
Sheikh Farid: Human rights activist, political observer.
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