He defied killers even in death

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman walked with his head held high among colleagues as well as his adversaries. During his lifetime he faced different types of thorny situations in politics including jail terms but never did he lower his head before his captors seeking their mercy. His overbearing personality made his toughest opponents think twice before crossing their limits. Even when he was unlawfully arrested in March 1971 and taken to a Pakistani jail he remained cool and composed, thus sending the signal to the military regime that he was made of a different kind of material.

Foreign diplomats and media correspondents were quite charmed by his amiable personality and appreciated his political philosophy and depth of knowledge regarding international diplomacy. At home, no opposition political party leader could face up to him and win an argument. He knew the art of befriending them with his logic and intelligence. This is what Bangabandhu was in real life – a confident, courageous and friendly human being.

But when we recall the incidents of the dark night of 15 August, 1975, we tend to go numb as anguish of the worst kind fills our tormented heart. The brutality displayed by some frenzied army officials while undertaking the mission of cold blooded murder of Bangabandhu and his family members remains unparalleled in history even today. The killers in their abnormal rage did not hesitate to gun down women and children of his family that fateful night.

Upon hearing the commotion and gunfire downstairs, Bangabandhu had telephoned his military secretary and the army chief. Though his military secretary started for his Dhanmondi residence immediately after receiving the call but no help came from cantonment. After a while, Bangabandhu came out of his room, stood at the top of the staircase and uttered the words, “What do you want?” The voice was enough to send a chill down the spine of the killers. In the semi darkness they saw there stood the man larger than life. There stood the man who was both respected and hated by the Pakistanis for the last 27 years. There stood the man the world leaders eagerly made friends with. So, when this man spoke he expected an answer. But the cowardly soldiers had no guts to give any answer to the architect of Bangladesh standing up there. They had come on an evil mission so they did what they were told to do. They pulled the trigger of the sub-machine gun and emptied the chamber on him. The hot slugs sliced through his body and the sound of death reverberated through the house. Time stood still. Bangabandhu clutched his chest and fell on the staircase. He died on the spot and in his death his face looked heavenward. His body rolled down a few steps and stopped there instead of rolling down all the way to the bottom of the staircase.

The killers watched in disbelief as the leader’s body remained above their head. They had to look up to him. They realized even in his death Bangabandhu denied them the pleasure of seeing his body come rolling down to their feet.

Throughout his life Bangabandhu, on many instances, went quite close to the hangman’s rope. But every time he returned victorious. It is, therefore, quite a sad tale that some young Bengali army officers took up arms to kill him! But, did they act alone? Was his assassination a part of an international conspiracy hatched by the defeated forces of 1971? The players behind the curtains should be exposed and sent to a court of law for trial. The killers who still walk free in some foreign land should be brought back to the country and handed down the punishment they deserve.