National Mourning Day

47 years have passed since that fateful day that changed the history of our nation. Even after all these years the shock from the barbaric acts perpetrated by the vicious killers of Bangabandhu and his family is still evident. For all Bangladeshis For all of Bangladesh, this is a day of deepest grief, and one that can never be forgotten.

On August 15, 1975 the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in his home, along with his family. This brutal and cowardly act stunned a nation. The loss of the Father of the Nation is a loss that Bangladesh can never recover from. In fact, it is a loss of incalculable magnitude.

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.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was greater than his creation. He is a symbol of national unity, the unity that led to the creation of Bangladesh.He is our emancipator for today and tomorrow. The greatest treasure of the Bengali nation would be preservation of his heritage and legacy. He conquered death by his achievements and remains an everlasting source of inspiration to his people.