Bangladesh News

There has been no government move for bringing back the convicted killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman absconding abroad, the issue overlooked by most of the previous governments.

The taskforce formed in 1999 during the Awami League (AL) rule to have the killers extradited was dissolved after the BNP-Jamaat led coalition took office in 2001.

During its five-year rule till 2006, the BNP-Jamaat government did not make any efforts in this regard. Many believe that both BNP and Jamaat are beneficiaries of the killing.

Even the caretaker government did not take any steps in the last five months in this regard. It also did not take any action to bring back Mohiuddin Ahmed, one of the convicted killers who returned home yesterday as the US government rejected his appeal for political asylum there and deported him.

“There is no government role in the process of Mohiuddin’s return. He is forced to come back as he was deported by the United States government,” a government source said.

The foreign and home ministries are now tight-lipped about the other convicted killers of Bangabandhu. The foreign ministry has no official information on the whereabouts of the killers.

Immediately after AL-led alliance came to power in 1996, some of the killers left the country fearing arrest and prosecution. Some others working in different foreign missions of Bangladesh quit their jobs and went into hiding after they were asked to return home to face trial for killing Bangabandhu.

Fifteen former army officers were awarded death penalty by a lower court in the Bangabandhu Murder Case on November 8, 1998. Later, the High Court upheld the death sentence of 12 killers.

Of them, Lt Col Syed Farook Rahman, Lt Col Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Lt Col Mohiuddin and Maj Bazlul Huda were in jail at that time. One convict has died abroad while six others are still absconding.

The taskforce formed by the AL government with officials from the foreign, home and law ministries in 1999 came to know from intelligence sources that the killers had been staying in the US, Zimbabwe, Canada, Pakistan, India and several Middle Eastern countries.

It sent copies of the court verdict in the Bangabandhu Murder Case to the governments of those countries and initiated steps to have extradition treaty with them.

Following the move, the Interpol rang a red alert throughout the world to hunt down the killers.

In 2000, the taskforce officials visited the US and completed the preliminary procedures for an extradition treaty. The AL government also appointed two legal advisers in the US for this purpose. However, the whole process was stalled by the four-party government after it came to power.

According to the taskforce, convicted Lt Col Khandkar Abdur Rashid had been hiding in the Middle East, Lt Col Shariful Haque Dalim in Pakistan, Major AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed and Lt Col Rashed Chowdhury in the US, Lt Col Noor Chowdhury in Germany and Captain Abdul Mazed and Risaldar Moslehuddin in India.

Of them, Noor is now staying in Canada. The Canadian government sought assistance of the Bangladesh mission to send him back, but the mission did not cooperate. Sources said that Noor recently managed a Bangladeshi passport with the help of the mission.

Another convict, Lt Col Aziz Pasha, who had been serving Bangladesh mission in Zimbabwe as deputy high commissioner, was asked to return home during the AL rule to face trial. Following it, he sought asylum in Zimbabwe. On July 8, 1996, he was dismissed from service for disobedience and desertion. Pasha died on June 2, 2001in Zimbabwe.

Surprisingly, the BNP-led government reinstated him in the foreign ministry even after his death at the directive from the highest level of the government, sources said.

All government benefits, such as pension to the widow of Aziz Pasha, was arranged by the government showing him “retired” from service.

Having captured power through a military coup, Ziaur Rahman rewarded 12 army officials involved in Bangabandhu killing with jobs in Bangladesh missions abroad in 1976. They were incorporated in the Foreign Service in 1980.

Another military ruler HM Ershad and the government of Khaleda Zia followed the policy of Zia about the killers of Bangabandhu. The accused army officers enjoyed all facilities in government jobs and got promotions during their regimes.

During the Ershad rule, Let Col Farook and Lt Col Rashid returned to Dhaka and established Freedom Party. Farook contested the 1986 president election and his party took part in the 1988 parliamentary elections that was boycotted by the major parties.

The killers also took part in the February 15, 1996 parliamentary polls of Khaleda regime that was also shunned by major political parties. Lt Col Rashid was elected a lawmaker in that farcical election.

Interestingly, the BNP government reinstated charge-sheeted accused in the Jail Killing Case Major Khairuzzaman in his foreign ministry job.

Khairuzzaman, who had been serving as acting ambassador in the Philippines, was recalled by the AL government after he was accused in the charge-sheet of the Jail Killing Case. He was arrested and given forced retirement on September 24, 1996.

Soon after the BNP-led alliance government assumed power, Khairuzzaman was shifted from jail to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital and then released on bail. On May 4, 2003 he was reinstated as a key director general in the foreign ministry and later promoted as additional secretary of the ministry.

Khairuzzaman was, however, acquitted in the case later. The BNP-led government appointed him as the ambassador to Myanmar.