Execution of killers proves none is above law: Speaker
Friday, 29 January 2010
The Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Thursday paid rich tributes to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and expressed profound gratitude to Almighty Allah following the execution of the killers of great leader and members of his family, reports BSS.
Bangabandhu and most members of his family were brutally killed on the fateful night of August 15, 1975.
The trial process, which started after 21 years of the tragic event, ended with execution of five of the 12 self-confessed killers in the early hours of Thursday, freeing the nation from a nearly 35-year-old stigma.
As the proceeding of the House began Thursday afternoon, Speaker Abdul Hamid Advocate read out a statement and in an emotion-charged voice said, "the trial of the Bangabandhu's killers after prolonged struggle over the last 34 and a half years brought forth the universal fact that none is above law and none can obstruct its normal course".
Following the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu, the Speaker said, the country was detracted from the path, enshrined in Article 27 of the Constitution of the Republic. People were deprived of their fundamental rights while they were brazenly denied of political, social and economic freedom in the post-1975 period, he added.
He said Jatiya Sangsad is the highest forum for enacting laws and the Constitution was passed in line with the great expectation of the people after the Independence. But the killers violated the Constitution after killing Bangabandhu and obstructed the course of law through enacting the infamous Indemnity Ordinance, he pointed out.
"The killers never thought that the history would not take the responsibility of the heinous acts of the killers, who even deprived the Father of the Nation of his lawful rights, applicable for even a commoner," he said.
The Speaker said the nation realised the matter after 21 years and sent their representatives to the 7th Parliament to put the Constitution in its right place. "The 7th Parliament-led by the daughter of Bangabandhu and the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, annulled the infamous indemnity ordinance and paved the way for trial of the killers in civil court," he said.
Although the trial was obstructed time and again, he said truth has ultimately prevailed after 13 years of the judicial process that freed the nation from the curse of the history's most heinous crime with the execution of five of the 12 killers last night.
The Speaker prayed to Almighty Allah for eternal peace of the departed souls of Bangabandhu, his family members and all others martyred in the carnage in 1975.
He also recalled with a heavy heart the immense sacrifice and sufferings of the people, particularly Awami League leaders and workers as well as students, who were mercilessly tortured, jailed, intimidated and even killed as they demanded trial of the killers of Bangabandhu.
"Law is like a flowing river which cannot be obstructed. None is above law and it has again been proved through the execution of the verdict on Bangabandhu Murder Case after long 34 years," the Speaker said.
Terming Bangabandhu and Bangladesh as inseparable, he said achievement of the country's Independence could not be possible without Bangabandhu. "Like this, rebuilding of the country and keeping it united would have not been possible without Bangabandhu," he added.
The Speaker said the swarm of bullets of the killers could not alienate Bangabandhu from the state and the people. The great leader is still being regarded as the apple of eye after three and a half decades of his tragic death, he said.
Later, a munajat was offered seeking divine blessings for eternal peace of the departed souls of the August 15 martyrs.
Awami League lawmaker AKMA Awal conducted the munajat.
Full-length film
on Bangabandhu
Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad told the House Thursday that a decision would be taken immediately to make a full-length film on the life and works of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Replying to a written question by treasury bench member Nurul Mazid Humayun, he said the Department of Film and Publications under the Ministry of Information made a documentary on Bangabandhu in 1996. "The work for collecting information as well as research on the life and works of Bangabandhu is now going on," he said.
'It's an internal matter'
UNB adds: The United States and the United Kingdom described the execution of death penalty on the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as an internal matter of Bangladesh while not making comment on the execution of five of the 12 killers.
However, the British mission in Dhaka mentioned their universal stand against death penalty, as was made clear by the European Union (EU) as a whole recently.
"This is an internal matter for the government and people of Bangladesh," a spokesman for the US Embassy in Dhaka said.
A spokesperson for the British High Commission in Dhaka said, "This is, first and foremost, an internal matter for Bangladesh."
"However, we note that the sentences were carried out following a legal process which included appeals to the Supreme Court," she said.
Spelling out their principled stance on the capital punishment, she said: "Our opposition to the death penalty is well known."
FBCCI's reaction
Meanwhile, Federation of the Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Thursday expressed deep satisfaction over the execution of the verdict of the murder of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with members of his family.
Acting President of the apex trade body Abul Kashem Ahmed observed that through execution of the verdict the nation "has been freed from a long black chapter of the history and the nation, from stigma," says a press release.
The FBCCI leaders feel that with the execution of the verdict on the killers of Bangabandhu, the image of the country will further develop for upholding the rule of law and establishing democratic practice.
Bangabandhu and most members of his family were brutally killed on the fateful night of August 15, 1975.
The trial process, which started after 21 years of the tragic event, ended with execution of five of the 12 self-confessed killers in the early hours of Thursday, freeing the nation from a nearly 35-year-old stigma.
As the proceeding of the House began Thursday afternoon, Speaker Abdul Hamid Advocate read out a statement and in an emotion-charged voice said, "the trial of the Bangabandhu's killers after prolonged struggle over the last 34 and a half years brought forth the universal fact that none is above law and none can obstruct its normal course".
Following the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu, the Speaker said, the country was detracted from the path, enshrined in Article 27 of the Constitution of the Republic. People were deprived of their fundamental rights while they were brazenly denied of political, social and economic freedom in the post-1975 period, he added.
He said Jatiya Sangsad is the highest forum for enacting laws and the Constitution was passed in line with the great expectation of the people after the Independence. But the killers violated the Constitution after killing Bangabandhu and obstructed the course of law through enacting the infamous Indemnity Ordinance, he pointed out.
"The killers never thought that the history would not take the responsibility of the heinous acts of the killers, who even deprived the Father of the Nation of his lawful rights, applicable for even a commoner," he said.
The Speaker said the nation realised the matter after 21 years and sent their representatives to the 7th Parliament to put the Constitution in its right place. "The 7th Parliament-led by the daughter of Bangabandhu and the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, annulled the infamous indemnity ordinance and paved the way for trial of the killers in civil court," he said.
Although the trial was obstructed time and again, he said truth has ultimately prevailed after 13 years of the judicial process that freed the nation from the curse of the history's most heinous crime with the execution of five of the 12 killers last night.
The Speaker prayed to Almighty Allah for eternal peace of the departed souls of Bangabandhu, his family members and all others martyred in the carnage in 1975.
He also recalled with a heavy heart the immense sacrifice and sufferings of the people, particularly Awami League leaders and workers as well as students, who were mercilessly tortured, jailed, intimidated and even killed as they demanded trial of the killers of Bangabandhu.
"Law is like a flowing river which cannot be obstructed. None is above law and it has again been proved through the execution of the verdict on Bangabandhu Murder Case after long 34 years," the Speaker said.
Terming Bangabandhu and Bangladesh as inseparable, he said achievement of the country's Independence could not be possible without Bangabandhu. "Like this, rebuilding of the country and keeping it united would have not been possible without Bangabandhu," he added.
The Speaker said the swarm of bullets of the killers could not alienate Bangabandhu from the state and the people. The great leader is still being regarded as the apple of eye after three and a half decades of his tragic death, he said.
Later, a munajat was offered seeking divine blessings for eternal peace of the departed souls of the August 15 martyrs.
Awami League lawmaker AKMA Awal conducted the munajat.
Full-length film
on Bangabandhu
Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad told the House Thursday that a decision would be taken immediately to make a full-length film on the life and works of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Replying to a written question by treasury bench member Nurul Mazid Humayun, he said the Department of Film and Publications under the Ministry of Information made a documentary on Bangabandhu in 1996. "The work for collecting information as well as research on the life and works of Bangabandhu is now going on," he said.
'It's an internal matter'
UNB adds: The United States and the United Kingdom described the execution of death penalty on the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as an internal matter of Bangladesh while not making comment on the execution of five of the 12 killers.
However, the British mission in Dhaka mentioned their universal stand against death penalty, as was made clear by the European Union (EU) as a whole recently.
"This is an internal matter for the government and people of Bangladesh," a spokesman for the US Embassy in Dhaka said.
A spokesperson for the British High Commission in Dhaka said, "This is, first and foremost, an internal matter for Bangladesh."
"However, we note that the sentences were carried out following a legal process which included appeals to the Supreme Court," she said.
Spelling out their principled stance on the capital punishment, she said: "Our opposition to the death penalty is well known."
FBCCI's reaction
Meanwhile, Federation of the Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Thursday expressed deep satisfaction over the execution of the verdict of the murder of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with members of his family.
Acting President of the apex trade body Abul Kashem Ahmed observed that through execution of the verdict the nation "has been freed from a long black chapter of the history and the nation, from stigma," says a press release.
The FBCCI leaders feel that with the execution of the verdict on the killers of Bangabandhu, the image of the country will further develop for upholding the rule of law and establishing democratic practice.