Mujib, not Zia, proclaimed Independence, rules HC
Monday, 22 June 2009
The High Court (HC) ruled Sunday that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, not Ziaur Rahman, proclaimed Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971, reports bdnews24.com.
A two-judge bench of Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice Mamotaz Uddin Ahmed also ordered the cancellation of all Bangladesh Liberation War Documents (Bangladesher Swadhinata Juddho Dalilpatra) that presented Ziaur Rahman, a major in the Pakistan army at the time, as the "declarer of independence".
The High Court verdict was given on a public interest litigation (PIL) by freedom fighter MA Salam.
The verdict also said those who were involved in such distortion of history have violated the constitution and the government could take punitive measures against them.
The High Court directed the government to ensure "true history" in textbooks at all levels.
"By reviewing national and international newspapers and other documents, the court has established the truth that it was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who proclaimed independence," additional attorney general M Inayetur Rahim told the news agency in his reaction.
"This verdict has washed away the long time plot to distort history by anti-liberation groups," he said.
The writ petitioner Salam said, "The truth has won. Now the next generation will know the true history of the proclamation of independence."
UNB adds: BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed MP said that the High Court judgment given Sunday on who proclaimed independence was not final, as the issue raised would be finally settled by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
Giving his reaction over cell phone to the news agency in the afternoon, the former law minister of the last BNP-led four-party alliance government said this was fundamentally an important political issue that could not be resolved by any judgment of any court.
He said the Supreme Court could look only into the legality of any point raised in the High Court division, "but the belief of millions of people that Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman had declared Independence of Bangladesh could not be wiped away by a judgment of any court."
Moudud said the issue would remain alive, and being a political issue "it will continue to remain so in our history."
A two-judge bench of Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice Mamotaz Uddin Ahmed also ordered the cancellation of all Bangladesh Liberation War Documents (Bangladesher Swadhinata Juddho Dalilpatra) that presented Ziaur Rahman, a major in the Pakistan army at the time, as the "declarer of independence".
The High Court verdict was given on a public interest litigation (PIL) by freedom fighter MA Salam.
The verdict also said those who were involved in such distortion of history have violated the constitution and the government could take punitive measures against them.
The High Court directed the government to ensure "true history" in textbooks at all levels.
"By reviewing national and international newspapers and other documents, the court has established the truth that it was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who proclaimed independence," additional attorney general M Inayetur Rahim told the news agency in his reaction.
"This verdict has washed away the long time plot to distort history by anti-liberation groups," he said.
The writ petitioner Salam said, "The truth has won. Now the next generation will know the true history of the proclamation of independence."
UNB adds: BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed MP said that the High Court judgment given Sunday on who proclaimed independence was not final, as the issue raised would be finally settled by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
Giving his reaction over cell phone to the news agency in the afternoon, the former law minister of the last BNP-led four-party alliance government said this was fundamentally an important political issue that could not be resolved by any judgment of any court.
He said the Supreme Court could look only into the legality of any point raised in the High Court division, "but the belief of millions of people that Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman had declared Independence of Bangladesh could not be wiped away by a judgment of any court."
Moudud said the issue would remain alive, and being a political issue "it will continue to remain so in our history."