Not the Whole Nation
October 4th, 2007
The Awami League President Mr. Zillur Rahman on 23 September (07) in giving his reaction to the Supreme Court Appellate Division’s admission of the Leave to Appeal in the ‘Mujib Murder Case’ stated and rightly reported in medias that ‘the whole nation’ is ‘disappointed, afflicted and agitated as the Supreme Court granted the applications’. In his Bengali verbatim, Zillur’s reaction in both electronic and print media came out like this, ‘ADALATER RAI JATIKE ASHAHOTO O NIRASH KORESE’, that in English translation is more or less like the English version given just in the first sentence.
Zillur is not only the aged and veteran politician of the Awami League but also its acting President for about three months now following President Sheikh Hasina’s arrest in mid July (07) that made his (Zillur) reaction obviously official stand of the party. Although the main lawyer in the prosecution Mr. Anisul Haq was heard of his similar reaction through some electronic media about the same issue, but that cannot be taken as the official political one of the party but of legal one. Curiously though Mr. Haq as well went out of his legal domain into political matter just as Zillur did claiming their stand as for ‘the whole nation’!
I may not go into scrutinizing every bits and pieces of their reactions but only one, and that is, what they claimed to have taken granted and so spoken for the ‘whole nation’, obviously meaning that each and every citizen of the country had the feeling of ‘disappointment’ as did state Mr. Rahman and Mr.Haq. The assertion made is not only totally false but also grossly wrong, even if one would take such claims as gimmicks and hollow rhetoric of most of the present day political leaders of Bangladesh.
Coming back to the claim made by Zillur Rahman for being disappointed, there are many- millions and millions in the country who got relieved at the decision of the honorable Supreme Court Bench of the 23 September in the particular case. I don’t have the exact arithmetic of the 140 million people of Bangladesh, but a correct guess could be made from the past experience. In 1975 mid August, that is, when the occurrence took place in the capital city of Dhaka (then spelled Dacca) having then a population of the country at about 80 million, how many of them lamented for the fallen leader President Mujib? In contrast, how many of them applauded the then unknown army junior officers who made the fall effectively realized and change of the deeply despised corrupt and autocratic BAKSALite government? The party and Zillur himself then in key position could recall now that whether the nation was with them or with the other side? There was a fact then well in everybody’s lips about the incident that ‘none recited INNA LILLAH’ as all Muslims do from the Quranic verse on hearing any Muslim’s death news.
The army officer heroes of the 15th August of 1975, only five of the whole lot being in the condemned cell in prison in Dhaka having had conviction in the case during late 1990s, but unfortunately the long delayed Leave to Appeal in the Supreme Court itself has now come up after over six years now. The stage is part of the due process of law that has many scopes to make judicial scrutiny of the whole episode in real depth so that none is punished if not proved guilty ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. Besides, the punishment given in the case is a capital one or death sentence, not anything small one of simple imprisonment or some fine in money term, that as such obviously call for the due process until the topmost level even beyond the Supreme Court to ‘reprieve’ by the President of the Republic as provided in the Constitution. The granting of the Leave to Appeal has just done very rightly judicious thing in due process of law. How come then Zillur or some one else could claim at this point the issue in the due process as a ‘disappointing’ matter for the ‘whole nation’? After all, Awami League is not the whole nation much less their followers in the country howsoever large their arithmetical figure might be. There are other party followers who do not see eye to eye with AL in the matter and who constitute the larger section of the citizens of Bangladesh counted in terms of the party’s polled votes in the previous elections never exceeding 37 percent of the total voters, not to speak of 51 percent for majority. There is as such no truth at all in Zillur’s claim that ‘the whole nation’ is ‘disappointed’; in fact, there are much larger number in Bangladesh who may not be vocal but are silent majority having had delight at the admission of the Leave to Appeal; because, these people have seen a ray of hope in ending the due process of law if not of necessary rectification of the possible miscarriage of justice done in the case through politically both overt (intimidating the High Court judges through street procession by cadres wielding sticks in hands, rioting and arson throughout the country following the split verdict of the High Court in late December 1999, etc.) and covert power game of Sheikh Hasina as the Prime Minister during 1996-2001, the period when the case was first filed after expiry of 21 years and she did everything possible as the people knew very well to make an end she wished to avenge her father Sheikh Mujib’s blood.
Author: M. T. Hussain
October 4th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Wonderful. Thanks
October 4th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Yes, Not the whole nation. Only BALs are upset.
November 24th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Hey Rakib. My name is also Rakib but we have different last names. If u want to find out about different kinds of reports go to rakib.wordpress.com