Month of mourning begins

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Dhaka, July 31 --August, the month when Bangladesh lost its founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, will begin on Monday.

A group of disgruntled army officers killed Bangabandhu along with most of his family members on August 15, 1975.

The 15 August carnage is the ugliest chapter of the nation’s history as the self-confessed killers not only assassinated not only Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman but also many others.

The 15 August carnage martyrs included Bangabandhu’s wife Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib, sons Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Russell, daughters-in-law Sultana Kamal and Rosy Jamal, Bangabandhu’s brother Sheikh Naser, brother-in-law Abdur Rab Serniabad, nephew and eminent journalist Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni, his pregnant wife Arzoo Moni and military secretary Colonel Jamil were killed on the fateful night of August 15, 1975.

Bangabandhu’s two daughters incumbent prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana escaped the assassination as they were in Germany.

The month of August is also blackmarked with another conspiracy of assassination. The vested quarter, who assassinated Bangabandhu in 1975, also tried to kill Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina with grenades at an anti-terrorism rally at Bangabandhu Avenue on 21 August 2004.

However, Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped the attack suffering splinter injuries when 24 of her party men, including Awami League’s women affairs secretary Ivy Rahman, were killed and 500 others injured.

The nation cannot ever forget this heinous attack.

Every year, the ruling Awami League and its associate bodies chalk out month-long programmes on the occasion. This year there will be no different.

11Like in the previous years, different political and socio-cultural organisations, including the ruling Awami League (AL) and its associate bodies have chalked out month-long programmes to observe the month of mourning. - UNB