Deliver on his dreams to repay ‘debt of blood’ to Bangabandhu: Hasina

The debt of blood to Bangabandhu must be repaid through establishment of a prosperous Bangladesh he had dreamt of, Sheikh Hasina has said.

The prime minister was speaking at a National Mourning Day event organised by the Awami League at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka on Friday.

Referring to Bangabandhu’s historic Mar 7 speech, Hasina said: “The Father of the Nation said he would sacrifice blood if necessary and he has done it. Now we must repay this blood debt by establishing a Bangladesh free from hunger, poverty as he dreamt of.” 

Hasina also said the goal of assassinating Bangabandhu and most members of his family was to clear the path for rehabilitation of anti-liberation forces.

It initially seemed that the Aug 15, 1975 carnage had been a strike on a family, but it was a misperception, Hasina said.   

“It wasn’t an attack on a family. It slowly became clear that (they came under attack because) they organised the Liberation War, fought it directly,” she said.

The attack aimed to avenge Pakistan’s defeat in the war, destroy the achievements of Bangladesh’s victory and rehabilitate anti-liberation forces, the prime minister said.  

“It aimed to take the country back to the Pakistani trend of thoughts,” she said, and added, “That’s why the killers first announced ‘Islamic Republic of Bangladesh, but they could not maintain it for lack of courage.”  

In one of worst political carnage in the world’s history, a group of army officers killed Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujib, his wife Fazilatunnesa Mujib, sons Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal, and Sheikh Russell, daughters-in-law Sultana Kamal and Rosy Jamal, brother Sheikh Naser, brother-in-law Abdur Rab Serniabat, nephew Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni, Moni’s wife Arzoo Moni, Rab’s son Arif, daughter Baby, grandson Sukanta Babu, and Abdul Nayeem Khan Rintu, a person close to the family.

The president’s Military Secretary Bir Uttam Colonel Jamil Uddin Ahmed, who rushed to the Bangabandhu Bhaban at Dhanmondi 32 on receiving SOS from him early in the morning, was also slain along with police Sub-Inspector Siddiqur Rahman.

Banghabandhu’s daughters Hasina and Sheikh Rehana escaped the carnage as they were abroad.

“We survived but that’s not what we call living. It’s more painful than death. I returned after spending six years abroad as a refugee. But I didn’t stop working,” Hasina said.

“I am still working for the people of Bangladesh with a heavy heart only considering the pain my father suffered, how he sacrificed everything in his life for this country,” she added.