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She was 5 years old when Colonel Khandekar Najmul Huda was killed amid coups and counter-coups in 1975
Published : 12 May 2023, 12:49 AM
Naheed Ezaher Khan was 5 years old when her father Colonel Khandekar Najmul Huda was killed amid coups and counter-coups following the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
“I always had thought about filing a case myself when I think I can seek justice for my father. I did it yesterday,” Naheed said on Thursday after the police opened an investigation into the incident.
Now, 48 years after her father’s killing, Naheed is an MP from a seat reserved for women from the ruling Awami League, which Bangabandhu’s daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina heads.
Speaking to bdnews24.com, Naheed said: “It seems this is the right time because the pro-Liberation War forces are with us.”
She said their lifestyle changed due to the anti-Liberation War forces following her father’s death. Naheed said their mother gave her and her elder brother, who was 8 years old in 1975, the strength to fight back.
“We couldn’t go to school and had to change location frequently. I had to hear in school that my father was a traitor. When I asked my mother about it, she asked me not to heed these and focus on my future.”
“Now I don’t feel alone. I see many like me who are seeking justice for their slain fathers whenever I turn the TV on.”
Naheed hopes she will get justice now. “I’ve heard that Major Asad and Major Jalil killed my father. They didn’t do it in a normal way. I want a thorough investigation so that all the information is revealed – who else was involved and why?"
Major Md Asaduzzaman, who was allegedly involved in the killing of Col Najmul Huda, has died.
The other person, Major Md Abdul Jalil is still alive, said Naheed. “Police must find out where he is now.”
In the case, she named only Jalil, saying that a group of 20-25 rogue army officers killed Najmul, Major General Khaled Mosharraf and Lieutenant Colonel ATM Haider in the parliament building area on Nov 7, 1975 on orders from the then army chief Ziaur Rahman and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leader Col Abu Taher.
All three were decorated freedom fighters. Eloquent Khaled was the commander of Sector 2 during the 1971 Liberation War. Najmul was working as the commander of the army’s 72 Brigade at the time of the murder.
A co-accused of Bangabandhu in the Agartala Conspiracy Case, Col Najmul Huda fought as the sub-sector commander of Boira under Sector 8 in Jashore. Bangladesh defeated the Pakistani forces in the battles of Goribpur and Chowgachha under his leadership.
Jashore was the first district to defeat the Pakistan Army on Dec 6, 1971. After independence, the government conferred the Bir Bikram gallantry award on Najmul.
Bangladesh plunged into chaos after the massacre of Bangabandhu’s family on Aug 15, 1975, as Khandakar Mushtaque Ahmed took charge. Amid the turmoil, Khaled led a coup after the killings of four national leaders in jail on Nov 3. Zia was put under house arrest at the time.
Col Taher, who left the army, headed a counter-coup on Nov 7. Zia was then freed, while Khaled and his associates were killed.
The BNP, founded by Zia, observes Nov 7 as “Revolution and Solidarity Day”. Taher’s party observes it as “Sepoy-People’s Uprising Day” while the Awami League calls it “Freedom Fighter and Soldier Killing Day”.
Zia, who ascended to the position as a de-facto leader as a result of the conspiracy over the killing of Bangabandhu and took over the presidency in 1977, was assassinated in 1981 in Chattogram in a coup by some of his colleagues in the army.
The High Court in 2011 declared illegal the military tribunal which sentenced Col Taher to death in 1976.
It said the execution of Taher, who was a sector commander during the 1971 Liberation War, was a “cold-blooded murder” given the nature of the trial conducted as per Zia's plan.
