Published : 07 Nov 2026, 07:41 PM
Updated : 07 Nov 2026, 07:41 PM
Former interim government advisor M Sakhawat Hussain has rejected the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD)’s claim that it rescued then army chief Major General Ziaur Rahman from captivity on Nov 7, 1975.
He says the army’s 2nd Field Regiment Artillery freed Zia, with 4 Bengal also trying to reach him.
Speaking on Saturday at a discussion marking National Revolution and Solidarity Day, the retired brigadier general called JaSaD’s version “inaccurate”.
The then Col AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed led the rescue, Sakhawat said.
He recalled reaching 2nd Field around 6am to find Zia in the commanding officer’s office with Lt Col Nuruddin Khan, then acting director of military operations.
Col Taher arrived about half an hour later with Gonobahini members and asked Zia to go with them and accept their 21-point or 17-point demands before the soldiers.
Zia refused, saying he had already sent his message to radio and television.
“Once taken out, he would never have returned, and Col Taher and a faction of JaSaD could have seized power as planned,” Sakhawat claimed.
Members of both battalions did not let Zia go elsewhere, he added.
Sakhawat called it a “big mystery” why Col Khandaker Nazmul Huda entered Dhaka with a full battalion, 10 Bengal, during the turmoil.
He praised Zia’s honesty and courage, recalling how he calmed unruly troops with loaded rifles on a hockey field and bore no thirst for revenge.
“Zia also ordered Nawazesh Uddin directly to save Khaled Mosharraf, Col Huda and Haider,” he said.
Sakhawat credited Zia with uniting freedom fighter and non-freedom fighter officers, expanding the army, and breaking from India-centric foreign policy.
Zia visited China first and built ties with West Asian countries, playing a part in the Al-Quds Committee.
The former advisor also accused the previous 15 years of rule of damaging the army's professionalism and moral standards, calling for the force to return to a high level of professional conduct.
