'No example' of Ziaur Rahman firing a shot at Pakistani forces: Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has once again waded into the discussions on BNP founder Ziaur Rahman raging across the political aisle, casting doubts on his credentials in active combat during the Liberation War.

There is "no reference" to the former military ruler ever firing a gunshot at the enemy forces despite being a sector commander, according to Hasina.

“Ziaur Rahman -- yes, he was a sector commander in the Liberation War. But it was after Khaled Musharraf got injured that Zia was made the sector commander," the Awami League chief said on Tuesday during an event organised by Bangladesh Chhatra League to mark the National Mourning Day.

“But he never particularly fired a shot at the Pakistani army. There’s no precedent for this. No one will be able to show an example of it.”

Hasina has maintained that Zia's participation in Bangladesh's war of independence was "accidental", saying his loyalties always lay with the Pakistanis.

She also blamed the then army chief Zia for the assassination of her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family.

"After 1975, for those who violated the Constitution and illegally seized power through assassinations, coups, conspiracies — there were some traitors and hypocrites in our party like Khondaker Mushtaque [Ahmad] and others — Ziaur Rahman was their strength," she said during the seminar at Dhaka's Krishibid Institution Bangladesh.

"They admitted as much in the interview they gave to the BBC after Aug 15. Not only that but many newspapers have also reported that Ziaur Rahman was with the killers all the time. ”

“But Zia was just a major. It was only thanks to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib that Ziaur Rahman was promoted to major general. If the country was still called Pakistan, he would have to retire as a major."

The prime minister's remarks came a day after Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque reiterated the government's plans to remove the grave of Ziaur Rahman from the parliament premises.

The gallantry title conferred on the late military ruler will also be revoked in light of "documentary evidence" about his involvement in the assassination of Bangabandhu, the minister said on Monday.