Safiullah replaces AK Khandker as SCF chair
Sector Commanders' Forum today relieved Air Vice-Marshal (retd) AK Khandker from all posts including his membership of the SCF and elected Maj Gen (retd) KM Safiullah as its new chief.
The decision came at a meeting of the SCF Central Working Committee, says a statement signed by its acting secretary general Haroon Habib.
Earlier on Wednesday, AK Khandker resigned as SCF chairman, citing his old age as the contributing factor.
Khandaker, who was the deputy chief of the liberation forces during the Liberation War, is facing strident criticism from different quarters, including lawmakers, civil society members and freedom fighters, for some controversial claims he made in his recent book “1971: Bhitore Baire".
In the book, he claimed that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had mentioned “Joy Pakistan” at the end of his historic March 7 speech in 1971.
A minister of the immediate past Awami League-led government, Khandker also raised questions about the announcement of independence by Bangabandhu on March 26, 1971.
On September 6, 21 SCF leaders in a joint statement criticised Khandker, saying the contents of his book were "misleading" and lacked objectivity.
However, Haroon told The Daily Star that Khandker did not mention anything about his book in the resignation letter.
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