BNP couldn't care less

President Ziaur Rahman was assassinated by some army officers on May 30, 1981, in Chittagong. In the aftermath, over a dozen officers were either hanged through a stage-managed trial or just killed. Many freedom-fighter officers were forced into retirement. While the Zia killing trial is yet to begin, the conspiracy behind the assassination remains to be unearthed.

Five days into the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman by a group of army officers, the then parliament dominated by the BNP passed on June 3, 1981 an obituary motion condoling his death.
The three-page motion piloted by then Speaker Mirza Golam Hafiz, however, had termed the president's assassins "some miscreants" without saying anything about their real identities.
Participating in the discussion on the motion, the Zia-led government's Prime Minister Shah Azizur Rahman, who was also leader of the House, termed the incident "sudden" and "pathetic".
But he refrained from uttering a single word to condemn the heinous incident in which the president was assassinated in Chittagong circuit house on May 30, 1981.
Shah Aziz, who had played an active role against Bangladesh's liberation war in 1971 and led the communal and anti-liberation forces in the BNP, said nothing about the investigation into the assassination.
Opposition MPs, however, were very vocal against the killing. They demanded a thorough investigation into the murder to unearth the conspiracy behind it and to nab the conspirators and killers.
On June 4, 1981, Shah Aziz  made a long statement in the House defending the imposition of the state of emergency by then acting President Abdus Sattar on the day Zia was killed to avert any possible deterioration in the situation.
He made the statement in the wake of the opposition parties' strong criticism of the state of emergency. The opposition parties had united against the president's killing.
Again, the premier had remained mum about the demand for an investigation into the gruesome killing of the president.
Though Zia had made Shah Aziz the prime minister, he did not trust him much.
In such a situation, the president's death appeared as an opportunity for Shah Aziz to make his faction in the BNP stronger. Chiefs of two intelligence agencies DGFI and NSI had helped Shah Aziz in this regard.
After Zia's assassination, DGFI chief Major General Mohabbat Jan Chowdhury and NSI chief ASM Hakim had become more powerful.
One of their jobs was to prepare false reports against those who were opposed to the communal faction of the BNP which soon emerged as the dominant group in the new government of Abdus Sattar.
They played a direct role in siding with the faction led by Shah Aziz who had later vehemently supported the controversial court martial by the army to punish army officers on charge of their involvement in the Chittagong mutiny.
Mohabbat Jan got his reward. After Ershad seized power, he was made a minister in the Ershad government.
STAGE MANAGED INQUIRY
In the wake of the opposition parties' growing demand, then BNP-led government formed on June 6, 1981, a three member judicial inquiry commission led by Justice Ruhul Islam, a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. The commission was asked to submit its report in two months.  
But acting President Abdus Sattar, who had appeared as a fragile man in face of the then army chief's pressure, could not have his government ensure a fair probe.
In a sudden move, his government changed the terms of reference of the judicial commission a week into its formation.
In the original terms of reference, the judicial commission was also instructed to ascertain whether the assassination of the president was the result of any conspiracy and, if so, to identify the conspirators and their motives; to find out the plan of the conspirators and how it was organised; and to identify the persons who supported and assisted the conspiracy and to ascertain the manner and extent of their support and assistance.
As the terms of reference were changed, the commission too confined its inquiry mainly to the security measures for the president during his visit to Chittagong. It refrained from looking for answers to the vital questions regarding the conspiracy behind the assassination of the president.
The government's stance matched the move by army headquarters, dominated by then army chief General HM Ershad and some senior officers. Almost all of them, including Ershad, had been repatriated from Pakistan after the country's liberation war.
Before the government had formed the judicial commission, the army headquarters hurriedly formed an inquiry court, led by Major General Mozammel Hossain, a repatriated officer from Pakistan, to probe the Chittagong mutiny in which the president was killed. But this inquiry committee was not assigned to probe the reasons behind the mutiny as Ershad was against it.     
Within a short period of time, the inquiry court had completed the stage managed inquiry. The army headquarters then formed a general court martial led by Major General Mohammad Abdur Rahman, again a repatriated officer, to hurriedly complete the trial before the judicial commission completed its inquiry.  
The judicial commission could neither summon any military officer, nor could it point fingers at anyone for the assassination. The commission submitted its report in September 1981 to the government. The report was never made public.
The judicial commission in its report held the two intelligence agencies --- DGFI and NSI --- responsible for the failure to ensure security for the president during his visit in Chittagong. No action was taken in line with the commission's findings.
As the opposition parties and human right activists strongly kept objecting to the camera trial before a completion of the judicial commission's inquiry, the BNP-led government on several occasions issued press notes defending the trial by court martial.
The BNP leaders were in fact happy at the situation that the party-led government was still in power even after the assassination of the president.
ZIA MURDER CASE: HOW JUSTICE WAS BURIED
The then Assistant Commissioner of the Detective Branch in Chittagong M Mokarram Hossain filed a case with Kotwali thana on June 1, 1981, accusing 10 army officers, including the then GOC of Chittagong cantonment Gen Manzur, of the assassination of the president.
But the proceedings of the case were suspended on June 24, 1981 following an order given by the home ministry during the then BNP-led government.
The then BNP-government had portrayed the trial by court martial as the trial of the murder of the president in line with the army headquarters' strategy since the Sattar-led government had been influenced by the then army chief and his aides. The court martial was held on the mutiny alone and not on the killing of the president.
Even when opposition parties and human right activists had kept on opposing the execution of the verdict delivered by the court martial and demanding that the acting president pardon the convicted officers, a section of BNP leaders and its front organisations brought out rallies demanding the execution of the verdict.
Extending his wholehearted support to the court martial, Prime Minister Shah Azizur Rahman in the middle of July 1981, said the trial of the president assassination would be held under the army act. He claimed trial of such killings had been held under the army act for last 30/40 years.
The then ruling BNP had faced severe internal conflict after Zia killing and the country was facing political uncertainty as the Sattar-led government was very weak. Amid such a situation, Ershad overthrown the Sattar government, grabbed the state power on March 24, 1982, and imposed martial law, making the trial of Zia murder a far cry.
After the fall of Ershad, the BNP, led by Khaleda Zia, widow of Ziaur Rahman, assumed power in 1991. But her government did not take any move to hold trial of Zia murder as she had not wanted it due to mysterious reasons.  
The case saw daylight after the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, assumed office in 1996. It was revived as the suspension order was withdrawn on November 23, 1997 by the AL-led government.
But the investigation did not get space. At one stage, investigation officer of CID police super M Abdul Quader submitted on September 12 the final report of the case to the court.
In such a situation Chief Metropolitan Magistrate M Abdul Malek accepted the final report on October 24, 2001, disposing the case.
The CMM, however, said the case could be revived any time if anyone wanted it to.
Before the court had disposed of the case, the BNP again formed the government on October 10, 2001. Her government again remained indifferent to the case. The BNP that remained in power until October 2006 did not take any move to revive the case.
It still remains as a mystery to BNP policymakers as to why Khaleda Zia was not interested in holding the trial of Ziaur Rahman. Some leaders have labelled it as their failure to hold trial of the Zia killing. Some of them think Khaleda might have not wanted to open a Pandora's box by beginning the trial of the Zia murder. She did not even comment on it for a long time. Breaking a long silence, Khaleda Zia has recently accused Ershad of killing Ziaur Rahman and promised to hold the trial in future.#
[The report was prepared on the basis of parliamentary proceedings, and the books, "Democracy and the Challenge of Development" by Moudud Ahmed, "Silent Witness of a General" by Major General (retd) Moinul Hossain Chowdhury, Assassination of Ziaur Rahman and the Aftermath by Ziauddin M Choudhury, Zia and Manzur Murder and the Aftermath by ASM Shamsul Arefin and depositions of witnesses in the Manzur murder case.]