Bangabandhu remembered in India

The observance of the 35th death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman here yesterday was as much an occasion for rich tributes to the architect of Bangladesh's independence as a stroll down memory lane for veteran diplomats and journalists.
At a memorial organised at the Bangladesh High Commission here, Deb
Mukherjee, Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh in the 1990s, said the killers of
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members wanted to turn the clock back.
He said he is not ready to accept that the killing was an act of some misguided army officers.
India parliament member HK Dua, who was a journalist at the time of the killing of Sheikh Mujib, recalled that the then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was totally shaken as she appeared on the rampart of the Red Fort on August 15 to deliver her Independence Day speech.
“We couldn't figure what had happened and she looked very gloomy that morning,” Dua said, adding, “How does it benefit the killers is a question I'm still haunted by.”
Prof Rounaq Jahan said it is unbelievable that while India is celebrating its 63rd Independence Day, the people of Bangladesh are observing the National Mourning Day.
“Many of our existing bilateral problems would have been solved if he [Sheikh Mujib] were alive today,” the academic said.
Former Indian diplomat Sudhir T Deware said the visit of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in January this year has opened avenues for cooperation between the two countries.
“We see tremendous prospects between the two countries after her visit,” he added.
Earlier, in his introductory address, Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq Ahmed Karim said anti-liberation forces had joined hands and launched efforts to destroy the secular democracy in Bangladesh after the killing of Bangabandhu.
Karim said the killers of Bangabandhu were not only protected by an act of parliament that effectively destroyed the sanctity of the constitution, but also rewarded with plush diplomatic assignments abroad.