Hasina renews pledge on retrial

Awami League lawmaker Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj stands in solemn silence before the sculpture of his father Tajuddin Ahmad, the first prime minister of the country, to pay homage marking the Jail Killing Day. The photo was taken from Four National Leaders Jail Memorial Museum in the capital yesterday. Photo: Shawkat Jamil

The government will hold a retrial of the killing of four national leaders in jail, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday.
The premier made the remark at a discussion organised in the capital to mark the Jail Killing Day with Awami League (AL) presidium member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury in the chair.
Paying rich tributes to the leaders-- Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, AHM Kamruzzaman and Captain Mansur Ali-- she reiterated her government's commitment to holding the retrial.
She said the previous AL-led government started the trial proceedings of the jail killing case, but after assuming power in 2001 the BNP-Jamaat coalition government did not allow the trial to take its own course.
Pointing at Ziaur Rahman and BNP, she said they helped killers enter the jail and even rewarded them for the killings by sending them abroad and appointing them to different foreign missions.
She also criticised the main opposition saying it created militancy in the country and laundered hundreds of crore abroad in efforts to remain in power permanently. Her government would establish a system so the country's people will be able to vote for the candidates of their choice in the next election.
The prime minister sought people's help to put an end to the politics of killing, coup and conspiracy and urged people to remain alert about the defeated forces and their collaborators.
"People voted us to power with much hope, and we are working hard to fulfil their expectations and the pledges we made to them,” she noted.
About Khaleda Zia's cantonment residence, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury alluding to Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko said the armed forces would not consider allowing the two drug addicts, arms smugglers and money launderers in the military area.
AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said, "If we fail to eliminate the evil forces from the country, they might try to eliminate us."
Apart from holding the retrial of the murder case of the four leaders, the government would expedite the trial of war criminals and execute the verdicts within its tenure, he said.
Earlier in the morning, Syed Ashraf told reporters that BNP founder Ziaur Rahman had involvement in the killing of the four leaders.
"His wife Khaleda Zia tried hard to protect the murderers. The killers and those who saved them will be brought to justice,” he said.
Meanwhile, the prime minister yesterday morning placed wreaths at the national leaders' graves at the Banani graveyard commemorating the Jail Killing Day. She also offered special prayers seeking divine blessings for the departed souls.
LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam and Brig (retd) Shafayet, sons of Syed Nazrul Islam; Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj, son of Tajuddin Ahmad; and Mohammad Nasim, son of Mansur Ali, were present there.
She also placed wreaths at the graves of the martyrs of August 15 at the Banani graveyard.
Earlier, the prime minister began the day's programme by placing wreaths at the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the city's Dhanmondi.
The four leaders were assassinated inside the Dhaka Central Jail on November 3, 1975, 79 days after the assassination of Bangabandhu and most of his family members.