Col Taher

Nurul Islam Shishu, who was the principal staff officer to the chief martial law administrator(CMLA)in 1976, has denied any role in the military tribunal that passed execution order of Col Taher the same year.
“I was not involved in the trial of Col Taher and others. Like many in the army, I was unaware what was happening to the case. I have never seen any proceedings of the case during or after the trial,” Nurul Islam said in a statement submitted to the High Court yesterday.
Retired from the army in April 1979, he has been living in the US since 1991.
He sent the statement through diplomatic channel to the attorney general's office, replying to an HC order.
Additional Attorney General MK Rahman submitted the statement before the bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain during the hearing on a petition challenging the trial and execution of Col Taher.
In his statement, the former army major general said he was posted in Rangoon (Yangon) as a defence attaché from December 1973 and did not visit Bangladesh until he was recalled by the end of November 1975.
He was appointed adjutant general of Bangladesh army in February 1976 and principal staff officer to the CMLA around the same time, Nurul Islam said adding president Sayem was serving as the CMLA.
“Being away from the country, I had no idea or knowledge of the incident of November 7, 1975. From Burma [Myanmar], there were no telephone communications with Bangladesh. The only source of information was local press and our diplomatic bags,” he said.
Nurul Islam said the arrest of Col Taher and others must have taken place during his stay abroad. “I had no knowledge when the investigation started and by whom. Neither Justice Sayem, nor Major General Ziaur Rahman [the then DCMLA] ever discussed this case with me.”
Sayem, Ziaur Rahman and Justice Sattar, special assistant to the president and CMLA, always directly consulted with the law ministry, he said adding Sattar later took over the charge of the ministry from Sayem.
The retired army officer said he had learnt more about the case “than ever before from the press recently.”
Earlier on January 18, the court directed Nurul to appear before it for placing a statement on the trial and execution of Col Taher.
Citing his poor health and ongoing treatment, Nurul expressed inability to appear before the court. Barrister Rafiqul Huq stood for him.
The HC bench recorded the statement and exempted him from appearing in the court in person.
The writ petition has been jointly filed by Col Taher's wife Lutfa Taher, his brother Anwar Hossain and Fatema Yusuf, wife of Yusuf Ali Khan who was given a life sentence by the same tribunal.
Taher, a valiant freedom fighter, was tried in secret inside Dhaka Central Jail on July 17, 1976 and hanged on July 21 the same year.