‘I look to the Bengali people for justice’: Sheikh Rehana in 1983 interview

"I wish they had taken my life on August 15. I lost my father, my mother, my brothers. What will I live for? What was Russel's fault? He wasn't involved in politics. Neither was my mother. Why did they murder them? …I'm an orphan. I'm helpless. As a daughter, as a Bengali , I demand justice for Bangabandhu's murder," Sheikh Rehana said in an interview 38 years ago.

"I demand justice from people of Bangladesh," Sheikh Rehana, daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, said in the rare interview published in Chitra Bangla in 1983.

Bangladesh Awami League shared the interview on its verified Facebook page today, marking her birthday, in which she expressed her grief that she had harbored since the assassination of her family members.

On her birthday, Sheikh Rehana received countless good wishes on social media.

"Imperialist forces were behind the assassination of Bangabandhu. Local agents were involved too, like snakes underneath flowers. The voices that should have been raised, among the country's leaders, demanding justice for the merciless killing of Bangabandhu are not as bold as expected," added Rehana, adorably called "Chhoto Apa".

When the entire nation celebrated the 100th birth anniversary of the architect of independence, Bangabandhu, last year, there was a diametrically opposite scenario prevalent in the country since his assassination in 1975.

The killers who proudly declared their deed were offered indemnity and a hush fell on the chapter of history gloriously led by the Father of the Nation. Bangabandhu's daughters -- Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana -- had to agonizingly wait for six years to force their way back to the country in 1981.

In the interview, Rehana also mentioned that she had sent a letter to Bangabandhu and Russel on August 14, after reaching Germany to meet her sister Sheikh Hasina.

In the letter, Rehana described how they had travelled and how they were spending their days there. But, Bangabandhu and nearly his entire family were gunned down on August 15, when the letter was on the way.

Her 10-year-old brother, Russel, used to be reluctant about having his meals and resting properly.

In her letter, Rehana urged her brother to take care of his health and narrated how exquisite Germany's nature was.

She also attached a couple of cards with the letter.

The interview was published in the weekly magazine Chitra Bangla on August 12, 1983.