The Supreme Court Verdict - Bangabandhu Murder Case

It was so wonderful to learn about the long awaited judgment on the Bangabandhu murder case. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh unanimously upheld an earlier judgment that found all those 12 rogue officers of the armed forces guilty of the worst crime in the history of Bangladesh. Unless some miracles happen, these criminals will be hanged for the murder of Sk. Mujib and his family members on August 15, 1975.

However, not all the guilty criminals are behind the bars in Bangladesh now. Only five murderers are behind the bar. They are: Lt Col (sacked) Syed Faruque Rahman, Lt Col (retd) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Lt Col (retd) Muhiuddin Ahmed (Artillery), Maj (retd) AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed (lancer) and Maj (retd) Bazlul Huda. One - Maj. Aziz Pasha - died in Zimbabwe some years ago. Six criminals are absconding and are rumored to be hiding in Africa and other places. They are: Lt Col (dismissed) Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Lt Col (relieved) Shariful Haque Dalim, Lt Col (retd) Nur Chowdhury, Lt Col (retd) AM Rashed Chowdhury, Capt Abdul Mazed and Risalder Moslehuddin Khan. The government of Bangladesh must now try to bring them home through extradition treaties signed with those countries where they are hiding and implement the verdict.

It took more than 34 years to eventually find justice on this case of monumental importance to tens of millions of Bangladeshis. It was a delayed justice but not a denied one; it was by all accounts a welcome verdict. The verdict showed that a killer can run and even hide under the skirts of the beneficiaries of a gruesome murder but justice may still prevail. The Supreme Court verdict also proved that even when we least expect justice in a country that has increasingly become hopeless for the victims not everything is lost; the victims can still smile and see light at the end of what once appeared to be a never-ending judicial circus.

So who knows we may even live long enough to see the war-criminals of 1971 hanged for their monumental crimes! Thirty-eight years probably is not too long of a waiting time. Let's keep our hopes alive and have a sweet dream for now!

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