JUSTICE AT LAST

With the Supreme Court of Bangladesh upholding the death sentence on the assassins of founder President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, justice has finally been delivered after a long legal battle that dragged on for 13 years. Thirty-four years after Mujib was assassinated, along with 20 others including his wife and three sons, the deliverance of justice, if anything, should certainly help restore people's faith in the country's judiciary that has never been known for impartiality. In fact, had it not been for his daughter Sheikh Hasina, who, being abroad at the time survived the attack to become Prime Minister one day, it is doubtful whether the guilty would have ever faced any punishment. For it was Hasina who, after becoming premier for the first time in 1996, removed the legal barriers that had been placed by the post-Mujib military governments to protect the killers, though she couldn't help complete the process during that stint. The proceedings were put on the backburner during the subsequent governments led by Khaleda Zia. This time, however, the Hasina-led government has done well to enable law to take its own course. After all these hindrances, the killers have finally got what they deserved, with five of them being condemned to the gallows. With Dhaka now engaging the Interpol, it is expected that the six others who are still at large will also be brought to justice in course of time.


With this verdict history too has come a full circle. With Hasina again in power, there are much improved relations between India and Bangladesh which is reminiscent of the time when Bangabandhu, who led the country to independence from Pakistan in 1971, was in power. Good relations between Bangladesh and India during his time were a logical conclusion of the '71 war, for the huge role India played in the fight for freedom – from sheltering millions of refugees and training pro-liberation fighters, to fighting off Pakistani troops occupying the erstwhile East Pakistan. Mujib however had many enemies due to his pro-India image, and his decision to turn Bangladesh into a one-party democracy proved to be a fatal mistake that probably led to his assassination. The murder took Bangladesh in a completely different direction, with Armymen and civil politicians loyal to them coming to the forefront. Those involved in the coup plot or those who stood to benefit from the plot will perhaps invariably say that the assassination helped Bangladesh get rid of being a client state to India. Such feelings, which persisted through the reigns of both Gen Zia and Gen Ershad and also that of former PM Khaleda Zia, however, have to be in place in some quarters even now, especially among Islamic fundamentalists. With the Hasina government now hounding out northeastern militants, particularly ULFA, from Bangladeshi soil, she no doubt has infuriated many anti-India forces. Post-Mujib verdict, the threat perception has grown bigger. All in all, it is expected that the Hasina government will weather such storms to maintain peace and stability in the country and ensure that its ties with India remain as good as ever.