Untold Facts

Historic Need for Magnanimity for Averting Evil Burden in Future Bangladesh

1. There is no favorable appreciation by the right minded people about the 19th November verdict of the Supreme Court in the 15th August (1975) bloodletting case except among the diehards of the Awami League Government party concerned for the fact that the simple case of army mutiny had been adjudged in the ‘short order’ as the simple ‘murder’ of the President of the country, Sheikh Mujib, by summarily rejecting the Appeal, not seen to be real justice done, obviously under the present political government with partisan stake.
2. The Court heard the Leave to Appeal accepted by another Bench about two years ago during non-political Care Taker Government wherein there were five valid law points: the question of jurisdiction of the previous one judge Bench, scope of the civil court to try military men, if the incident involving some bloodlettings were of simple murder or as adjunct of mutiny, whether there was any conspiracy to kill or not, and delay in filing the case after 21 years.
3. Of the five points, the crucial one was that if the incident of bloodletting was the result of army mutiny or nothing of mutiny but just only to kill the President, the Appeal Bench took the whole matter as a conspiracy to kill the President. The judges though decided that the army men came to kill the President and they did kill, and there was no motive of any mutiny for the change of the government, many evidences left out of consideration that clearly showed that the incident was a clear case of mutiny. One was and as mentioned by the previous one judge Bench of the High Court in April 2001, on which the whole appeal had banked on for 12 convicted to death sentence, that the then Army Chief amazingly made a ‘witness’ whereas he must have been an accused in the case .In an interview published in the Dhaka daily, The Independent on the 26th March 2002, the same judge is reported to have remarked, ‘After one hundred years people will say that it was not a judgment at all’. The other important items left out of consideration were that the Army, Navy and Air Force all gave allegiance to the mutiny and the change of Government formed immediately after the coup. So also all other Government organs and units of administration of the State gave allegiance to the post mutiny government and thus provided clear nod to the successful coup. The Chief Justice of Bangladesh offered oath of office to the post coup Government of Khondoker Moustaque as the President. All these points kept unresolved that showed that the judges were not only unfairly biased but also were eagerly ready to sign on the dotted lines. That they had enough of benefit of doubts in favor of the accused were all given damn to. In other words, the judgment was clearly a sort of miscarriage of justice. The miscarriage of justice in the case was also clearly advanced by one retired Chief Justice in an interview with the BBC Bengali Service on the 26th March 2001; similar comments were also made by another retired Supreme Court Justice in a public forum discussion session held at the National Press Club on the 15th August 2008 and news published in many Dhaka dailies on the 16th August 2008 (Daily Nayadiganta, Daily Amardesh, etc.).
4. The five member bench judges of the Supreme Court Appeal Division, no doubt, made their judicial verdict as they considered fit not only out of their judicial mind but also quite visibly in the near siege fearful environment of the Supreme Court Campus by not only the law enforcing agencies but also by huge angry party workers, even including the law officers showing their fists. The judges were common human beings as they were all subjected to pressures and intimidation all throughout the 29 days hearing of the appeal by the Awami League party cadres of the most militant kind. Being employees of the government for life and living, perks and favors and wholly dependent on subsistence from the pay and allowances paid from the treasury, how could they make verdict different from the one to please the top boss both of ruling political party and of the government of the country? The judges knew well ahead what the boss, in particular, in the Government wished for verdict in the case and so they possibly complied with safely, despite unfortunately creating problems of legitimacy and continuity of the State for 34 years since August 1975 that legally came up with the verdict of simple ‘killing’ and not ‘mutiny’ passed by the honorable Bench members. It’s pity that they are hardly like the independent judiciary judges of the UK, for example, in terms of all forms of social and economic security.
5. Death penalty or capital punishment has already been abolished in 94 countries as
of June 2009, and there are many international humanitarian organizations like the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, World Coalition Against the Death penalty, European Union, etc have been working for abolition of capital punishment in the rest of all countries.
6. Although Bangladesh has the penalty in the age old colonial British Cr.P.C. that provides here still today whereas, in Britain that inhuman penalty has already been abolished long ago. By immoral use of the same Cr.P.C. the colonial rulers sentenced many to death sentences, say for example, Khudiram who afterwards in free India being praised as the martyr. Bangladesh being a Muslim country should have had for the Muslims the sort of penalty provided in the holy Quran: alternatives to death penalty either Qisas or forgiveness of the victim or victim’s family members or Diyah means compensation money payable by the accused to the members of the victim’s family.
7. Even if one may not see eye to eye of the miscarriage of justice as advanced here in the case so far ended, commutation of death sentence at the lawful Review stage still left may well be done.
8. There is a serious anti feeling about the verdict in the society and outside since the very announcement of the verdict on the 19th November that may well be eased greatly by commuting the death sentence now. The Amnesty’s appeal of the 20th November may well be taken as a good ground for the commutation. Otherwise, it will certainly continue not only to hurt the future social scenario of the country but also the political divide not for any good but for many evils to come.
9. It is, as such, I feel as a senior citizen very much incumbent on the present government (the President and the Prime Minister) to take a magnanimous look into the matter. Or else, they would harm the country beyond repair and face all risks of political divide and reprisal, I am afraid, in history.

Author: M.T. Hussain