Sheikh Rehana made 1st global call for justice against Bangabandhu’s killers in 1979
BSS :
Bangabandhu’s younger daughter Sheikh Rehana had made the first global call for justice against the assassins of Bangabandhu and four national leaders in 1979.
On May 10 in 1979, she turned the global attention to the darkest chapter in the country’s history through a speech at an All-European Bakshal conference, participated by European country heads, the UN chief, and international NGO high-ups in Stockholm.
At that time, Sheikh Hasina was in Delhi and she had sent her younger sister who was in Europe to raise voice for global pressure on the then military backed Bangladesh government after Bangabandhu’s assassination.
That incident goes down in the annals of history as the voice for global pressure-on the then-Bangladesh government-was raised through that emotion-choked rendition.
Revisiting the historic episode on the birthday of Sheikh Rehana, senior politician and Awami League advisory council member Amir Hossain Amu said Bangabandhu’s daughters reinvigorated the party through different activities in London, raising voices for the justice for Bangabandhu’s assassination.
They formed a probe committee under Sean MacBride and tried to help them come to the country and investigate the incident but, their visa application was turned down by the then-Ziaur Rahman government, Amu recalled.
He added: “If the two daughters of Bangabandhu were not abroad at that time, how long would we be subjected to repression? How long would we be victims of the conspiracy of assassins?”AL Advisory Council Member Mozaffar Hossain Paltu said after Bangabandhu killing, his two daughters played crucial role in building international public opinion for bringing the killers to justice.
The anti-liberation local and foreign forces blocked the way to justice and the then military backed rulers did not allow Bangabandhu’s two daughters-Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana-to return to their homeland, he said.
Sheikh Rehana created international public opinion for her father’s murder trial in European nations in exile by raising demands to the heads of state of different countries and human rights organisations, he added.
Rehana is an ideal sister, a selfless source of support for her elder sister, Sheikh Hasina, both on a mission to fulfill Bangabandhu’s dreams and goals.
The two sisters are bonded by birth and the pain they have gone through, he added.
During emergency period of one-eleven in 2007, Sheikh Rehana also played an important role in shaping public opinion in the country and abroad for Sheikh Hasina’s release.
Sheikh Rehana always stayed beside Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her struggle to restore democracy in the country and bring the Bangabandhu killers to justice, he added.
