‘Providers of info on Bangabandhu’s five killers will be rewarded’

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday said the government would reward those who can provide information on the killers of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

“If you can give us information, you will be rewarded,” he said while speaking at a discussion at Jatiya Press Club.

Momen also called for unmasking those who kept mum for 21 years about the killers and the persons behind the killers. “All those people should be unmasked.”

The five killers who remain fugitives are Khandker Abdur Rashid, Shariful Huque Dalim, Noor Chowdhury, Rashed Chowdhury and Moslehuddin Khan.

Describing Canada and the USA as countries with very strong rule of law, the foreign minister said they should not shelter murderers.

He said, “Canada has developed such a system that all killers will go there and take refuge. The country has turned into a safe heaven for killers. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s killer Noor Chowdhury also got shelter there. But, the countries like Canada, America, where laws are very strict, can’t be a safe heaven for the killers.”

The Foreign Minister said, “We’re often asked about bringing Bangabandhu’s killers back to the country. As far as I know, five of the killers of August 15 mayhem were hanged after bringing them back to the country. Another killer was caught in 2020 and he was also hanged. The whereabouts of five, out of the rest seven, could not be traced. Two others are Rashed Chowdhury and Noor Chowdhury. Rashed lives in the USA while Noor in Canada.”

Momen said the government will be very happy if all the killers are brought back to face justice. “But we are yet to do it. If we can, we will feel that it is a great achievement.”

The Foreign Minister said the government has written many letters to the US and Canadian governments seeking steps for returning the killers; even the PM wrote to the US president.

He urged the Bangladeshis living in Canada and the US to stage demonstrations routinely in front of the two killers’ residences.

The foreign minister laid emphasis on writing more research-oriented books with solid facts so that they can provide more documentary evidence.

The discussion was organised in observance of the National Mourning Day. Muktijuddher Chetonar Sangbadik Forum organised the discussion in observance of the 48th martyrdom of the Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud attended the discussion as the chief guest, while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s former Media Adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury presided over it.

The discussion was also attended by senior journalist and former president of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Jatiya Press Club president Farida Yasmine, and Dainik Jugantor editor Saiful Alam, among others.

The National Mourning Day will be observed on August 15. On this day in 1975, the greatest Bangalee of all time, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with most of his family members was brutally assassinated.