The month of August is a memorable month for the subcontinent, especially for the Bengalis. In this month at different times one after another great men, who were famous Bengalis and known throughout the world passed away. On 7th August 1941 the Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore passed away. On 15th August 1975 the founding father of Bangladesh was brutally murdered with the members of his families.

On 29th August 1976 our National poet Kazi Nazrul Islam breathed his last. On 21st August 2004 a vicious grenade attack was launched in the meeting of Sheikh Hasina to kill her. She was saved miraculously but hundreds of people were killed, injured and maimed. Ivy Rahman, a front row Awami League leader was killed with many others.

Naturally August is a month of mourning for all people of the subcontinent especially for the Bengalis. Bangladesh government declared 15th August as the National mourning day and this year also it was observed at home and abroad. Last Thursday (21st August) a day was also observed in Dhaka to condemn the attack on Sheikh Hasina and to remember those who died in that barbaric attack. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was very vocal against the perpetrators of this attack and did not hesitate to condemn them mentioning their names.
She said, "General Zia was involved in the plot to murder Bangabandhu with his family and his son Tareq Rahman was involved in the plotting of the grenade attack on our Dhaka meeting. This is a killer family and they will not have any place in Bangladesh".

This is a very strong accusation on the part of a Prime Minister. There is a controversy over this accusation in some quarters. A section of 'pundits' raised the question that whether these allegations were pertinent before a court of law has given any verdict. If they are true then those people should be put to trial first and then the court will decide the matter. Those who disagree say, there are two types of trials- one in the court of men and another in the court of history. Mir Jafar and his son Miran were not tried in the court of man. But in the court of history they were marked as traitors and killers of Nawab Siraj-Ud-Daulah and his family. Dozens of books and plays were written depicting Mir Jafar as villain in the last 150 years. Nobody challenged the validity of this allegation.
One cannot vouch that Ziaur Rahman was involved in the plot of murdering Bangabandhu or Tareq Rahman had any complicity in the grenade attack on Sheikh Hasina's meeting. But all the circumstantial evidence point finger towards them. After the killing of Sheikh Mujib Ziaur Rahman took steps to eliminate his name and achievements and gradually destroyed the very value of the war of Independence.

He introduced a military rule and a political party in the style of Pakistani military rulers and permitted the anti-liberation communal and fundamentalist parties to rehabilitate themselves in Bangladesh politics. He brought back Ghulam Azam, the leader of the war criminals of 71 and rewarded the killers of Bangabandhu with high diplomatic posts. He also proclaimed an ordinance of immunity for them not to be tried for their crimes.

After the murder of Zia and the collapse of the BNP government led by Justice Sattar, Khaleda Zia took the leadership of BNP. Her style of leadership was different from her husband. She demanded the end of the military rule of Ershad and participated in the mass agitation against him in the street. It was hoped BNP was transforming under her leadership as a democratic party and people were hopeful that a two party democratic rule was going to be introduced into the country.

In 1991 BNP won the general election and Begum Zia formed a parliamentary form of government replacing the presidential one. So there was more hope that the country would now enjoy an unhindered democratic system.

But this hope of the people did not last long. Very soon Begum Zia became a prisoner of the old and reactionary coterie of her party and took a turn towards forming alliance with Jamaat and other anti-liberation forces. In the meantime her son Tareq has grown into adulthood and he started pushing out all the veteran leaders who had link with war of Independence and began to accommodate Jamaat in his party. BNP government under Khaleda Zia and Tareq started to destroy of the image of Sheikh Mujib and the ideals of the war of Independence.
They established Hawa Bhaban, which became the center of all sorts of corruption and terrorism. Political killings became the norm of the political life. Violent fundamentalism, the outcome of Afghan war, spread throughout Bangladesh and we have seen a reign of terror all over the country before the last 5th January's general election.

So we cannot blame PM Hasina for her anger and sorrow she expressed in last Thursday's meeting. But her anger alone will not free the country from the political terror and anarchy. If the government has sufficient proof that Ziaur Rahman was involved in Bangabandhu killing or Tareq Rahman was a participant in the plotting of the grenade attack then both of them should be brought to trial in the court of justice. Ziaur Rahman is dead now. So what? In Britain Oliver Cromwell was brought to trial even after his death. At least Ziaur Rahman should be tried in his absentia so that people could know about his role in the killings of the August of 75.

Tareq Rahman is still alive and enjoying a luxurious holiday-life in foreign countries and is involved in all kinds of ill-motivated political manoeuvring under the cover of a 'historian'. The last military-backed caretaker government put him under arrest for serious crimes and offenses and those cases against him are still hanging in the courts. He went abroad in parole for treatment but he is still enjoying his freedom without facing the trials.

If the present Hasina government is convinced about his alleged crimes they should expedite his trial. Why government is not taking serious steps to bring him back to the country to face the trial is not clear to me. Government should speed up the trial of the war criminals of 71 as well as the trial of Tareq Rahman and his cohorts. Otherwise only uttering allegations against them each year in a ritualistic manner will not free the country from the political conspiracies and violence.

I have mentioned in the beginning of my article that the month of August is a month of mourning for the people of the subcontinent especially for the Bengalis. We lost three great Bengalis in this month and we mourn the death of Sheikh Mujib each year on 15th August and government has declared this day as a National Mourning day. In my humble opinion we should declare 15th August as a National Memorial day.

These great Bengalis are not dead. They are immortal in people's mind and in the history. We will remember them and hold their ideals and achievements high. The nation will get new strength and courage by remembering these immortal personalities year after year not by mourning them.

London, Friday 22 June, 2014 (The Independent)