Did Zia fight for Pakistan or Bangladesh, PM questions his role in Liberation War

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday once again questioned Ziaur Rahman’s loyalty during the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh.

“(Mirza) Aslam Beg (who was an army officer at that time in Bangladesh) wrote a letter to Ziaur Rahman during the Liberation War expressing satisfaction of his activities,” she said.

This raised the question whether Zia had fought for Bangladesh or Pakistan, she said while addressing a discussion meeting at Awami League office in city’s Tejgaon, organised by the AL on the occasion of the  Independence  and National Day celebrated on Tuesday.

In that letter, she claimed, Mirza Aslam Beg also said that wife and sons of Ziaur Rahman were fine in Dhaka Cantonment. 

“The question is if the person had proclaimed the independence then why the Pakistanis took care of the wife and sons of that person in cantonment, and wrote a letter stating satisfaction over his job,” she said.

The ruling Awami League chief said that the war was fought in the eleven sectors of the country during the Liberation War, but the sector led by Zia saw the most killings of the freedom fighters. 

“The most casualties were in there,” she said.

She said that during any operation  Ziaur Rahman used to keep himself in a safe place pushing the freedom fighters to the action field which caused huge casualties as he could not take decision based on ground reality.

“The casualties happened due to the lack of proper leadership by him (Ziaur Rahman),” she said.

She mentioned that the successful operation in any battle means attaining desired goal through fewer casualties.

“Zia could not do that, as a result Aslam Baig expressed satisfaction,” she said.

General Beg served as the third Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army from 1988 until his retirement in 1991. His appointment as chief of army staff came when his predecessor, President General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, died in an air crash on August 17, 1988.

Regarding the proclamation of the Independence on the night of March 25 (early of March 26), she said that Bangabandhu’s proclamation was relayed through wireless, But after the assassination of the Father of the Nation, the history was distorted.

“In the distorted history it was said that one major standing on a drum blew the whistle and Bangladesh got independence. A country can not attain independence  this way. If this could be done then the history of Bangladesh would have written differently,” she said.

She said that nowadays BNP leaders are searching for democracy, and one BNP leader claimed that on March 25 Awami League leaders fled from Bangladesh. If that is true who then fought the fight and who brought the victory. 

She said that the elected public representatives of the 1970 elections formed the first ever government of independent Bangladesh with Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the president and Syed Nazrul Islam the vice-president and Tajuddin Ahmed as the prime minister.

After forming this government on April 17 of 1971 they took oath at Meherpur and carried out the Liberation War, she said.

She said that Ziaur Rahman was a sector commander of that government as a salaried person under the Awami League government.

“They (BNP leaders) must not forget this fact. They must not forget that after the Independence Ziaur Rahman was promoted from Major to Major General. These ungrateful persons forget that also."

Hasina ridiculed a BNP leader’s act of  burning his shawl calling for boycott of Indian goods.

She asked BNP leaders to search the indian sarees under the possession of their wives and burn those and also stop using indian species in their kitchen.

The prime minister said that people rejected BNP for their arson terrorism and killing of people.

“Those who were rejected by people, could not win election in democratic system, now they are searching for democracy,” she said.

Awami League Advisory Council Members Amir Hossain Amu, Presidium Members Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Abdur Razzaque, and Shajahan Khan, Health Affairs Secretary and State Minister for Health Dr Rokeya Sultana, Dhaka District President Benzir Ahmed, Dhaka City South General Secretary Humayun Kabir, and Dhaka City North General Secretary SM Mannan Kochi.

AL publicity and publication secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap and his deputy Syed Abdul Awal Shameem moderated the discussion.