Mohammad Bazlul Huda

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Mohammad Bazlul Huda
মোহাম্মদ বজলুল হুদা
Born(1949-01-19)January 19, 1949
Died(2010-01-28)28 January 2010
Criminal statusExecuted
Conviction(s)Murder (assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman)
Criminal penaltyDeath
Military career
Allegiance Pakistan (Before 1971)
 Bangladesh
Service / branch Pakistan Army
Mukti Bahini
 Bangladesh Army
Years of service1968–1980
Rank Lieutenant Colonel
UnitRegiment of Artillery
Commands
  • Deputy Commander of K Force
  • 2IC of 1st Field Artillery Regiment
  • CO of 4th Field Artillery Regiment
Known forAssassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Battles / warsBangladesh Liberation War
15 August 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état

Mohammad Bazlul Huda (died 28 January 2010) was a Bangladeshi Army officer and freedom fighter who was convicted of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founding president of Bangladesh. On 28 January 2010, Bazlul was executed along with Syed Faruque Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Mohiuddin Ahmed, and A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed in Old Dhaka Central Jail.[1]

Career

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In 1973, Captain Huda was posted to 1st Field Artillery Regiment in Comilla Cantonment along with Major Shariful Haque Dalim. Dalim had gotten into a scuffle with the sons of Awami League leader Gazi Golam Mostafa. Later some officers and soldiers attacked the residence of Mostofa. The officers, including Major Dalim, lost their commissions in Bangladesh Army because of indiscipline shortly after.[2]

Huda met with other conspirators to finalize the plans on 14 August 1975.[3] On 15 August 1975, Huda was part of the mutinous troops that attacked the home of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Huda along with Major S.H.M.B Noor Chowdhury shot dead Sheikh Mujib as he was coming down the stairs. Major Syed Faruque Rahman promoted Captain Huda to Major at the home of Sheikh Mujib after Mujib and his family members were killed.[4][5] The assassins were protected by the government of Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad that took power next, through the passage of 1975 Indemnity Ordinance.[6]

In August 1989 Huda had ordered Freedom Party, the party founded by the mutinous officers, activists to attack the Bangabandhu Bhaban when Sheikh Hasina was staying there.[7] On 11 February 1990, an Bangladesh Awami League rally was attacked by activists of Freedom Party killing one member of Bangladesh Awami League. Huda was arrested while fleeing from the spot.[8]

Trial

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On 2 October 1996, AFM Mohitul Islam filed a case over the murder of Sheikh Mujib and most of his family members in 1975.[9] Dhaka sessions court on 8 November 1998 had given death sentences to Huda and 14 co-defendants. The convicts filled an appeal with Bangladesh High Court. The High court gave a split verdict with one judge confirming the death penalty of all 15 while another confirmed it for 10 of the accused on 14 December 2000. A third judge only confirmed the sentence of 12 of the accused.[10] On 19 November 2009, Bangladesh Supreme Court confirmed the death sentences of 12 of the accused.[11] On 1996, Huda was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand on charges of shoplifting and ordered to be deported to Bangladesh. He declared himself stateless and applied for asylum with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.[12]

Death

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On 28 January 2010, Huda was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail along with 4 other co-conspirators.[11][13] But in 2024 August a video has become viral where his brother claimed that he was not hanged instead he was slaughtered by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for killing her family on 15 August 1975 and also the photos of him having marks on his throat indicating that he was indeed slaughtered instead of hanged.[11][13] His family claimed that then-Prime Minister and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's daughter Sheikh Hasina herself slaughtered him by cutting his throat on 28 January 2010 at the jail. According to some newspapers, the electricity went off in the jail and the surrounding area at 11:40 PM that night. Just 20 minutes before the power outage, five coffins were brought in. During the blackout, two Pajero jeeps with tinted windows entered the jail. In one of these jeeps, Sheikh Hasina was allegedly present. Some sources suggest that Huda was never taken to the gallows that night. Instead, he was kept in a room in the administrative building. After the other four killers were hanged, Hasina allegedly went to that room, where a Hindu executioner, brought in from Kashimpur Jail, was waiting. Four men reportedly held Huda down while Hasina placed one of her feet on his chest, and the executioner slaughtered him. According to an eyewitness, Huda's blood stained Hasina's saree, Bazlul Huda was slaughtered to death by Sheikh Hasina rather than being hanged to death like his comrades.[14] After the fall of Hasina, Huda's family filed a murder case on her and others for his alleged killing.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "5 Bangabandhu killers hanged". The Daily Star. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Shahriar's confession". The Daily Star. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Farooq's confession". The Daily Star. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Major Noor, Capt Bazlul Huda shot Bangabandhu dead". The Daily Star. 29 July 1997. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Pasha shot dead Begum Mujib, Jamal, 2 in-laws". The Daily Star. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Shame darker than the night". The Daily Star. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Jail authorities asked to explain failure to produce 3 accused". The Daily Star. 3 March 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Freedom Party leader Maj Joynul, 21 others jailed for 7 yrs". The Daily Star. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  9. ^ "Long road to justice". The Daily Star. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  10. ^ "'Huda, Mohiuddin, Pasha, Noor were directly involved". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  11. ^ a b c "5 Bangabandhu killers hanged". The Daily Star. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  12. ^ "Bangladesh arrests 3 for 1975 army coup". UPI. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  13. ^ a b "'Of course, we killed him ... he had to go'". Dhaka Tribune. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  14. ^ DUKE HUDA (7 August 2024). মেজর বজলুল হুদা'কে নির্মমভাবে হত্যার বিচার চাই।-ডিউক হুদা,জাতীয় প্রেস ক্লাব,ঢাকা।০৭/০৮/২০২৪. Retrieved 5 October 2024 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ "বিপ্লবী মেজর বজলুল হুদাকে জেলখানায় জবাই করেছিলো" [Revolutionary Major Bazlul Huda was slaughtered in jail]. Suprabhat Sidney (in Bengali). 20 August 2024. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.