On 17th March 1920, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was born in Tungipara village of Gopalganj district. His birthday is celebrated as ‘National Children’s Day’. His nickname is Khoka. His father’s name is Sheikh Lutfur Rahman and mother’s name is Saira Khatun. He received his secondary education from Gopalganj Mission High School. Later, he completed his B.A. from Kolkata Islamia College and enrolled in the Law Department at the University of Dhaka. He was the proclaimer of the historic ‘Six Points’ of Bengali nationhood in 1966. He was the founding father and first President of independent Bangladesh. On 25th March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested and taken to West Pakistan. During the Liberation War, Bangabandhu was imprisoned in the Mia Mawla jail in Karachi, Pakistan. On 8th January 1972, he was released from Pakistani prison. On 10th January 1972, Bangabandhu returned to Bangladesh. Hence, 10th January is observed as ‘Homecoming Day’. During the Homecoming, Bangabandhu traveled to Britain and India.
In 1972, on October 10, Bangabandhu was adorned with the ‘Julio-Curie Peace Medal’. On May 23, 1973, Bangabandhu accepted the award. In April 1971, in an article in the American weekly ‘Newsweek’, journalist Loven Jenkins described Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the ‘Poet of Politics’ in his report. In 2004, in a BBC survey, Bangabandhu was chosen as the ‘Greatest Bengali of the Millennium’. The autobiography of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, ‘The Unfinished Memoirs’. Fakrul Alam translated the book into English. Bangabandhu’s immortal book on the Liberation War, ‘Amar Kichu Katha’. On June 21, 2009, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court declared Bangabandhu as the ‘Proclaimer of Independence’.
indemnity act bangladesh|indemnity act
In 1975, on September 26, President Khandakar Moshtaq Ahmed issued the Indemnity (Immunity) Ordinance, obstructing the path to trial for the killers of Bangabandhu. Subsequently, on November 12, 1996, the National Parliament passed the Indemnity Ordinance (Repeal) Bill-1996. After the President’s signature on November 14, 1996, it became law, lifting the legal barriers to the trial process of Bangabandhu’s assassination case.
In 1996, on October 2nd, A.F.M. Mohitul Islam filed the charge sheet in the case of the assassination of Bangabandhu in Dhanmondi Thana. On November 8, 1998, Judge Kazi Golam Rasul of Dhaka District Court sentenced 15 out of 19 accused to death. Subsequently, an appeal hearing was held in the High Court to provide a divided opinion on the case. When the divided opinion reached the bench of the third judge, Mohd. Fazlul Karim, on April 30, 2001, he upheld the death penalty for 12 accused and acquitted 3 others. On October 4, 2009, a bench of five judges from the Appellate Division was formed to hear the final verdict of the case. On November 19, 2009, the verdict of the Bangabandhu assassination case was announced, upholding the death penalty for 12 accused.
