Bangladesh has executed a killer of the country’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, almost 45 years after the gruesome assassination. Abdul Majed, a former military captain, was one among a dozen ex-army officers who were convicted of assassinating Sheikh Mujib and most of his family — a verdict that was upheld by the Bangladeshi Supreme Court in 2009. Five of the convicts had been executed while one had died of natural causes. Majed himself was in hiding outside Bangladesh for many years and was reportedly living in India in the recent past. He was arrested by Bangladeshi authorities last week after he crossed the Indo-Bangla border to land in Dhaka’s jurisdiction.
The trial and execution of the murderers of Sheikh Mujib is an important legacy issue for Bangladesh. As is the trial of war criminals of Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation struggle against Pakistani rule. Both cases not only represent a fight for the secular soul of Bangladesh but also serve as a model for justice. It is unfortunate that in the history of the subcontinent several crimes against humanity involving communal riots and civil war have gone unpunished because of a slow judicial system and lack of political will — or due to political interference. This only breeds a culture of impunity and lawlessness.
Read: Bangladesh executes ex-Army officer for assassinating Bangabandhu
For Bangladesh, where political rivalry has often translated into political enmity, political crimes have long evaded justice. But the current government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — daughter of Sheikh Mujib — has sought to hold perpetrators to account. And the conviction and execution of those responsible for Sheikh Mujib’s killing serves as an important message — those who seek to usurp power through extra-democratic means and bloodshed will have to answer for their deeds. And that is indeed praiseworthy.
