Tribute to fallen leaders
DHAKA
Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called the Jail Killing Day one of the most painful and shameful events in the country’s history.
She made these remarks while marking the 50th anniversary of the killing of four senior Awami League leaders inside Dhaka Central Jail.
The slain leaders—Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, Captain M Mansur Ali, and AHM Qamaruzzaman—were key organisers of the 1971 Liberation War.
Hasina said the tragedy followed soon after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family on August 15, 1975. She described how the same group of conspirators later murdered Bangabandhu’s trusted comrades within the supposed safety of the jail. “It was not just a murder of four leaders but an attempt to destroy the ideals of independence and democracy,” her statement read.
She explained that the killings aimed to erase the spirit of the Liberation War and allow anti-independence forces to regain political ground. The former Prime Minister praised the four leaders’ courage and devotion, saying they guided the provisional government during the war when Bangabandhu was imprisoned in Pakistan. They built diplomatic ties and won global support for Bangladesh’s freedom, Hasina noted.
Paying tribute to the “martyred” leaders, Hasina vowed that the Awami League would never surrender to lies or conspiracies. She promised to continue working toward a modern, fair, and prosperous Bangladesh, free from corruption and inequality, and guided by the ideals of the Liberation War.
