[chottala.com] Shada Kalo on Col. Rashid's interview

 

November 07, 2007

Col. Rashid's interview

Channel-I broadcasted part one of a five-part series of interviews with Col. (rtd). Abdur Rashid yesterday, but looks like someone in power does not want it to continue--it has been put on hold. Daily Star is reporting that it could not broadcast the other segments because of "problems with the tape."

According to the BBC, Col. Rashid made an explosive claim : Gen. Zia and Col. Taher were part of the conspiracy to kill Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (it is not very clear from the BBC report below or the other newspaper reports that this has not actually been broadcasted yet. BBC is talking in the future tense before the broadcast, using "প্রচারিতব্য " and the interview transcript in the Daily Star has no mention of this conversation.)

বাংলাদেশের প্রতিষ্ঠাতা রাষ্ট্রপতি শেখ মুজিবুর রহমানের হত্যাকান্ড প্রশ্নে আদালতে দন্ডপ্রাপ্ত পলাতক হত্যাকারীদের অন্যতম কর্ণেল খন্দকার আব্দুর রশীদ দাবী করেছেন যে জেনারেল জিয়াউর রহমান এবং কর্ণেল তাহের ঐ হত্যাকান্ডের পরিকল্পনাকারীদের অন্যতম

মঙ্গলবার রাতে প্রচারিতব্য চ্যানেল আইয়ের তৃতীয় মাত্রা অনুষ্ঠানে কর্ণেল রশীদ বলেন যে আওয়ামী লীগের নেতৃত্বাধীন সরকারকে উৎখাত করার জন্যে জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল বা জাসদের গণবাহিনীকে কাজে লাগানোর পরিকল্পনা হয়েছিলো

কর্ণেল রশীদ বলেন যে জেনারেল জিয়ার ডাকা এক বৈঠকে তাঁর প্রথম কর্ণেল তাহেরের সাথে দেখা হয়

কর্ণেল রশীদ বলেন জিয়াউর রহমানকে প্রধান করে একটি বিপ্লবী কাউন্সিল গঠনের কথা হয়েছিলো

আওয়ামী লীগের নেতাকর্মীদের ব্যাপক হারে হত্যার লক্ষ্যে গণবাহিনীকে বিভিন্নস্থানে মোতায়েনের জন্য সাতদিন আগে চূড়ান্ত পরিকল্পনা তাঁকে জানানোর জন্য কর্ণেল তাহের তাঁদের অনুরোধ জানিয়েছিলেন বলে দাবী করেন কর্ণেল রশীদ

While Mrs. Taher, Hasanul Hoque Inu and other JSD leaders are defending JSD and Col. Taher, there is a curious silence about the claim about Ziaur Rahman. No BNP leaders are calling Col. Rashid a liar, no AL leaders are claiming vindication for villifying Ziaur Rahman all these years.

Why?

We commend Mr. Jillur Rahman, the host of the program "Tritio Matra", for landing this scoop. While we are not questioning the neutrality of Channel I, we also find the timing of this interview curious. Col. Rashid is a fugitive, and he enjoys the protection of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. He would not do anything to embarrass his hosts, or speak without their permission, since his life literally depends on keeping the hosts happy.

This sudden revelation of Taher's and Zia's involvement in the killing of Sheikh Mujib has only one short-term effect: it breaks the fragile cease-fire between AL and BNP, and creates a split between AL and JSD.

Or so we should have expected. But nary a peep has come out of AL or BNP leaders, and now the government has shut down the broadcast of the interviews, so we will not know for a while, if at all, what else he said.

We would like to know:

• Why and when did Col. Rashid consent to this interview?
• What possible reason could his hosts have in allowing him to speak?
  
• Why was there never a mention of the Taher-Zia connection by any other defendant? The death sentences were pronounced when AL was in power. It is highly likely that the defendants would try to curry favor with AL by pointing the finger at Zia and Taher, two dead people who could not defend themselves. Why didn't that happen until now?
• Like the army chief of staff, all the senior officers in the armed forces were either cadets at BMA, or very junior officers in 1975. They could not have anything to do with the 1975 coup. Then who in the current powerstructure has pulled the plug on the broadcast?
• If Mr. Jillur Rahman can locate Col. Rashid, why can't the government do the same, and request repatriation even if an extradition treaty does not exist with the country that is harboring Col. Rashid?
  

After the interview was done, someone who viewed the tapes, or was present at the interview, talked to the local newspapers and the BBC. We can only hope that they saved copies of the tapes that have not been confiscated by the CTG, and they will continue to leak more of the story.

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