Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Zafrullah Chowdhury has hailed BNP chief Khaleda Zia on her comments doubting the number of the martyrs in Bangladesh’s Liberation War.
Speaking at a discussion in Dhaka on Friday, he said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had initiated a move in 1971 to determine the number of martyrs.
“The BNP chief has brought the matter to the forefront again. (You) have highlighted Sheikh Mujib, rising above meanness. That’s why I would like to thank you,” said Chowdhury, who is a leader of pro-BNP professionals.
He identified the BNP’s weaknesses in publicity and advised the party chief to take up a countrywide visit to correct the situation.
At an event on Dec 21, Khaleda had expressed her doubts on the Liberation War’s death toll, claiming that the number of martyrs was debatable.
“There is a debate about how many hundreds of thousands were martyred in the Liberation War. Different books give different accounts,” she said.
Her remarks triggered sharp reactions from various quarters, with several lawsuits filed against her at different places in the country.
A number of organisations, including Ekattorer Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee, demanded an apology from the BNP chief over her remarks.
Chowdhury said at the Friday discussion, “A major virtue of Mujib Bhai (Bangabandhu) was his generosity. He felt the necessity of determining the actual number of those killed in the Liberation War.”
“After assuming office, he formed a committee headed by Dr Sattar to determine the number of deaths in the Liberation War. Dr Sattar’s junior Mr Asafuddoula is still alive. He was on the committee and knew about the remit of the committee,” he said.
He advised Asafuddoula to come up with a statement on the matter.
The Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder said Bangabandhu had formed another 10-member committee, headed by then inspector general of police Abdur Rahim, to determine the number of those killed and wounded in the war.
“We had forgotten about the matter,” he said, adding that Khaleda Zia had brought it to the forefront again.
Chowdhury, who was earlier penalised by the International Crimes Tribunal for contempt of court, said, “Khaleda has tried to highlight the move that our Mujib Bhai had initiated, rising above meanness.”
At least one person has the guts to come out and say the right thing. Bangladesh is full of pussies. They do not have the courage to tell Hasina and her goons that they are wrong. Three cheers for Zafrullah Khan. He has the balls.
This is a news! We never heard about the Committee formed by the Father of our
Nation. Why physician Zafrullah Chowdhry is unearthing this information after
40 years? Is there any doubt that millions of unarmed people of Banglaadesh were brutally killed by the monstrous Pakistani army and thus they committed a horrific genocide as was done by Nazis.
Dr. Zafrullah loves to be a controversial man like his so called Drug
Policy which has been rightly thrown into dustbin. And how dare this punk Elahi utters that “Bangladesh is full of pussies”. This moron has no idea about our
great liberation war and our valiant freedom fighters. And Hasina is the most
successful Prime Minister in the history of Bangladesh.
‘Hasina is the most successful Prime Minister in the history of Bangladesh” – really?
Its a matter of great shame for the nation that we have during the last 45 years failed to list the names of Razakers, Al Badrs, and those who who were killed by the Muktibahini as stooges of the Pakistani Occupying forces. Its a crime of higher magnitude not to list the names of martyrs and those daughters and mothers who were defiled by the Occupying forces and their hoardes.
Mona has lack of knowledge. She only goes as far as she wants to hear. If there were 3 million martyrs, there should be at least double that amount of relatives of the martyrs who should be getting the generous pension Hasina has bestowed on fake Al freedom fighters. Mujib made a mistake in his interview with David Frost in London in 1972. He was told 3 lac people were killed by the Pakistanis and their proxies. Not knowing the difference between 3 lacs and 3 million, he said 3 million. That amount is still carved in stone. It is false and should be rectified. There are good ways of doing it. This government should do it. It can be done quiet accurately if there is will. But they do not have the will. They simply will not work on finding the real numbers. It is important to know it. If 3 million is correct, are we paying stipends to 6 million family members? Check it out with the AL government. Are they paying 6 million relatives of freedom fighters. Do they really know who these people are??? Just politicizing this is sad for Bangladesh.
Could you imagine if really three Million people were killed then rest of the surviving population would have died due to bad smell and other disease’s.Please once and for all try to put the history straight without any controversy which as a nation we are famous.What our future generation will learn?We must learn to call a spade a spade.
Both Dr Zafrullah and Mr.Monsur Elahi are correct. Sheikh Mujib was a generous man with a large heart which the current political leadership lacks. Being a great patriot and a compassionate man certainly he would have liked to establish the historical facts of great importance.The David Frost interview might have been a slip of the tongue; but from what Dr.Zafrullah says it’s a new revealation of the great mind of the Sheikh which not many people know in this national hulla bullah of fake nationalism, distorted history and fake certificates (even the senior secretaries of the government were found involved in this profitable trade). Vietnam is a good example where the names of all those killed during the long war with the Americans are engraved in stones in every little villages. Why Bangladesh can’t do it to honour its martyred sons and daughters? In order to do that you need their names and identity first. Why not identify and count each and every fallen ones ? Like the great nation of Vietnam we don’t need to know the names of the traitors but the heroes so that we can remember them by their names and honour them for their sacrifice. Long live Bangladesh!
It is bull shit.Hasina has befooled the ignorant masses by exploiting the no of people having died 1971.She is an indian tout dancing on the tunes of Indians.