“Could offer prayers if I knew where my husband was buried”

GBNEWS24DESK//

Former Air Force sergeant Delwar Hossain went missing in 1977. After that, his family could not trace his whereabouts. His family members claim that he was on the list of people who were killed in the name of suppressing the rebellion in the Air Force in October 1977.

On the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances 2022, a discussion meeting was organised at the Central Shaheed Minar yesterday under the banner of “We want justice for the disappearance and hanging of the brave freedom fighters in 1977”.

Nurunnahar Begum, wife of Delwar Hossain, took part in the event, the daily Prothom Alo reported.

At the event, she demanded to know the whereabouts of her husband’s grave.

Nurunnahar, now in her 70s, said only three years after their conjugal life, her husband suddenly disappeared. Later, she came to know that her husband’s body had remained hidden after being murdered.

“If I knew where my husband was buried, at least I could have offered prayers at his grave,” Prothom Alo quoted her as saying.

She demanded justice for the murder and enforced disappearance of her husband.

She is still frantically keeping her pursuit to get hold of her husband’s remains.

Like her, a number of relatives of such armed forces officers purged under Ziaur Rahman’s rule gathered at Shahed Minar and sought the whereabouts of their loved ones who were hanged to solidify Zia’s power.

As many as 19 coups took place when Zia, who founded BNP, led the country. Around 1,500 were reportedly purged — mostly war heroes who later joined armed forces.

Relatives blamed Zia for killing those officers and demanded posthumous trial against Zia, calling him “a killer”.

General Zia became the army chief after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15, 1975 and eventually became the first military ruler of Bangladesh.