Who did Sheikh Mujibur call before his assassination? When the first President of Bangladesh was shot at

After fighting for years for independence against Pakistan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman achieved a separate country, Bangladesh, with the help of India, but he would not have realized that his own people would assassinate him. On the birth anniversary of Banga Bandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, born on 17 March 1920, let us know the whole story of his assassination.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was fighting for the independence of Bangladesh, declared independence at midnight on 25 March 1971. After this, he was arrested and kept in Mianwali jail of Pakistan. He remained in jail for about nine months. Meanwhile, in December 1971, India defeated Pakistan with the help of Bangladesh Mukti Bahini.

After this, on the night of 7 January 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released by Pakistan and he went to London. After staying there for two days, he reached New Delhi from Dhaka on the evening of 9 January and after staying here for a few hours, he went to Bangladesh.

Engaged in rebuilding Bangladesh

After reaching Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur started rebuilding his country which had suffered the horrors of war. As the President, on one hand he was engaged in the development of his country, but on the other hand, many things were getting out of his hands. By the year 1975, corruption started increasing in Bangladesh. People in high positions started encouraging nepotism. This not only increased discontent among the common people but also caused turmoil in the army.

Army said attack on President’s residence

The result of discontent in the army was that on the morning of 15 August 1975, some junior officers attacked the official residence of the President of Bangladesh at 32 Dhanmondi. After hearing the sound of bullets, Sheikh Mujibur called the then Army Chief of Bangladesh, General Shafiullah.

In one of its reports, BBC quoted General Shafiullah as saying that Sheikh Mujibur was very angry at that time. He told the army chief that the soldiers had attacked my residence. Order them to return. On this, the army chief asked him whether he could come out of the residence?

The whole family was killed one by one

However, by then the soldiers had entered the President’s residence and firing had started downstairs. Hearing this, Sheikh Mujibur was coming down the stairs. Then he was shot. Sheikh Mujibur rolled face down on the stairs and kept falling down. After this, his wife was shot. Then one by one his sons and daughters-in-law were also killed. Sheikh’s youngest son Russell was only 10 years old at that time but he was also not spared.

At the time of this incident, Sheikh Mujibur’s daughters Sheikh Hasina and Rehana were in Germany. They were banned from returning to Bangladesh. After this, they were given political asylum.

They buried everyone in a big pit

Quoting senior journalist Subhash Chakraborty, BBC has written that Sheikh Mujibur was not only killed, but he was also brutally dragged out of his house. He was thrown in a truck outside. The next day, i.e. on the morning of 16 August, Bangladeshi soldiers collected all the bodies of Sheikh Mujibur’s family. Except his, all other bodies were buried in a big pit in Benani cemetery. Sheikh Mujibur’s body was taken to his village Tangipara by helicopter.

Bathed with laundry soap

The entire village was surrounded by Bangladeshi soldiers, so that people could not attend his Namaaz-e-Janaza. The soldiers were insisting that the body be buried as soon as possible. However, a Maulana from the village insisted that the body cannot be buried without bathing. There was no soap for bathing at that time. Therefore, Sheikh was bathed with laundry soap and buried next to his father.

Indira Gandhi had already expressed her apprehension

India’s then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had already suspected a conspiracy to kill Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It is said that in 1975, Indira Gandhi met Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Jamaica. Then she expressed concern over Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s safety. However, Sheikh Mujibur did not think that even a Bengali could kill him.