Today is Jail Killing Day, marking the assassination of four top Awami League leaders in jail.
The leaders 鈥� Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, Captain M Mansur Ali, and AHM Quamaruzzaman 鈥� were assassinated inside the Dhaka Central Jail on November 3, 1975.
The killings took place during the rule of another AL leader Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmad after the assassination of the country鈥檚 founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and all but two of his family on August 15, 1975.
The four leaders played a key role in forming the Mujibnagar government, which led the War of Independence in 1971.
Syed Nazrul Islam was the acting president while Tajuddin Ahmad was the prime minister, M Mansur Ali the finance minister, and AHM Quamaruzzaman the home, relief, and rehabilitation minister in that government.
The Awami League has not taken any programme to observe the day as the party has been absent from open political activities since the ouster of the AL government 鈥� led by Sheikh Hasina 鈥� on August 5 amid a student-people uprising.
Following the overthrow of the government, Hasina instantly escaped to India and has been living in exile in the neighbouring country.
When the Awami League assumed power in 1996, the government initiated a trial against the accused of the assassination of the four leaders by revoking an indemnity law that was protecting the accused from being tried.
On October 20, 2004, after a protracted trial, the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court declared 15 of the 20 accused guilty and released the other five.
All the 20 accused were former military officers. Of the 15 convicted, three fugitives were given death penalty while 12 were sentenced to life term imprisonment.
The three that received death sentence are Sergeant Moslem Uddin, Sentry Marfot Ali Shah, and Sentry Mohammad Abul Hashem Mridha.
On August 28, 2008, the High Court acquitted six of the convicted accused and released Sentry Marfot Ali Shah and Sentry Mohammad Abul Hashem Mridha who were earlier given death sentences by the lower court.
Four other people were released, who were retired Lieutenant Colonel Syed Faruqe Rahman, retired Lieutenant Colonel Shahriar Rashid Khan, retired Major Bazlul Huda, and retired Lieutenant Colonel AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed.
The four, however, were convicted in the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman assassination case and were executed on January 27, 2010.聽 In 2012, the Jail Killing case was reopened at the Appellate Division. On April 30, 2013, the court dismissed the 2008 verdict given by the High Court and upheld the 2004 judgement that convicted the 15 accused.