A commander declared a 'cold-headed killer' by the High Court not only seized power through murder, but later killed many freedom fighters. In October 1977, some Japanese insurgents hijacked a Japanese plane and landed it at Dhaka Airport, in which no Bangladeshi army was involved. But Ziaur Rahman took that opportunity and killed hundreds of brave freedom fighter soldiers and pilots in the name of justice. After the hasty executions, most of the bodies went missing and all relevant documents were destroyed, so it is never known exactly how many people were killed on Zia's orders. According to information received from relatives and friends of hanged persons, 1500 freedom fighters were hanged. Zayedul Ahsan (Pintu), the current news editor of DBC news, has performed a great duty to uncover the true picture of cruelty. He has also interviewed many of the relatives of the hanged persons and many others involved. Through two decades of hard work and research, he has been able to collect rare documents that provide accurate information. These include the Gazette of the Ministry of Defense published in 1977, a book titled 'Bangladesh Air Force History', reports from the US published in the 'Washington Post' and the British Sunday Times newspaper, some documents of the so-called military tribunal, by Edward Masters, the US Ambassador to Bangladesh in 1977, in his Copies of some secret cables sent to the country. Some newspapers published in Bangladesh including 'Dainik Bangla' and 'Dainik Ittefaq', some secret documents issued by the Bangladesh Air Force, a Bengali translation of a book published in Japanese in 1978 written by a Japanese minister of the time, written by Air Vice Marshal (retd) AG Mahmood, ‘my destiny',  Lt. Colonel MA Hamid's book 'Three army coups and nothing said', General Ershad's secret letter from jail to Jatiya Party leaders, 'The Martial Law Tribunal Regulation 1977' published on 14 October 1977, ISPR Commentary circulated on 18 October, Barrister Moudud's book 'Democracy and the Challenge of Development', Anthony Mascarenhas' book 'The Legacy of Blood'. He collected a lot of pictures published in various Japanese press at that time.

Mr. Pintu, who was investigating the killings on the orders of Zia, began to write serially about it in 1997 in the newspaper "Dainik Bhorer Kagaz", and many relatives of those who were hanged spoke to him. Later, when he published the book titled 'Mysterious Coup and Execution' in 2008 and 2015, it sold like hot cakes. Later, in August 2022, he published the book titled 'Rokto Picchhil Ondhokar', which was expanded with more detailed information and pictures of the incident. The book includes pictures of many hanged people collected from their relatives. Mentioned in the introduction, during the long search for the purpose of uncovering the truth, more than a hundred people were interviewed, among whom were the Air Force Chief at that time, Air Marshal (retd.) AG Mahmud, Lieut. General Mir Shaukat Ali, Brigadier General Shafi Mehbub, Lieut. General Hussain Muhammad Ershad, Japanese Minister of State for Transport Hajime Ishii, several chairmen of the Tribunal, The then IG of Prisons Liaquat Ali Khan, executioner of Central Jail Ershadur Rahman, world renowned journalist Lawrence Lifshulz, pets of more than 50 martyrs who were hanged. He wrote, "Everywhere in the country, wherever I got a glimpse of a little clue or information, I rushed there."

Major (Retd.) Zahirul Haque Khan, chairman of an illegally formed tribunal, told Pintu, "Even if the trial started in these hastily constituted military tribunals, the members had nothing to do, they had to pronounce the verdict as per the instructions." He also said, 'I am still suffering from the injustice and injustice that I have given.' Practically the judgment orders came from Ziaur Rahman. He took this authority into his own hands by amending the Martial Law Tribunal Regulations. Even executions have been carried out on telephone orders from the army headquarters.''A former Air Force officer said, 'General Ziaur Rahman declared martial law tribunals, the then tribunal chiefs took an average of less than 1 minute to decide the life or death of a soldier during the trial.'

Even Air Chief Marshal AG Mahmood in an interview hinted at the lack of justice. Zia's coursemate Lieut. Colonel MA Hamid also termed the trial as a farce.

According to the Washington Post, published in 1978, in a secret cable sent by the State Department on January 19, 1978, Alfred Bergesen, charge d'affaires at the American embassy, ​​said, "We think that maybe 30-40 people were killed before the military court was established."

Immediately after this, the Sunday Times newspaper in London wrote that this statement of Charge the Affairs supports the report of journalists working in Dhaka. They said soldiers loyal to President Zia had killed many before they could be tried by court-martial. A March 5, 1978 report in that newspaper cited conversations with senior army officials that more than 800 military personnel were convicted and 600 executed by hanging or firing squad. The book featured copies in the New York Times and the Washington Post. The author mentioned, "The execution of the accused in the Dhaka Central Jail began on the same night that the government announced the formation of the tribunal through ISPR." He also wrote, "Hundreds of Air Force and Army soldiers were arrested for the coup attempt. Many of them were hanged. The death sentence has been carried out unilaterally in a secret trial.

According to the data, on October 26, 1977, the government formed an inquiry commission under the leadership of Justice Ahsanuddin Chowdhury, but Zia rejected the commission's report. Mr. Pintu wrote, 'The farce is that the execution of the accused in the name of trial was almost over before the formation of the commission to investigate the incident. How many people were hanged in this way was never reported. Zia's close barrister Moudud, General Ershad and other important people said that all related documents have been destroyed.

The writer Pintu reprinted the comments of the then Deputy Superintendent Liaquat Ali Khan of Dhaka Central Jail and wrote, 'The executioner is the executioner, DIG Prison only has to be physically present and give the final signal of execution. But it was Deputy Super Liaquat Ali who had to take over, as the then Acting DIG Prisons Faiz Ahmed Chowdhury was sickened by what he saw on the first night. It was not possible for him to carry out his duties after seeing the scene of people being dragged and hanged indiscriminately.’

“Not one or two people were being hanged in the prison, eight or ten people were being hanged at a wholesale rate every night. Many of those who were being hanged like this are freedom fighters.”

Mr. Pintu mentioned, "From October 9, 1977, this kind of mass hanging started. Continued for about two months. How many were hanged? There is no way to know. According to various sources, the total number is between 1,100 and 1,400. A large number of people were killed almost without trial. Some are in torture cells. It is not known how many military tribunals were constituted. There has been farce in the name of justice. Because the final order came from the pen of the military ruler and not the tribunal judge. Everything happened behind the scenes.”

He also wrote, 'Even now I encounter the children of the hanged - who have not read the report or my book. They come to me in search of their missing father.' Also  wrote, 'By looking at the structure and activities of the tribunal, it can be understood that the arrangement was daisara. The purpose was to take revenge on the soldiers in the name of justice.'' His argument, 'If we take the official account of the notification given by ISPR, it can be seen that the trial of 460 people was completed in 10 days from 7 to 17 October. That is, on an average, 46 people have been tried every day. Analyzing the list of executions carried out in Dhaka Central Jail, it can be seen that 113 people were hanged at the same time. In this way, the tribunal ordered the death penalty of 193 people in 11 working days. He wrote, 'I spoke to some people who directly sat in the seat of the judge to understand how the trial process is going on in the tribunals. From their statements, it is understood that unusual speed was the main feature of these judicial processes.

Hanged Sergeant Tofazzal Hossain's wife said, 'On December 28, 1977, she received a letter from the Air Force Record Office. It is said in that letter, "Tofazzal Hossain has been sentenced by the Martial Law Tribunal as he was involved in the incident of October 1 and 2." After the sentence he was sent to prison. Further news will be informed in due course. No other letter came to his wife informing about Tofajjal. According to the document, long before the letter was sent, Tofazzal was hanged in Dhaka Central Jail on October 10. It is known from Mr. Pintu's research-based writing, "Many of the accused did not even know what the charge against them was, and those who were ordered to be hanged would be hanged on the night of the verdict or the next night." Many families were not informed, many were informed two months after the hanging. In October-November 1977, when dusk fell in the prisons, the thunderous wails would emanate from every room. Prison authorities under the supervision of the military were executing prisoners with such haste that there were cases where one with the same name was left behind and another was hanged. They were dragged like animals to the gallows and hung with ropes around their necks. From the writing of the book, it is known that Ziaur Rahman gave priority to the army officers who returned to Pakistan. It is also known that the US ambassador wrote to Washington on November 25 that there were several thousand political prisoners in Bangladesh prisons in November, and when the ambassador mentioned their release, Zia somewhat hesitantly mentioned the number of people incarcerated in the hundreds.

Mr. Pintu wrote, 'Ziaur Rahman started thinking about abolishing the small air force that was born during the liberation war. Lt. General (retd) Mir Shaukat Ali reported that General Zia had planned to abolish the Air Force and bring its manpower and assets under the Army Aviation Corps. There was no air force activity for almost two months. At last, however, Xia had withdrawn from his thoughts. Bangladesh Air Force was weakened by losing hundreds of airmen. AG Mahmood admitted that he was virtually powerless as Air Force Chief because he was not involved in the judicial process; After losing Zia's trust, he had to leave the force after two months.’

The author met many of the victims' families, one of whom was the son of freedom fighter Sergeant Saidur Rahman, Kamruzzaman Lelin, who wrote that the father went to the office and never came back. After 7-8 days, father sent a letter from the jail in a cigarette envelope through a guy. The father's handwritten letter to the mother read, 'I don't know anything about this incident, yet they have arrested me.' Leylin has recently been actively involved in a movement called 'Mother's Cry' started by the victims' families. They demand that Zia's posthumous trial should be done, Zia's fake grave should be removed from the parliament area, they want to know where their husbands and fathers are buried or not, when they were hanged? Although there is a universal law of handing over the bodies of hanged people to their families, Zia did not do so. Even though many years have passed since the massacre of 1977, day after day these have been kept secret, documents have been burned. The web of secrecy was broken in 1996. Zayedul Ahsan Pintu started writing in 'Dainik Bhorer Kagaz' newspaper. The author has collected the names and date of hanging of several hanged soldiers from Dhaka Central Jail, Comilla Central Jail and Bogra Jail and published them.

The book contains all the facts and documents, which were not known before, but which are essential for the nation to know. This sparsely documented book will be an invaluable resource for future research on Ziaur Rahman's atrocities. If the state forms an inquiry commission in this regard, the book will be an irreplaceable resource for that commission as well. The information, images and documents collected by the author of the book over a period of more than two centuries are truly to be applauded.

Author: Retired Appellate Division Judge