A day to mourn

The Daily Star has been the one, since its inception, to call on the government of the day, to declare August 15 a day of mourning. We have since then repeated our call every year, and we do so once again.

We also call upon the government to ensure that the Bangabandhu murder case be concluded without any further delay. It pains us to see that the case still remains in a state of limbo. It surprises us that no hearing of the case, suspended five years ago, has been held even once since. And no words can be strong enough to express our revulsion at the fact that so many of the judges have felt 'embarrassed' to give the case a hearing. The action of the judges, we feel, is an abdication of their bounden responsibility to dispense justice to the aggrieved. Equally disquieting is the fact that no appointment of judges have been made so far to expediate the case.

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It will be well for us to remember that the culture of killing as a means of political change, commenced with the killing of Bangabandhu; and it has thrived with impunity under the shade of another disgraceful enactment, the Indemnity Act, now repealed, that legitimised a gruesome killing that wiped off all but two of Bangabandhu's family members. Nothing can justify the brutal killings.

Today is also a day of reflection. Reflect we must, most objectively, on the contribution to our national identity of a person whose place as a colossus in our history is indelibly inked. Let history be the judge of the man's foibles and fortes, but let us keep him above all controversies. Let no one deify or demonise him, but let no one hesitate to accord him the rightful place in our history as a man who united the nation to break off from the yoke of a repressive state.

By denying Bangabandhu his rightful place we only demean ourselves.