Murder most foul . . .

WE observe today, as we have for the last so many years, the anniversary of the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members with due solemnity. It remains our belief, as well as that of everyone else who believes in decency and a sense of morality, that the murder of the nation's founding father was a terrible blow to our self-esteem as a nation and to the fabric of our national politics. The question of politics apart, the fact is that throughout his life Bangabandhu symbolised for us the struggle that needed to go, and indeed did go, into the emergence of a people ready and willing to make supreme sacrifices in defence of collective national dignity. When he was cut down on August 15, 1975, it was not merely the fall of an individual but the collapse, however temporarily, of a symbol as well.Today, therefore, it is a strong sense of mourning, of national loss engendered by the tragic incidents of August 1975 that bring the people of Bangladesh together in paying tribute to the leader on whose watch they once went into the movement for autonomy, which again was followed by a spirited, armed struggle for freedom. Today, all these years after the assassination of unquestionably the greatest political figure in our history, we are at liberty to inform ourselves and our children that it was the qualities of leadership in Bangabandhu that earned for him the pre-eminence he has always enjoyed in Bangladesh's history. His courage in the face of adversity, his adherence to principles in defence of the rights of his people and his belief in the strength of the popular will have consistently served for us as ideals in our constant striving for a pluralistic order. Bangabandhu provided leadership to us at a time when we needed it most -- in the 1960s and 1970s. It was a defining moment for us when we went to war to free ourselves from colonial rule under his leadership.More than three decades after his tragic end, we note with a sense of satisfaction the recent judgement of the High Court regarding the observance of National Mourning Day and the caretaker government's subsequent move to implement the decision. It is our belief that Bangabandhu, as we have said before, should remain above partisan politics by virtue of the unifying role he played in our transition from a colonised province to a free country. Let his position and let the observance of National Mourning Day from now on be immutable realities of national life.We pray for the souls of Bangabandhu and his family.