Rashed Chowdhury

Last updated

Rashed Chowdhury
AllegianceFlag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan (Before 1971)
Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh
Service/branchFlag of the Pakistani Army.svg  Pakistan Army
Flag of the Bangladesh Army.svg  Bangladesh Army
Years of service1968-1996
Rank Bangladesh-army-OF-4.svg Lieutenant Colonel
Unit Regiment of Artillery
Commands held
  • Deputy Commander of Z Force
  • Adjutant of 2nd Field Artillery Battery
  • CO of 4th Field Artillery Regiment
Known for Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Rashed Chowdhury is a former Bangladesh Army officer. Chowdhury was a participant in the coup that led to the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur, the founding father and President of Bangladesh, in 1975. His specific role in the coup is in dispute.

Contents

After the coup, the new constitution granted him and other conspirators immunity and he went on to work as a diplomat for the Bangladesh government. After Sheikh Hasina's election in 1996, he travelled to the United States and requested asylum which was granted. He has been convicted and sentenced to death in absentia and the Bangladesh government is seeking his extradition.

1971 Bangladesh Liberation War

Chowdhury fought in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and was awarded Bir Protik, the fourth highest gallantry award in Bangladesh. However, Chowdhury's award was revoked, along with the awards of several other soldiers involved in the assassination of Sheikh Mujib when the Awami League came to power. [1]

1975 coup

In 1975 some dissatisfied Bangladesh Army officers planned to remove the government of Sheikh Mujib through a military coup d'état, the date they selected was 15 August 1975. On 14 August the officers met to finalize the plan. They attacked Sheikh Mujib's house, killing him along with his entire family except two of his daughters who were living abroad on the 15 August. Chowdhury was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel by the regime that followed. [2]

Chowdhury's involvement in the August 15 killings is disputed. According to a since-recanted confession, he was a member of the squad that attacked the house of Abdur Rab Serniabat who was killed in the attack. [3] [4] He himself has claimed that he was first informed on the morning of 15 August 1975 and was tasked with securing a nearby radio station which he did without fighting. [3]

Career as a diplomat

Following an abortive coup on 17 June 1980, Chowdhury was sent to the Bangladeshi diplomatic mission in Nigeria, where he worked till 1984. [5] Chowdhury was in a diplomatic posting in Brazil when the Bangladesh Awami League and Sheikh Mujibur's daughter, Sheikh Hasina, came to power in 1996. [6] He left his post and traveled to the United States with his wife and child on a visitor's visa after the Government of Bangladesh recalled him. [6]

Asylum and trial

Chowdhury applied for political asylum in the United States in 1996 and was granted asylum in 2004. [3] His asylum status was upheld by the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2006. [3] [6]

While in the United States, he was tried in Bangladesh in absentia for his participation in the August 15 killings and the Bangladesh High Court sentenced him and eleven other people to death. [6] [4] On 19 November 2009, Bangladesh Supreme Court upheld the High Court verdict. [7] His conviction was based on the confessions of a co-defendant who alleged that Chowdhury was involved in the attack and assassination of Serniabat. [4] According to the United States asylum proceedings, the witness later recanted their statement, saying they were tortured before signing the paper they never read. [3]

In the following years, Bangladesh officials have requested the extradition of Chowdhury multiple times. [6] In 2020, United States Attorney General William Barr reopened the case, a move Chowdhury's attorneys have described as a favour to Bangladesh. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheikh Mujibur Rahman</span> Founding father of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, popularly known by the honorific prefix Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman, activist and diarist. As a politician, Mujib had held continuous positions either as Bangladesh's president or as its prime minister from April 1971 until his assassination in August 1975. Mujib successfully led the Bangladeshi independence movement and restored the Bengali sovereignty after over two centuries following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, for which he is honoured as the 'Father of the Nation' in Bangladesh. In 2011, the fifteenth constitutional amendment in Bangladesh referred to Sheikh Mujib as the Father of the Nation who declared independence; these references were enshrined in the fifth, sixth, and seventh schedules of the constitution. His Bengali nationalist ideology, socio-political theories, and political doctrines are sometimes called Mujibism.

Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad was a Bangladeshi politician. He was the fourth president of Bangladesh from 15 August to 6 November 1975, after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was involved in the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August 1975. He took on the role of president immediately after the assassination, praised the assassins as "sons of the sun" and put cabinet ministers loyal to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in jail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indemnity Ordinance, 1975</span> 1975 immunity law in Bangladesh

The Indemnity Ordinance, 1975 was a controversial law enacted by the martial law regime of Bangladesh on 26 September 1975. It provided legal immunity to all persons involved in the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was killed with most of his family on 15 August 1975. Immunity meant the assassins were immune from any legal action. The surviving family members of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were unable to file a murder case against the assassins due to this law.

Syed Faruque Rahman was a coup member involved in toppling the Sheikh Mujib regime in Bangladesh. He was convicted and hanged on 28 January 2010 along with co-conspirators Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Mohiuddin Ahmed, and Mohammad Bazlul Huda in Dhaka Central Jail, Old Dhaka, for the murder of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder and first President of Bangladesh. Syed Faruque Rahman and his close ally Khondaker Abdur Rashid were the chief organisers of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August 1975. He was 2IC of the 1st Bengal Lancers Regiment of the Bangladesh Army who led a group of junior army officers in order to overthrew the regime of Sheikh Mujib and install Khondaker Mushtaque Ahmed as President of Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman</span> 1975 murder in Dhaka, Bangladesh

The first president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and most of his family were killed during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his Dhanmondi 32 residence as part of a coup d'état. Minister of Commerce, Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, immediately took control of the government and proclaimed himself president. The assassination marked the first direct military intervention in Bangladesh's civilian administration-centric politics. 15 August is National Mourning Day, an official national holiday in Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Bangladesh (1971–present)</span> History of Bangladesh after gaining independence from Pakistan

The history of Bangladesh (1971–present) refers to the period after the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib</span> First Lady of Bangladesh and the wife of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Begum Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, commonly known as Begum Mujib; and also known by her nickname Renu, was the wife of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder and the first President of Bangladesh. She is the mother of Sheikh Hasina, the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Fazilatunnesa was assassinated with her husband, brother-in-law, 3 sons and 2 daughters-in-law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheikh Rehana</span> Bangladeshi politician

Sheikh Rehana Siddiq is a Bangladesh Awami League politician. She is the younger sister of the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the daughter of the first President of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She is also the mother of Tulip Siddiq, a British Labour Party politician and elected Member of Parliament (MP) for the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shariful Haque Dalim</span> Bangladeshi former army officer

Shariful Haque Dalim (born 2 February 1946) is a former Bangladeshi army officer and ambassador of Bangladesh. He was also convicted for his part in the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's founding father, in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tungipara Sheikh family</span> Bangladeshi family

The Sheikh family of Tungipara is one of the two most prominent Bangladeshi political families, other being the Zia family. The family primarily consists of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana and their relatives. Their political involvement has traditionally revolved around the Bangladesh Awami League.

Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan was a Bangladeshi army officer who was convicted for the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father and then President of Bangladesh. On 28 January 2010, Rahman was hanged along with Syed Faruque Rahman, A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Mohiuddin Ahmed, and Mohammad Bazlul Huda in Old Dhaka Central Jail.

S.H.M.B Noor Chowdhury is a Bangladesh army officer who was convicted for the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, president of Bangladesh, and for involvement in the murder of four national leaders in the Jail Killing. As of 2017, he was a fugitive, residing in Canada. The Canadian government has refused to extradite him, because he faces the death penalty in Bangladesh.

Mohammad Bazlul Huda was a Bangladeshi Army officer who was convicted of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, president of Bangladesh. On 28 January 2010, Bazlul was hanged along with Syed Faruque Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Mohiuddin Ahmed, and A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed in Old Dhaka Central Jail.

A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed was a Bangladesh Army officer who was convicted in absentia and executed for the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On 28 January 2010, Ahmed was hanged along with Syed Faruque Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Mohiuddin Ahmed, and Mohammad Bazlul Huda in Old Dhaka Central Jail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">15 August 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état</span> First military coup in Bangladesh

The 15 August 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état was a military coup launched by mid ranking army officers in Bangladesh on 15 August 1975. The officers were part of a conspiracy to assassinate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh, who led the independence struggle during the Bangladesh Liberation War and later served as the first and fourth president and later in between his two presidential terms served as the second prime minister of Bangladesh from April 1971 until his assassination in August 1975. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members were killed during the coup, with the exception of his two daughters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana.

Mohiuddin Ahmed was a Bangladesh Army officer who was convicted of the Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On 28 January 2010, Ahmed was hanged along with Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Syed Farooq Rahman, and Mohammad Bazlul Huda at Old Dhaka Central Jail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nurul Islam Manzur</span> Bangladeshi politician and former State Minister (1936–2020)

Nurul Islam Manzur was a former Bangladesh Awami League politician and the former State Minister of Communication in the cabinet of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was aligned with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Abdul Majed was a Bangladeshi military officer who was convicted for his role in the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh.

The Assassin Next Door (<i>The Fifth Estate</i>) 2023 documentary by CBC News

"The Assassin Next Door" is the fourth episode of 49th season of Canadian documentary series The Fifth Estate. The documentary was published by the Canada-state affiliated media CBC News. The investigative documentary episode is about on Noor Chowdhury, the assassin of the first President of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and it focuses on questions that raises about Canada's silence in the case of Noor Chowdhury's staying in Canada.

References

  1. ↑ Staff Correspondent. "Bangladesh strips four fugitive Bangabandhu killers of gallantry awards". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "6 stay out of reach". The Daily Star. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Swan, Betsy Woodruff (24 July 2020). "He thought he had asylum. Now, he could face a death sentence". POLITICO. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "US reopens Bangabandhu killer Rashed Chowdhury's asylum case". Dhaka Tribune. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "6 killers still out of reach". The Daily Star. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Chakraborty, Amitava (29 July 2020). "Who is Rashed Chowdhury, the Bangladeshi against whom the US has reopened a case?". The Indian Express. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "Four could not even be traced". The Daily Star. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.