Canada’s efforts to protect Nur Chowdhury, Bangabandhu’s assassin

Despite Canadian courts denying refugee status to Nur Chowdhury, who self-proclaimed to be the assassin of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Justin Trudeau’s government remains reluctant to deport him to Bangladesh.

The primary reason cited is Ottawa’s policy against deporting individuals facing the death penalty. Nur Chowdhury, in a statement submitted to the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board, claimed an alibi for the day of the assassination, asserting that he was assisting his future wife and her brother in a rush order of T-shirts for an upcoming rally in support of the president.

However, the board rejected his alibi, characterizing the coup as “a carefully laid out plan to eliminate a whole family”. In 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Ottawa could not extradite fugitives unless it received assurances that they would not face execution. Therefore, if Bangladesh were to reduce Nur Chowdhury’s punishment to a lesser sentence, extradition might become a possibility.

Currently, Nur Chowdhury is required to make weekly visits to immigration authorities in Toronto due to a deportation order. This requirement ensures that Canadian authorities are aware of his whereabouts. According to a 2004 fax message included in Federal Court of Canada filings related to Nur Chowdhury’s case, Interpol Ottawa informed the Canada Border Services Agency that extradition might be possible in the future if there were changes in Canada or Bangladesh’s policies regarding sentencing.

According to court records, Nur Chowdhury, along with several truckloads of soldiers, launched an attack on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Dhanmondi residence in Dhaka in the early hours of August 15, 1975. They were dressed in battle fatigues and armed, with the intent to assassinate Bangabandhu and his family members and install a military-backed Islamist government. The group entered the house at around 5 am, assassinating Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and several other members of his family, including his wife Begum Fazilatunnesa, sons Sheikh Kamal and Sheikh Jamal, and two newlywed daughters-in-law. They even shot his 10-year-old son, Sheikh Russel, who was hiding behind a chair.

The perpetrators went unpunished until 1996 when Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, became the Prime Minister and recalled Nur Chowdhury and others from diplomatic posts abroad. Chowdhury, along with his wife Rashida Khanam, landed in Canada the following month and was granted visitor status. They subsequently filed refugee claims.

On August 15, 1975, around 5:15 am, five truckloads of armed men descended upon Rahman’s lakeside home. They were dressed in all-black uniforms and heavily armed. Rahman’s personal guards, who were asleep on the floor, woke up to the imminent danger. A shootout ensued, resulting in their deaths, and the attackers systematically searched the residence for members of the Rahman family and the President himself.

Bangabandhu’s older sons, Sheikh Kamal and Sheikh Jamal, attempted to defend against the attackers, engaging in a shootout with their sten guns.

Tragically, Sheikh Kamal was shot and killed first. Meanwhile, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman desperately made phone calls for help, with his final call being to Col. Jamil, the Director of Military Intelligence. However, he too was stopped from entering the area and was shot dead.

It was Major Mohiuddin Ahmad, the leader of the coup, who ultimately found the President. Rahman was standing at the top of the stairs, wearing a white kurta and grey lungi, holding a pipe. Upon seeing Bangabandhu face-to-face,

Ahmad hesitated, choking on his words. Bangabandhu asked him what he wanted and if he intended to kill him, to which Ahmad responded that even the Pakistani army couldn’t accomplish that. At that moment, Nur Chowdhury stepped forward, shoving Mohiuddin aside, and fired his sten gun at the President, causing fatal injuries.

The attackers continued their search, massacring almost every member of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s family, including his wife, younger brother, and second-oldest son, Sheikh Jamal. The wives of Sheikh Kamal and Sheikh Jamal were found in bed, holding Bangabandhu’s youngest son, Russell. They were forcibly separated and shot, as was 10-year-old Russell, who had attempted to hide behind furniture.

Shockingly, these events were not investigated for 21 years, and impunity was granted to those involved. Khondaker Mushtaq Ahmed, one of the plotters of the massacre, succeeded Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur as president and implemented the Indemnity Ordinance in September 1975, granting impunity to everyone involved. This ordinance was made constitutional through the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, enacted by Major General Ziaur Rahman, who later became president. It included the Indemnity Ordinance, providing constitutional protection to the killers.

Many individuals, including Nur Chowdhury, who had diplomatic postings abroad in Hong Kong, Iran, and Brazil, remained free for over two decades, despite their involvement in these heinous crimes.