We join the nation in mourning the death of Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, Captain (Rtd.) Monsur Ali and AHM Quamruzzaman, the four national leaders who were brutally murdered in the Dhaka Central Jail, 40 years ago. They were the trusted lieutenants of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and who steered the tumultuous phase of the liberation struggle and the nine months of liberation war that culminated in the ultimate victory of the nation on December 16, 1971. We also recall with gratitude the yeoman service they had rendered to the fledgling nation in the aftermath of the country's independence. 

It was on this day of 1975 that these four valiant sons of the soil were killed by a band of mutineers who had usurped power after assassinating Bangabandhu and 19 members of his family. We are still bearing the brunt of the politics of violence and murder that these incidents had fawned. The ploy of the murderers was to throw the country in an abyss of darkness which they had temporarily succeeded in doing. It is indeed a blot on our conscience that it was not until the first Sheikh Hasina-led government was formed in 1996 that the perpetrators of one of the most dastardly murders in our history were brought to book. We thank her for giving us the closure that we, as a nation, badly needed. We would want to see the case concluded by bringing back the killers who are abroad and implementing the verdict of the court. Only then can the souls of the four slain national leaders rest at peace.