"After the city of Chittagong was captured by the enemy, when Begum Khaleda Zia hid under a burqa and fled from Chittagong by steamer to Narayanganj, it was Mr. Mozammel Haque who brought her from Narayanganj to Dhaka. That day was May 16. Curfew was imposed in Dhaka city. Curfew was also imposed in Narayanganj from the evening. In the meantime, he painted the Red Cross mark on his car and rushed to Narayanganj terminal. About ten days after bringing Begum Zia, on May 26, the Pakistani soldiers called all the officers with the name Haque in the Industrial Development Organization and asked if anyone was related to Colonel Zia. Mr. Mozammel Haque realized that danger was approaching. He hid his relationship with Colonel Zia there and returned home on the pretext of illness and immediately made arrangements to remove Begum Zia from her house. But not finding a suitable place, he finally left her at the house of one of his uncles in Dhanmondi for a few days on 28th May and from there on 3rd June he was again shifted to the house of Mr. Mujibur Rahman, Assistant Director of Geological Survey and a few days later to the house of Mr. SK Abdullah, Deputy Director of Geological Survey. In the meantime, on 13th June, the Pakistani army men came and raided the house of Mr. Mozammel Haque. A certain Colonel Khan was leading this raiding party. Colonel Khan questioned Begum Zia and said that they had seen Begum Zia in this house. Not getting any satisfactory answer from Mr. Haque, his ten-year-old son Don was also questioned. Don clearly told Colonel Khan that he had not seen his aunt in the last three years. When all efforts failed, Khan's soldiers searched his house. But not finding Begum Zia there, he returned in despair. Before leaving, he was told that if he did not tell the truth, he would be taken to the cantonment. After that, Mr. Haque realized that he was being followed all the time. Wherever he went, Feu followed him. In this situation, he took leave from the office on the pretext of his mother's illness and made arrangements to leave Dhaka with his family. As arranged, on July 1, they left the car in the garage and went out through the back door and boarded two auto-rickshaws. The intention was to go to Begum Zia's maternal uncle's house in Dhanmondi and board for the time being. But as soon as they reached the Science Laboratory, one of their auto-rickshaws broke down. In this situation, they went to a friend's house on Green Road nearby and boarded. But a big surprise awaited them here. As soon as Mr. Haque reached here, the wife of this distinguished friend of his informed him that they had received a letter written by Colonel Zia. The letter was written to Mr. Haque and they had been looking for him for a few days to send it to him. Not understanding how Colonel Zia's letter addressed to him came to this house, he was completely surprised and wanted to see the letter. His friend's son took out the letter. To check whether it was really written by Colonel Zia, he gave it to his friend's son and sent it to Mr. Mujibur Rahman of the Geological Survey. Meanwhile, as evening approached, Mr. Haque sought shelter at his friend's house for the night. Assuring them of a safer place, they were sent to a small house in Sutrapur at night. His friend's son brought them to this house in a car. Here they took shelter in a small room. But the next day, they found that the Pakistani army had surrounded the house. Dozens of armed soldiers were standing in front of the house. The head of this group was Captain Sajjad and Captain Arif. They went inside and started questioning them about Colonel Zia and Begum Zia. Mr. Haque and his wife denied their relationship with Zia. But when Captain Sajjad showed them a group photo of Begum Zia with Mr. and Begum Haque, they admitted to their relationship with Zia. However, they said that they did not know where the Colonel and Begum Zia were. At this stage, around 5 pm, Mr. Haque and his wife were taken to Malibagh intersection in a military vehicle and kept in front of Mouchak Market until evening. Here they were told that Begum Zia had been arrested. Then they were taken around the second capital area and brought back to their house in Sutrapur and released. From here, they came to Mr. Haque's friend's house on Green Road at night and from there returned to his own house in Khilgaon. It is noteworthy that on this day, Begum Zia and Mr. Abdullah, as well as Mr. Mujibur Rahman, were arrested by the Pak army from Mr. SK Abdullah's house in Siddheshwari."
Khaleda Zia

January 1, 1970

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Original Language: English

Sources

Humayun Ahmed,

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Khaleda_Zia