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Killing of Natun

Ordered by father, executed by son

Wasim Bin Habib and Tuhin SHUBHRA ADHIKARY
It was a summer morning in April 1971.
Natun Chandra Sinha - a social worker, entrepreneur and philanthropist - was offering his morning prayers at a temple in his house in Chittagong's Raozan.
Those present al the Gohira village house - known as Kundeshwari Complex - had been hearing intermittent gunshots from adjoining areas for quite a while.
Suddenly, several vehicles carrying arms-wielding Pakistani army men stopped outside the house.
As the Pak soldiers, who already had gained notoriety for butchering the Bangalees, hopped off the vehicles and approached the house, everyone either fled the house or hid themselves. Only Natun stayed behind at the temple.
The army men, led by Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, stormed inside the house and found septuagenarian Natun, owner of herbal medicine manufacturer Kundeshwari Owshadhaloy.
They had a brief conversation with him and left. Natun resumed his prayers.
But Salauddin and the Pak soldiers returned there in a short while. They dragged Natun out of the temple.
He cried out in protest but in vain.
"I have an order from my father to kill you," shouted Salauddin, son of
Fazlul Quader Chowdhury who was the chief of Convention Muslim League which actively opposed the Bangalee's bid for independence.
The soldiers then opened fire on Natun. But he was not dead yet.
As Natun was groaning in excruciating pain, Salauddin shot him two to three times to ensure his death.
Those who witnessed the bloodcurdling killing from hidden places left the house in fear.
Natun's blood-stained body had been lying in front of the temple for three days until some locals performed the last rites.
Four prosecution witnesses, including one eyewitness, narrated this brutal killing before the tribunal. Prosecution's documentary evidence also backed the accounts.
Forty-four years later, Salauddin finally met his karma. The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the death penalty, handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal-1 in October 2013, in four counts of war crimes charges, including the killing of Natun.
Natun had become a target of Salauddin and his father Fazlul as they accused the Hindu community there of not voting for Fazlul that led to his defeat in 1970 elections.
Fazlul had even visited Natun's home thrice before the elections and threatened him not to vote against him. After his defeat, Fazlul's men started torturing the Hindus.
Natun was an immensely popular personality. He played a vital role in fostering education and social services in his locality by establishing a number of educational institutions, a post office and a herbal medicine factory - all on his own.
During the Liberation War, many people including teachers of
Chittagong University and their families took shelter at the schools and colleges established by him.
"It is crystal clear evidence along with common knowledge that Natun Chandra Sinha was a very popular man in the country, especially in Chittagong, who by giving his efforts established many institutions includ-
ing school, college and also a renowned Kundeshwari Owshadhaloy," said the Tribunal-1 in its verdict.
Gopal Chandra Das, former principal of Kundeshwari Girls' College established by Natun, witnessed the murder from a window at the first floor of Natun's home. He gave a vivid description of the event in his deposition against Salauddin at the tribunal.
Natun's family including two sons -- Satya Ranjan Sinha and Prafulla Ranjan Sinha - had gone to India days before the incident. Natun had been advised to move to safety even on that fateful morning, but he had declined, according to the witness.
Gopal told the court that he had seen "with his own eyes" that Salauddin shot Natun "two to three times" after the Pak soldiers sprayed bullets on him.
Natun's son Satya Ranjan filed a case against Salauddin, his father Fazlul and some others with Raozan Police Station in January 1972, but the case did not proceed.
Instead, all that the families of the victims of Salauddin's cruelty saw is the infamous razakar gaining immense influence in his area and in the national politics following the 1975 changeover. He went on to become a member of parliament for six times. He also served as a minister in the '80s.
Natun's other son Prafulla shared his pain before the tribunal this way:" I am such an unfortunate son that I could not even light the funeral pyre of my father."
But over four decades of wait of the justice-seekers has finally come to an end.
As the SC upheld his death penalty yesterday, Prafulla said: "This is the verdict I have long been waiting for. Now I am waiting to see the quick