The Bangladesh Freedom Party is a party founded by Captain

Khandaker Abdur Rashid Khandaker Abdur Rashid is a Bangladesh Army officer and a fugitive assassin of the first president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujib. Biography Khandaker Abdur Rashid was born on 1946 in the district of Comilla, in British India. He served in the Pak ...

, Colonel Syed Faruque Rahman and Major Bazlul Huda, the chief conspirators of the killing of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...

on 15 August 1975.

1989 Assassination plot

On 10 August 1989, activists and leaders of Freedom Party allegedly launched an attack at Sheikh Hasina's the then residence in Dhanmondi's Road 32. Freedom Party members Kajol and Kobir with 10-12 men attacked Hasina's residence by hurling bomb and firing gunshots, the case statement read. They chanted the slogan “Farukh-Rashid Jindabad” as they left the place. Following the incident, Zahurul Islam, a security guard of the residence, filed two cases—one for plotting to kill Hasina and other for hurling bomb—with Dhanmondi Police Station. In 1997, eight years after the attack, Criminal Investigation Department's (CID) pressed charges against 19 people including Freedom Party leaders and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's murderers Lt Col (retd) Syed Farukul Islam, Lt Col (retd) Abdur Rashid and Maj (retd) Bazlul Huda in an attempted murder and another explosive case. On 5 July 2009, charges were framed against 16 accused. Four of the accused – Sohel alias Freedom Sohel, Golam Sarwar Mamun, Joj Miah and Syed Nazmul Maksud Murad – are currently in jail. Four accused – Humayun Kabir, Mizanur Rahman, Khandokar Amirul Islam and Md Shahjahan alias Balu – had been freed on bail. Two others—Zafar Ahmed and H Kabir—are absconding while two of the accused – Gazi Liakat Hossain and Rezaul Islam Khan – died earlier. Syed Faruk and Bazlul Huda have been executed in the Bangabandhu murder case.

1990- present

On 11 February 1990, activists of the Freedom Party attacked a

Bangladesh Awami League Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

rally killing Harun-ur-Rashid and injuring others. The party, according to 1997 UNHRC report, kept a low profile. According to the

Bangladesh Police The Bangladesh Police ( bn, বাংলাদেশ পুলিশ) of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a law enforcement agency, operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It plays a crucial role in maintaining peace, and enforcemen ...

, from 2000 onward, Mehnaz Rashid, daughter of

, had been involved in reorganizing Freedom Party. She contested the parliamentary polls in 2001 and 2008 from Chandina of

Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমিল্লা, Kumillā, ), officially spelled Cumilla, is the fifth largest city of Bangladesh and second largest in Chittagong division. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District. The name Comilla was ...

on Freedom Party ticket. In 2009, Mehnaz Rashid was arrested by police, along with Kamrul Haque Swapan, younger brother of Major Sharful Haq Dalim for suspected links to a bomb attack on Awami League lawmaker Fazle Noor Taposh. The party's current chairman is Colonel Faruque's son Syed Tariq Rahman, who lives in Sydney.

References

{{Bangladeshi political parties Political parties in Bangladesh Political parties with year of establishment missing