The Islamists who killed the judges were disciples of Shaikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam aka Bangla Bhai. They were the leaders of banned political organization, Jamatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh. The two leaders did not kill the judges with their hand but their followers did the killing. In the trial, government lawyer said that the judges were murdered based on the call made by the two leaders of JMB.

Both Shaikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam were evading arrest. In March 2006 the police finally caught up with him one in Sylhet town and the other in Muktagacha near Mymensingh town. Khaleda Zia administration, who was at the helm then, took heat from press for setting the stage for their dramatic arrests that were televised.

Immediately after their arrests, the two Islamists were railroaded to gallows in double-quick time. According to news published in Dhaka's newspapers, the Islamists are not housed in a jail cell but they live in a house in Dhaka's northern suburb.

The condemn men expressed their interest to talk to news media immediately after their arrests. However, Khaleda Zia administration made sure that the men remain far away from newspaper men and reticent.

Now that Khaleda Zia administration is all but history, the caretaker government should permit the death row inmates to talk to the news media. What is the government going to lose?

It was reported in news media in 2004 that the JMB leadership was involved with a handful of BNP MPs from northwestern district of Bangladesh. We also saw photos taken in the heydays of Islamists in 2004 when they were trotting the streets of Rajshahi, Noagaon, Atrai, and few other rural towns under police protection. In those days, the BNP leadership said publicly that JMB terrorists were nowhere to be found and they were the wildest imagination of the press.

Now that the two condemned men are about to walk the gallows, it is the government's last chance to unearth the nexus between the virulent Islamists belonging to JMB and the ex-MPs from the north-west.

What is the pressing reason for interviewing the two Islamists? In my opinion, there are plenty of reasons. For one, who funded the operations of JMB terrorists? Did they receive any protection from any political party? The two men who are about to walk the gallows may give more secret out than one could envisioned. How many different operations they ran?

Did they try to kill liberal secularists? Prof.

Humayun Azad was brutally attacked in February 2003 when the nation was under the grip of Islamic violence. In April 2001 terrorists attacked innocent and peaceful civilians as they participate in Pohela Baishakh (Bangla New Year) celebration. Also, people would like to know whether the Islamist goons attacked multiple movie theaters on Eid day in Mymensingh in 2002.

The two death row inmates are very eager to talk now. Therefore, the government should allow the men to talk. For the sake of posterity the tell-all session should be both audio and video recorded. A group of newspaper reporters may field questions before them. It will be helpful if the government do not allow any police or officials to be present at the session.

If a genial environment is produced, the two Islamists may spill the beans. Therefore, for the greater good of the society, the two Islamists awaiting execution should be allowed to talk freely before the press. If the caretaker government is sincere about abolishing criminal activities and terrorism from the land, then, they should be dead serious about recording the tell-all session of the two Islamists.

What are we waiting for? Let the Islamists not take any secrets to their grave. The government of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed which is bent on wiping out crime from the society may inaugurate our Bangla version of glasnost with the taping of the two Islamists who are gallows-bound. Let us hear what they have to say.

Dr AH Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, US.