TUI RAZAKAR

Comiled By Habib

Staff Correspondent

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said the commission will collect records of war criminals’ trials under the now defunct collaborators act, in a bid to permanently disqualify war criminals from contesting in any election.

Between 1972 and 1975, 752 persons were convicted of war crimes and the government has the records. Soon after the country’s independence, 37,000 persons were detained on charges of war crimes, 26,000 of whom were released on a general amnesty in 1973, keeping 11,000 still in jails on specific charges of murder, rape, arson, etc.

But after 1975, the collaborators act was scrapped stopping the trials and leading to release of all convicted and detained war criminals.

In its electoral reform proposals, the Election Commission (EC) said an individual will be permanently barred from contesting in parliamentary elections if that person was convicted of war crimes by any national or international tribunal. The same provision is likely to be proposed for local government elections too.

Besides, according to a Supreme Court order, a contesting candidate will have to submit an affidavit of personal information of eight categories including one for criminal cases filed against that person, and the verdicts in those.

“Returning officers will need the war crimes trial records to scrutinise the nomination papers, for finding out whether any of the prospective candidates has suppressed information about war crimes cases filed against him or her,” the CEC told the Sector Commanders’ Forum (SCF) yesterday at a meeting in the commission secretariat.

The CEC said if any candidate is proven guilty of suppressing information in the affidavit submitted to the commission, even after the person is elected to an office, that election will be cancelled.

“But we need the trial records and other documents since the Election Commission does not have any pertinent information,” the CEC said.

Leaders of SCF, a platform of commanders who led the country’s liberation war in eleven sectors, told the CEC that all records and evidence of war crimes have been lying on government shelves.

The forum placed a five-point proposal to the EC including one for barring war criminals from contesting in polls, and another for disqualifying anti-liberation organisations including Jamaat-e-Islami, Muslim League, and Nezam-e-Islam from being registered as parliamentary political parties.

SCF also proposed for a provision in the electoral law, asking candidates to submit affidavits of personal positions during the liberation war, and their whereabouts after the liberation war.

The veteran freedom fighters said war criminals and anti-liberation political forces should not be allowed to be in politics of the independent country under any circumstances.

“We fully agree with the proposals. We will do our best within our abilities, and make recommendations to proper authorities on matters beyond our jurisdiction,” the CEC told the SCF delegation.

In response to the proposals, Election Commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussain said the EC agrees with the SCF proposals ‘100 percent’. “But a legal framework is required to implement the proposals,” the election commissioner said adding, “The EC will ask the government to respond to the popular demand.”

At that point, the CEC said it is the jurisdiction of the government to try the war criminals.

“We don’t know whether the caretaker government will try them. We will implement the legal framework if the government provides us with one,” CEC Huda said.

Lauding the EC’s move to disqualify war criminals from contesting in polls, SCF chief Air Vice-marshal (retd) AK Khandker enquired whether the commission will also disqualify anti-liberation organised forces from being registered as parliamentary parties.

In reply, the CEC said some political parties had been banned in the immediate aftermath of the country’s independence, but later, the ban was withdrawn allowing the parties to resume their activities.

Referring to the EC proposed conditions for political parties’ registration, the poll chief assured the veteran freedom fighters saying, a political party will not get registration if the party’s constitution contains any provision that goes against the spirit of the country’s constitution.

The SCF delegation which included Maj Gen (retd) KM Shafiullah, Lt Gen (retd) Mir Shawkat Ali, Maj Gen (retd) CR Dutta, Maj (retd) Rafiqul Islam, and Lt Gen (retd) M Harun Ar Rashid, was led by AK Khandker.

Meanwhile, War Crimes Facts Finding Committee (WCFFC), a research organisation, also put forward similar demands to the EC on Saturday.

WCFFC also demanded that the EC makes it mandatory for prospective candidates to disclose their whereabouts during the country’s war of independence, if their names were included in the Bangladesh Gazette (Extra Ordinary) under Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order 1972, if they were in hiding to avoid arrest following their indictment in any case under the order, and detailed information regarding the cases against them.

The research organisation also urged the EC to form a tribunal for disqualifying war criminals from contesting in polls.

compiled by : Habib

Staff Correspondent

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said the commission will collect records of war criminals’ trials under the now defunct collaborators act, in a bid to permanently disqualify war criminals from contesting in any election.

Between 1972 and 1975, 752 persons were convicted of war crimes and the government has the records. Soon after the country’s independence, 37,000 persons were detained on charges of war crimes, 26,000 of whom were released on a general amnesty in 1973, keeping 11,000 still in jails on specific charges of murder, rape, arson, etc.

But after 1975, the collaborators act was scrapped stopping the trials and leading to release of all convicted and detained war criminals.

In its electoral reform proposals, the Election Commission (EC) said an individual will be permanently barred from contesting in parliamentary elections if that person was convicted of war crimes by any national or international tribunal. The same provision is likely to be proposed for local government elections too.

Besides, according to a Supreme Court order, a contesting candidate will have to submit an affidavit of personal information of eight categories including one for criminal cases filed against that person, and the verdicts in those.

“Returning officers will need the war crimes trial records to scrutinise the nomination papers, for finding out whether any of the prospective candidates has suppressed information about war crimes cases filed against him or her,” the CEC told the Sector Commanders’ Forum (SCF) yesterday at a meeting in the commission secretariat.

The CEC said if any candidate is proven guilty of suppressing information in the affidavit submitted to the commission, even after the person is elected to an office, that election will be cancelled.

“But we need the trial records and other documents since the Election Commission does not have any pertinent information,” the CEC said.

Leaders of SCF, a platform of commanders who led the country’s liberation war in eleven sectors, told the CEC that all records and evidence of war crimes have been lying on government shelves.

The forum placed a five-point proposal to the EC including one for barring war criminals from contesting in polls, and another for disqualifying anti-liberation organisations including Jamaat-e-Islami, Muslim League, and Nezam-e-Islam from being registered as parliamentary political parties.

SCF also proposed for a provision in the electoral law, asking candidates to submit affidavits of personal positions during the liberation war, and their whereabouts after the liberation war.

The veteran freedom fighters said war criminals and anti-liberation political forces should not be allowed to be in politics of the independent country under any circumstances.

“We fully agree with the proposals. We will do our best within our abilities, and make recommendations to proper authorities on matters beyond our jurisdiction,” the CEC told the SCF delegation.

In response to the proposals, Election Commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussain said the EC agrees with the SCF proposals ‘100 percent’. “But a legal framework is required to implement the proposals,” the election commissioner said adding, “The EC will ask the government to respond to the popular demand.”

At that point, the CEC said it is the jurisdiction of the government to try the war criminals.

“We don’t know whether the caretaker government will try them. We will implement the legal framework if the government provides us with one,” CEC Huda said.

Lauding the EC’s move to disqualify war criminals from contesting in polls, SCF chief Air Vice-marshal (retd) AK Khandker enquired whether the commission will also disqualify anti-liberation organised forces from being registered as parliamentary parties.

In reply, the CEC said some political parties had been banned in the immediate aftermath of the country’s independence, but later, the ban was withdrawn allowing the parties to resume their activities.

Referring to the EC proposed conditions for political parties’ registration, the poll chief assured the veteran freedom fighters saying, a political party will not get registration if the party’s constitution contains any provision that goes against the spirit of the country’s constitution.

The SCF delegation which included Maj Gen (retd) KM Shafiullah, Lt Gen (retd) Mir Shawkat Ali, Maj Gen (retd) CR Dutta, Maj (retd) Rafiqul Islam, and Lt Gen (retd) M Harun Ar Rashid, was led by AK Khandker.

Meanwhile, War Crimes Facts Finding Committee (WCFFC), a research organisation, also put forward similar demands to the EC on Saturday.

WCFFC also demanded that the EC makes it mandatory for prospective candidates to disclose their whereabouts during the country’s war of independence, if their names were included in the Bangladesh Gazette (Extra Ordinary) under Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order 1972, if they were in hiding to avoid arrest following their indictment in any case under the order, and detailed information regarding the cases against them.

The research organisation also urged the EC to form a tribunal for disqualifying war criminals from contesting in polls.

compiled by : Habib

Staff Reporter

The move to call late Hafezzi Huzur a war criminal was strongly criticsed at a meeting of leaders of political parties and religious group in the city yesterday. The speakers said that those who termed the late leader of Kelafat Andolan a war criminal without any proof were themselves responsible for such crimes.

The meeting organised by the Hafezzi Huzur Parishad was presided over by his eldest son and Chief of Khelafat Andolan Moulana Shah Ahmadullah Ashraf and addressed by Shaikhul Hadis Allama Azizul Huq. Chief of Krishak Sramik Janater League and former MP Kader Siddiqui, Acting Khatib of Baitul Mukaram National Mosque Moulana Nuruddin.

AMM Bahauddin, Editor, Daily Inqilab, Moulana Nurul Huda, Fayezi, chief of Islami Shashantantra Andolan, Shuddhananda Mahathero, President, Bangladesh Bouddha Krishti Prachar Sangha, Moulana Abdul Raqib, President, Nezami Islam Party, and Zafarullah Khan, secretary general of Khelafat Andolan, Moulana Abdul Latif Nezami and Moulana Abdur Rab Yousuf also spoke on the occasion.

Kader Siddiqui said that it was not proper to blame anybody as war criminal just by the use of force. Those who put the blame on the great religious preacher were themselves criminals, he said.

Moulana Nuruddin said, unrest was being created among Muslims by calling Hafezzi Huzur a war criminal. It amounted to defaming the ulema. There were evil designs to destabilise the country, he said.

Other speakers eulogised the role played by Hafizzi Huzur to unite people belonging to all shades of opinion in the greater national interest.

Compiled By : Habib

Dhaka (PTI): Pakistan’s former President General Yahya Khan has been named among 1,597 people accused of indulging in “war crimes” during the 1971 Liberation War in a list released by a Bangladeshi research group here.

The “war criminals”, including 369 members of Pakistan military, have been accused of indulging in mass killings, rapes and other atrocities during the conflict by the War Crimes Facts Finding Committee (WCFFC), dedicated to investigate the the 1971 war crimes.

The rest included their Bengali-speaking collaborators including politicians and members of the paramilitia Razakar and Al Badr forces and Biharis, who migrated to the then East Pakistan following the 1947 partition of the sub-continent.

“We have drawn up the list on the basis of field-level investigation, statements of eyewitnesses and victims, and examination of relevant documents for 17 long years,” WCFFC convener MA Hasan told PTI.

The list came four days after the interim government in emergency-ruled Bangladesh sought UN support for the trial of the 1971 war criminals amid growing campaign for bringing them to justice.

Hassan said they also took the help of Pakistani documents including a judicial enquiry committee report prepared after their 1971 debacle.

He said the list and evidence would be handed to the government and Election Commission to help them try the war criminals and disqualify them from elections.

“We will circulate the list among the international community also.”

Compiled By : Habib

Haroon Habib

DHAKA: A total of 1,597 war criminals, including Pakistanis responsible for the mass killings, rapes and other atrocities in Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971, have been named.

The announcement of the list by the War Crimes Facts Finding Committee, coincided with a strong nationwide campaign by the liberation war veterans who have been demanding a trial for the war criminals most of whom are leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami.

The list includes 369 members of Pakistan military including the then military-ruler Gen. Yahya Khan.

It also includes 1,150 local collaborators of the Pakistan army including members of notorious killer groups Razakar and Al-Badr formed by the Pakistan government to help its army crush Bengali freedom fighters. Some leading members of the “Peace Committee,” a civilian committee of the Pakistan army’s local collaborators and 78 Biharis who took part in atrocities along with the occupation army in the nine month-long war, were also named.

Making the list public at a press conference here on Thursday, the committee said it was not final and that they would soon come up with more evidence and documents. The list and evidence would be handed over to the government and the Election Commission to help them try the war criminals and disqualify them from elections. The list would also be circulated to the international community.

Compiled By : Habib

Dhaka, April 4 (IANS) A research body in Bangladesh, tracking those who worked against the country’s freedom movement and killed unarmed civilians at the behest of the then Pakistan regime in 1971, has unveiled a list of what it calls “war criminals”.

The list includes several top Bangladeshi politicians and Pakistani military officers.

The list, along with documents and witnesses, buttresses the ongoing demand for “trial for war crimes” for which the current caretaker government ruling the country last week approached the United Nations.

War Crimes Facts Finding Committee (WCFFC) Thursday released a list of 1,597 war criminals responsible for the mass killings, rapes and other atrocities during the Liberation War.

The Pakistani regime of military ruler Gen Yahya Khan ordered a crackdown in the then East Pakistan after elections gave winners of the east wing a majority. Atrocities were carried out between March and December 1971.

Of those on the list, 369 are members of Pakistan military and 1,238 are their local collaborators including members of Razakar and Al Badr (forces formed to aid the Pakistani authorities) and Peace Committee.

The list was not complete and more names would come with more evidence and documents, the committee told media Thursday, The Daily Star reported.

The list and evidence would be handed to the government and Election Commission to help them try the war criminals and disqualify them from elections. Besides, those would be circulated to the international community.

Four women who were tortured by the Pakistan forces were present.

While many have died in the 37 years that have elapsed, Bangladeshi ‘collaborators’ on the list and still alive mostly belong to Jamaat-e-Islami.

Some of them who were then involved in Muslim League and Nezam-e-Islam parties and are now leaders of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jatiya Party, that have ruled the country at different times.

Despite the time-gap, the list reads like the who’s who in the present-day Bangladesh.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)’s former Ameer (chief) Golam Azam, the present chief Matiur Rahman Nizami and secretary general Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojahid figure on the list.

Both Nizami and Mojahid were ministers in the government of Khaleda Zia (2001-06).

Others on the list, now JeI leaders, are assistant secretaries General Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and A.K.M. Yusuf. Central committee members Delawar Hussain Sayedee, Abdus Sobhan, Abul Kalam Muhammad Yusuf and Abdul Quader Molla are among the high-profile Jamaat leaders on the list.

Former BNP lawmakers Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Abdul Alim, and Anwar Zahid, a former minister during military ruler H.M. Ershad rule (1982-90), are also on the list that contains division- and thana-wise (police station) names of Razakar, Al Badr, and Peace Committee members.

“We have drawn up the list on the basis of field-level investigation, statements of eyewitnesses and victims, and examination of relevant documents for 17 long years,” said M.A. Hasan, convener of the committee dedicated to research on acts of genocide and atrocities committed in 1971.

He said they are ready to place all the necessary evidence and documents once the government forms a special tribunal to try the war criminals.

“We have prepared the list not to take revenge but to break the silence of impunity,” said Hasan.

Several Pakistanis figure on the list, many of whom are dead. They include the then military ruler, Gen A.M. Yahya Khan, Lt Gen Tikka Khan, who went on to become the Pakistan Army chief, governor and martial law administrator of the then East Pakistan, Maj Gen Khadim Hussain Raja, general officer commanding (GOC) of the then East Pakistan, Maj Gen Rao Forman Ali, adviser to governor of the then East Pakistan, Gen Abdul Hamid Khan, the then chief of staff of Pakistan army, Maj Gen A.O. Mittha Khan, Gen S.G.M. Pirjadah, Gen Iftekhar Janjua, Brig Jahanjeb Arbab and Lt Gen Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, the then commander of Eastern Command, are among the Pakistan military personnel listed as war criminals. None of them are in service now.

Niazi surrendered with 93,000 soldiers, ending the war that made Bangladesh free.

compiled By : Habib

Nuremberg and Tokyo are models we can build on

WE welcome the step taken by Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury. He has informed UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon of a growing sentiment in favour of a trial of war criminals in Bangladesh. That is a positive reflection of the thinking that appears to have come into government circles and surely will resonate with the people of the country. Additionally, the adviser’s belief that Bangladesh’s people will welcome the involvement of the world body in the trial only demonstrates the government’s acknowledgement of the public demand for such a trial. It also reinforces our growing faith in the machinery of international law to bring to justice those who perpetrated the war crimes of 1971.

We believe that the time has now arrived for the wheels of justice to get moving. For justice to be properly and truly done, however, it is extremely important that clear lines be drawn between those who actively assisted or participated in such crimes as murder, rape, arson, abduction and the like and those who only voiced their political support for the state of Pakistan. The objective behind the demand for a war crimes trial is to make a convincing argument against those who deliberately took part in the genocide launched by the Pakistan army and convince our people and the rest of the world that the law, even if it is belated, has a way of bringing offenders into the net. In such a search for justice, it must be ensured that there is no witch-hunt and that no one takes advantage of the trial to settle personal or group scores.

A fundamental objective of a war crimes trial is to make the strong, legitimate case that in 1971 a genocide did take place in Bangladesh and that a class of pro-regime Bengalis did indulge in the crimes they have been accused of in the last thirty seven years. The models we can build on as we prepare for the war crimes trial are the Nuremberg trials, before which leading Nazis and their collaborators were brought, and the Tokyo trials, where the war criminals of imperial Japan were prosecuted and punished.

compiled by : Habib

THAT a very tiny segment of the population which had not only opposed our glorious liberation war and our independence in 1971 but also collaborated with the Pakistan occupation army in committing crimes against humanity has not been indicted for the anti-people role it had played, and has remained free all these years to enjoy full freedom and rights to be elected leaders of this country is a gross historical aberration and incongruity. But sadly enough, this is the legacy handed down to us by our rulers following the August 15 tragedy of 1975.

Even Sheikh Hasina said or did nothing to put an end to this shameful legacy while she was the prime minister of this country. Needless to say, the trial of the war criminals of 1971 is an inescapable necessity warranted by the norms of international justice.

It is not about killing of men fighting in the battlefield. It is about killing of innocent and unarmed people in cold blood in a spirit of ethnic cleansing. It is about deliberate and selective killing of our educated and learned people, and dumping them in mass graves. It is about dishonouring of our women folk.

All credit to late Jahanara Imam, that frail lady and proud mother of a valiant freedom fighter, who epitomised the Bangladesh we had dreamt of in 1971. It was she who led the movement for raising the voice and conscience of the people against the quislings, and demanded their trial and punishment.

For this role of hers, she was formally accused by the then government of Bangladesh of being involved in anti-state activities. But she remained undaunted, and committed to her ideals and role until she died broken hearted with the accusation of treason dangling over her. What an irony of fate!

Now, once again, the demand for trial of war criminals of 1971 has surfaced. This time the surviving sector commanders of the Liberation War, together with other freedom fighters who as junior officers had taken up arms and organised the fledgling Bangladesh Liberation Army and the Mukti Bahini, are in the forefront.

Their demand for trial of the Razakars, the collaborators and the war criminals is getting louder and gaining ground as each day progresses into another day. No doubt this demand sends a chill down the spines of those collaborators and their supporters who have reaped rich political harvest so far.

One may wonder why, after so many years, freedom fighters have got together and are demanding of this caretaker government to initiate action to indict the war criminals, knowing full well that this is an interim government, which may not last beyond this year. The reason is the ambience this government has created for many a genuine issue of national concern to be addressed.

No matter what the detractors may say to malign this government, it is a fact that this 10 man interim advisory council headed by Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed has accomplished many a laudable work in a year’s time, which a 60 man jumbo cabinet of an elected government backed up by a parliament of 300 elected peoples representatives could not do in 5 years.

Who will deny that maintaining a jumbo cabinet and 300 members of parliament with their enhanced salaries and many perks and privileges, including fully furnished NAM flats allocated at a token rent of Taka 400-500 a month, and the corruption reigning supreme both inside and outside the corridors of power over a period of 5 years, have bled this poor country white?

No, we do not intend to continue with this pro-people but un-elected government for an indefinite period. But before they go, we would like this government to finish the tasks it has embarked upon. The tasks include:

-Preparing a flawless and credible voter list with photographs,

-Drawing up and putting in place democratic reforms aimed at strengthening all democratic national institutions,

-Freeing our national politics from the clutches of people who have tainted themselves with ill-gotten money, who have their names listed with police stations as common criminals, robbers, murderers, rapists, toll collectors, land grabbers etc., who have amassed huge wealth and property disproportionate to their legitimate source of income, and who have been either convicted in a court of law or have a case, or cases, pending in a court of law on charges of corruption and other offences, criminal or civil, and

-Bringing all those people, regardless of their social status, who have looted and plundered wealth and property of the state by misusing and abusing their power and authority to justice. This is a tall order, but it is achievable given the integrity, capability and commitment of the wonderful men and women who form this advisory council.

The success of this government will largely depend not so much on the completion of the electoral roll as on effecting genuine democratic reforms, and on its ability to haul up and put on trial those political and social elites who have built fortunes at the expense of the state.

It is here, that the government will be facing, and is facing, resistance from the discredited political parties and political leaders and their business associates. Delwars and Hannans and Zillurs sound menacing when they have the guts to say that they will not accept imposed reforms without prior consultation with major political parties, and that they would launch movements to get their party leaders released from prison.

The government will have to be tough with the discredited politicians. But you can be tough only if your feet are firmly anchored on moral high ground, and your aim is to foster genuine democracy with a vibrant and functional parliament and a responsible government accountable to the people and the media. It is in this context that the government needs to be bold and uncompromising.

The government can hardly afford to open another front at this time by brushing aside the just demand of the Sector Commanders Forum {SCF) for trial of war criminals of 1971. The government may or may not initiate any action to try the war criminals, although there is ample documentary evidence to begin the legal process of indictment.

The government can ill-afford to deny space to the surviving war heroes and millions and millions of men and women across the country who want to see these criminals put on trial and punished, thus ending the ignominy of having to see them as political and social elites.

By not allowing the SCF to hold a planned national convention at Bangladesh-China Friendship Convention Centre on March 15, the government may have damaged its pro-people image and neutral credentials.

Some clerics in various mosques seize every opportunity to denounce our secular Bengali culture and women’s liberty as anti-Islamic. They have systematically let loose tirades against our traditional celebration of Language Martyrs’ Day on February 21, and of Pahela Boishakh.

Of late, they have been severely critical of the national women development policy of 2008. Let us not forget that those who oppose the trial of war criminals are also closely linked with Islamist militancy, which raised its ugly head during the last BNP-Jamaat alliance government.

The trial of war criminals of 1971 will be held in this country, either today or tomorrow, no matter how one may try to side-track the issue. This is what truth and justice demand. This is what we as a nation owe to our martyrs who gave us freedom. Should we fail now to put the war criminals on trial, posterity will try and punish them some other day, if need be posthumously. But tried and punished they will be.

Brig. Gen. Shamsuddin Ahmed is a former Military Secretary to the President of Bangladesh.

Compiled By : Habib

Dr. Abdul Momen

IT is highly misleading propaganda that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s government pardoned all the war criminals. The facts show otherwise. In fact, Bangabandhu’s government started prosecuting the perpetrators of crimes against humanity or war criminals immediately after independence, and he also passed the Collaborators Act (1972) and the International Crime Act of 1973 that barred re-entry of any collaborators into Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujib promulgated the Special Tribunal Order on January 24, 1972, fourteen days after his return from Pakistani.

Under this order he arrested 37,000 collaborators amidst strong opposition by left-leaning journalists and others. 26,000 were pardoned and released in a general amnesty as no grave criminal charges were filed against them. However, cases against nearly 800 people were completed, and they were given jail sentences. Another 11,000 were in jail, and their prosecutions were underway. In addition, those who were involved in crimes against humanity and against Bangladesh were denied Bangladesh nationality.

On November 4, 1972 all religion-based politics were abolished as per Sections 12 and 38 of the Bangladesh Constitution of 1972.

Unfortunately, when General Ziaur Rahman, a valiant muktijuddha, emerged as a strong-man in 1975, he abrogated the Collaborators Act and released all the prisoners, including those that had been sentenced. For political reasons he allowed religion-based parties to operate, and started reinstating and rehabilitating them.

No wonder that those who were guilty of crimes against humanity and collaboration with an enemy state (Pakistan) started returning from abroad, especially from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and were given Bangladesh citizenship and passport.

It is sad that a few vested quarters are misleading the public and the nation by stating that Sheikh Mujib pardoned the war criminals, or are shifting the responsibility by asking why he did not prosecute them. In fact, Sheikh Mujib started the prosecution, and he pardoned only those who did not have criminal cases against them. He did not pardon those who had criminal cases filed against them. Thousands of criminals were in prison during his time, and many were absconding abroad.

After the assassination of Sheikh Mujib and his family, plus his close associates in 1975, civil-military-technocratic or cantonment-based governments ruled the country one after another until 1991. It can be argued that the 1991-1996 government, while democratically elected, was cut from similar ideological cloth. None of the governments initiated any action against the collaborators. Rather, they encouraged anti-liberation forces and assisted in creating false stories in rewriting the liberation history of Bangladesh.

In 1996, when the pro-liberation government of Sheikh Hasina came to power after 21 years with marginal votes, it could neither reinstate the Collaborators Act nor revive the original Constitution of 1972. Secondly, it followed judicial process and rule of law, and, therefore, it did not set up any kangaroo court or special tribunal to prosecute the criminals.

But that does not mean that the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war criminals should not face justice. It would be unfair if they are allowed to go free or untouched. Fortunately, now is an opportune moment to revive the clause from the original Constitution that “no religion-based political party can be registered, or contest in Bangladesh election.” Unless the criminals and murderers are fully prosecuted, you can neither establish rule of law nor stop political killing.

More importantly, the International Crime Act of 1973 of Bangladesh is still active, and Article 47 Section 3 of the act allows trial of war criminals. Therefore, the government of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed that has started many essential reforms can try the war criminals and punish them, provided it has the mindset and commitment.

Not long ago, a retired bureaucrat, following the JI party line of argument, tried to mislead the public by stating that there was “no genocide” in East Pakistan in 1971.

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic, religious, or national group. While the precise definition varies among scholars, the legal definition is found in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG).

Article 2 of the CPPCG defines genocide as: “Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (and) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”

In 1971, the Pakistan occupation army plus their collaborators and their militant killing squads tried their utmost to apprehend and kill those that demanded an independent Bangladesh. Since the majority of East Pakistanis (Sheikh Mujib got 167 out of 169 seats in East Pakistan) favoured an independent Bangladesh, the collaborators waged a war with intent to destroy them.

The Pak army indiscriminately opened fire on un-armed Bengalis at midnight of March 25, 1971, and, as per various reports, 19,000 to 25,000 people died on that dark night alone. Over a period of 10 months, 3 million were reportedly killed, 30 million were dislodged from their homes and 10 million had to take refuge in neighbouring India due to the cleansing operation. As per global ranking, the Bangladesh genocide is second to that of Nazi genocide of Jews.

In order to cripple Bengali nationalism and nationhood, the Pak army, in collaboration with a few parties and their affiliates, systematically and calculatedly murder Bengali intellectuals, writers, doctors, journalists, educators, and the political leadership. In addition, in order to cleanse the society of Hindu population, the Pak army and its collaborators calculatedly killed or uprooted them. No wonder, over 10 million East Pakistanis (out of 75 million), mostly Hindus, took shelter in the neighbouring India.

When the army captured me on April 20, 1971, they tested me as to whether I could recite the “kalma” (the 1st pillar of Muslim faith). In addition, when the army forced us to lead them in their operations, they looked for “Muktis” (liberation fighters) and Hindus. If such were reported, they would immediately open fire. Such is the testimony of the cleansing of a religious group, a clear evidence of genocide.

Abdul Momen is Professor of Economics and Business Management, Boston.

Source : The Daily Star , 20 march 2008

Compiled by : Habib

Fundamentalists have made the National Women Development Policy 2008 an issue in a bid to suppress the public demand for trial of war criminals, participants at a roundtable yesterday said.

They also criticised the interim government for their silence on the street programmes fundamental groups carried out against the government’s woman policy, clearly violating the state of emergency.

Political leaders, NGO activists, women leaders and present and former advisers took part in the discussion on “Women in politics: in party, parliament and government”, organised by Bangladesh Mohila Parishad and Saptahik 2000 magazine at the National Press Club.

Mohila Parishad president Ayesha Khanam moderated the discussion while Kazi Sufia Akhter presented the keynote paper.

Rasheda K Chowdhury, women and children affairs adviser to the government, said fundamentalism is spreading alarmingly in the society and it is hard to imagine how far it would go in the future if proper attention is not given to the issues of education, culture and woman’s empowerment.

Stressing the need for consensus on women’s issues, she said women’s advancement is not possible if the mainstream progressive forces do not get united.

The adviser called on politicians to create a friendly atmosphere for women so that they could come to leadership level.

Taking part in the discussion, Awami League (AL) presidium member Tofail Ahmed said while sector commanders of the liberation war were not allowed to hold their national convention in a hall room, the government is silent on the processions that fundamentalist groups brought out in the street in opposition to the woman policy.

“It’ll not be good if people raise questions on the present government’s neutrality when it comes to fundamentalism,” he warned.

Abdur Razzak, another AL presidium member, said religious issues are brought to the forefront whenever women’s issues get prominence. “The fundamentalists violated the state of emergency but no action has been taken against them,” he said.

Linking women’s development to the progress of the country, BNP Vice president Osman Farruk said they should be included in the development process but no governments took steps in this regard.

Former adviser Sultana Kamal said women have shied away from partisan politics, not from politics itself.

She stressed that fundamentalist groups are using the woman policy in a bid to divert attention from the demand for the trial of war criminals.

“It is a shame for the progressive-minded people to see how the law adviser made apologies to the fundamentalists,” she added.

Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon said though women have always distanced their movement from politics, their issues should be treated as political agenda.

Emphasising the need for a change in political culture, joint secretary general of the BNP, Selima Rahman, said women’s participation in politics should be ensured to make the nation democratic and self-confident.

“Political parties don’t consider women when it comes to nominating candidates for elections even though they give the party ticket to a housewife if her lawmaker husband dies,” she said, adding the BNP has no woman on its standing committee except for the chairperson.

Dr Dipu Moni, women affairs secretary of the Awami League said, the government has to decide whether they favour woman or the fundamentalists.

Among others, Mahfuza Akhter, Maleka Banu, Samia Zaman, Hazera Sultana, Mahbub Alam, Farah Kabir, Shirin Akhter and acting editor of Weekly 2000 Moinul Ahsan Saber participated in the discussion.

source : The Daily Star, 20 march 2008