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Download PDF Different socio-political organisations continued their condemnation of the comments by Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed in which he claimed that his party did not act against the country’s independence and denied outright the existence of any war criminals here.
Meantime, a number of decorated war heroes yesterday pledged to go all-out and wage a legal battle against anti-liberation war elements in the country including leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami.
Saying his remarks smack of extreme arrogance and deceit, they demanded trial of Jamaat leaders, proven collaborators of the 1971 genocide, by forming a special tribunal and a ban on politics based on religion and fundamentalism.
The Federation of NGOs in Bangladesh (FNB) expressed shock at Mojaheed’s observation and said such assertions are baseless and imaginary.
The FNB, in a statement, said his is a complete denial of the liberation war, the genocide and the war crimes.
“This is a heinous attempt to divert attention from the ongoing efforts of the country to establish good governance, healthy democratic practices and alleviate poverty,” the statement read.
The FNB urged the people to remain alert of such scandalous attempt to distort history.
Samajik Protirodh Committee said the comments of Mojaheed and Shah Abdul Hannan, a well-known Jamaat sympathiser, are false and misleading.
In a statement, they said the Jamaat-e-Islami and members of its organisations during the liberation war — al-Badr, al-Shams and Peace Committee — were involved in mass killings, rape, arson, looting and numerous other atrocities.
The country’s intellectuals were killed, with the direct complicity of the Jamaat and its front organisations, on the eve of achieving victory, they said.
They demanded trial of the people and parties involved in war crime and a ban on religion-based politics.
Ain O Shalish Kendra expressed surprise and resentment over Mojaheed’s comments and said criminals usually try to prove themselves as innocent and it is usual not to get true confession from a party like the Jamaat-e-Islami, a press release said.
Terming his comments fabricated and imaginary, they said there are lots of evidence of the anti-liberation activities of the Jamaat and people who were the victims of torture of the Jamaat leaders are still alive.
They hoped that the government would take immediate measures to try the collaborators.
Workers Party of Bangladesh termed the comments extreme arrogance and said anti-liberation role of the Jamaat leaders is proven.
They at a meeting said the war criminals have not yet been brought to justice because of a lack of foresightedness of the post-independence governments and giving favour to religion-based politics.
The collaborators of the occupying Pakistani forces remained untouched due to the lack of an ideology-based politics of the successive governments, they said.
The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), in a statement, said the comments are part of a Jamaat conspiracy to turn the country into a new Pakistan.
True to its 1971 self, the Jamaat has been continuing heinous activities, they said adding that the party should not get away with its mischief as they were the collaborators of Pakistani occupying forces.
Bangladesh Trade Union Kendra, Bangladesh Chhatra Union and Dhaka Taxes Bar Association also protested and condemned the comments of the Jamaat secretary general.
Meantime, members of the martyred freedom fighters’ families yesterday called on the government to form a special tribunal, instead of filing cases individually, for trying the war criminals as they said the genocide of 1971 was not a simple killing or rape incident, reports ATN Bangla.
They also suggested that the government draw up a list of the war criminals from the cases filed by the martyrs’ families across the country in 1972.
Blasting the recent boastful and demeaning remarks made by Shah Abdul Hannan, a known Jamaat-sympathiser and former chairman of Islami Bank, the war veterans — the deputy chief of liberation forces and five sector commanders — told The Daily Star that they would go out on a limb to bring the war criminals to justice.
On Friday, speaking on a talk show on a private satellite television channel, Hannan, also a former secretary, played down the Liberation War of 1971 and termed the period “civil war”. Moreover, he claimed that no genocide took place in the country during that period and no war criminal lives here either.
Deputy chief of the liberation forces Air Vice Marshal (retd) AK Khandakar, Bir Uttam, said, “We will take all necessary steps to bring the anti-liberation war forces to book.”
“We will take legal steps against them, if necessary, after discussing the issue with experts and lawyers,” added the deputy chief.
Outraged by the comments of Shah Abdul Hannan, Khandakar said,” There is a huge difference between a civil war and a liberation war. All the countrymen except them [the war criminals] were for the liberation one way or the other.”
“We fought against the Pakistan army and their collaborators and won our freedom through the sacrifice of three million lives,” he said adding, “How could this be called a civil war?”
He urged the government to ban politics of Jamaat and ensure that its leaders get exemplary punishments for their involvement in war crimes.
Commander of sector 11, Maj Gen (retd) AKM Shafiullah, Bir Uttam, said, ” They [Jamaat] should know the difference between a civil war and a liberation war.”
“Our fight aimed at freeing our country. For our liberty, we fought against Pakistan army who were aided by Jamaat leaders,” added Shafiullah.
“Our liberation war was, by no means, a civil war — it was a liberation war,” said the former army chief. “We are considering filing cases against them.”
Lt Gen (retd) Mir Shawkat Ali, Bir Uttam, commander of sector 5, said, ” We fought against foreign [Pakistan] soldiers and they [Jamaat and anti liberation war forces] helped the Pakistan army in committing rape, murder, arson and killing of captured freedom fighters.”
“They took up this ‘duty’ on themselves while the Pakistani army was busy fighting the freedom fighters. So, they were equally guilty,” added Mir Shawkat.
“If it was a civil war, one group would fight with the other. But during our liberation war, 99 percent of the population supported the liberation war and therefore took part in it one way or the other,” he said.
“How can they term our liberation war a civil war?” Shawkat said adding that all foreign authors in their books termed the nation’s struggle in 1971 a liberation war.
He also vowed to take legal steps to try the Jamaat leaders involved in war crimes.
Lt Col (retd) Kazi Nuruzzaman, Bir Uttam, commander of sector 7, said, “We have all the evidence that proves that Jamaat leaders were involved in war crimes in 1971.”
“If you conduct a survey, you will see that everyone would term it a liberation war,” added Kazi Nuruzzaman.
Commander of sector 4, Maj Gen (retd) CR Dutta, Bir Uttam, said,” We are considering all possible steps to bring the war criminals to justice.”
It is clear who killed our intellectuals on the eve of our victory in the war, he added.
Commander of sector 8, Lt Col (retd) Abu Osman Chowdhury, condemned the remarks made by Abdul Hannan and said, “A thief never admits that he is a thief…. They dare to make such claims because our political leaders failed to bring them to justice.”
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